Lavaborne Premiere “The Heathen Church”; Black Winged Gods out Oct. 1
Preorders for Lavaborne‘s debut album, Black Winged Gods, begin Aug. 13 ahead of an Oct. 1 release on Wise Blood Records. And as asserted by the PR wire below, the double-guitar Indianapolis five-piece do indeed bask in the traditionalist glories of classic metal — the victories of yore, and so on — however, this isn’t some post-Iron Maiden, clean-and-clear take on NWOBHM grandiosity. Lavaborne kick up a good amount of dirt — not to mention viscera on “Flesh, Blood & Bone” — on their way through Black Winged Gods‘ 10-song/43-minute run, and they’re by no means shy about getting themselves covered in it.
By the time “Call to Worship” shifts into chug of “The Heathen Church” (premiering below), the chug begins to betray three-fifths of the band’s roots in the sludgier Mask of Sanity, and they present their metallurgical analysis with a resilient current of grit throughout the procession that follows, guitars soaring and shredding in “Flesh, Blood & Bone” with double-kickdrum galloping behind even as the vocalist Chris Latta (ex-Spirit Division) brings a rawer Messiah Marcolin to mind. So maybe some grandstanding, some theatricality, but still down and dirty for that.
Later, the title-track signals a shift to longer-form craft, a quiet break in the middle edging toward Dio-era Sabbath considerations, but the edge returns, and though “Prove Your Worth” and “The Final Mystery” are both duly doomed, transcending or at least 
transposing some of the earlier thrashiness in “Mortal Pride” or “The Serpent Seed,” the sense that at any moment Lavaborne might break out into a full-bore shove never dissipates. Black Winged Gods is a less predictable, more satisfying debut for that.
Over its course, it establishes these extremes of meter and purpose, and then toys with them, finding a middle ground in “The Great Reward” after “Flesh, Blood & Bone” only to blow it away in “Mortal Pride,” or using “Master of Medusa” — there are guest vocals there; unfortunately I don’t know by whom — as a transition into the acoustic-inclusive title-track even as that song bridges to the already noted closing salvo of “Prove Your Worth” and “The Final Mystery.” And they’re not so filthy or raw that “Prove Your Worth” doesn’t provide ample payoff in its later surge, gang shouts and thuds and a big cymbal-wash finish on the way to “The Final Mystery” and its bass-led beginning, chugging-but-complex unfurling and defiantly metal-of-doom stance. I don’t know when they’re playing (okay, Sept. 8, Black Circle in Indy; fine), but in long songs or short, fast songs or slow, these tracks were made for the stage.
They are schooled in the metal they’re making, fans as well as artists, they’ve taken years to refine their approach, and that passion bleeds through the material. There is no contempt for the form here, and the progression from “Call to Worship” to “The Final Mystery” is thoughtful, linear and ably directed, turning rawness of presentation into an aesthetic strength and their unwillingness to compromise in their purpose into a steel that will neither bend nor break. Fucking a, headbangers. Hit it.
“The Heathen Church” is on the player below, followed by some words from Latta on the track and more info on Black Winged Gods.
Please enjoy:
Chris Latta on “The Heathen Church”:
Anybody who’s heard the demo that we released in 2017 may recognize “The Heathen Church.” The way we play it now is a whole lot faster and more theatrical, which has made it the best opener for our shows as well as a no-brainer for kicking off the album. The lyrics tell the story of a cult that engineers the birth of the Antichrist Rosemary’s Baby-style, only for the resulting spawn to team up with his dear old dad and annihilate them. Think of it as a pro-choice anthem in Mercyful Fate clothing.
Indianapolis warriors Lavaborne forge their riffs in the magma of classic metal. Their Black Winged Gods debut is a searing and soaring introduction to the band’s epic power doom. Lavaborne are champions of metal’s unique ability to project danger and triumph. Harmonized guitars and sensational solos slither amongst serpents. Tales of rogues and mages are drenched in Candlemass heaviness. Like a true epic, Black Winged Gods has the scope of a grand adventure packed with NWOTHM charm and puffs of stoner doom. Lavaborne will gallop from the fire when Wise Blood Records releases Black Winged Gods on October 1st.
Lavaborne is:
Chris Latta – Lead Vocals (ex – Spirit Division)
Brandon Signorino – Guitar (Scorched Earth, ex – Steel Aggressor)
Brandon Davis – Bass (Mask of Sanity)
Freddie Rodriguez – Guitar (Mask of Sanity)
Max Barber – Drums (Charonyx, Mask of Sanity)
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Tags: Black Winged Gods, Indiana, Indianapolis, Lavaborne, Lavaborne Black Winged Gods, Wise Blood Records
Thank you so much for your kind words!
Now I can’t not read the album title in anything but Stevie Nicks voice.