Horehound - Holocene

Horehound was formed in the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 2015... After a few lineup changes, they released their self-titled debut album on Blackseed Records... The Hard & Heavy Underground grabbed it up, along with it being well received on the Doom Charts...After touring and growing in popularityfor a couple years, that same debut album was remastered and re-released on CD!!!It was also issued on vinyl (for the first time) on Hellmistress Records!!!
Fast forward to the present day, and the now solidified lineup of Shy Kennedy on vocals, Brendan Parish on guitar, Nick Kopco on bass guitar and JD Dauer on drums are about to release their sophomore album... This new album titled Holocene will be unleashed on November 30th from Doom Stew Records...
From the start of the album it's obvious that Horehound has greatly matured by pulling in even more dynamics than on their debut... The acoustic guitar is a melodically beautiful opening on the first track, The Kind!!! I am the first one to admit that I'm not a big fan of throaty death/scream growls for vocals, but it works well in this case!!! The mix fits nicely in this opener with the(dirty) call and (clean) answer vocalizing... Shy uses this styling throughout the album and it works well for me... It is definitely not overdone in my opinion!!! According to Shy, "it's fun and liberating, and sometimes a growl just fits!"
Shy explains "This album has consistent themes of picking yourself up and being a better human... standing up for what's right... and treating the earth with respect...It is not a concept album. These themes were present in the first record as well. We chose the name Holocene based on the most common Horehound song theme, the mass extinction that humans are presenting to our world currently. The art lends to a vision we can see in the end, after it's too late... Just remnants of what once was beautiful and full of life"...
My favorite tracks include The Kind, Sloth and Anastatica!!!
Mixing Doom/Stoner with Metal guitar leads throughout it's 6 tracks, this album will please all their fans far and wide!!! The fanbase should grow in numbers, plus I predict a major vote count on the Doom Charts as well!!!
-Rock Man & Mercy 11/18