Vulture Neck Premiere “Raining Fire, Raining Stones”; Self-Titled Debut Out Sept. 4
Vulture Neck release their self-titled debut full-length on Sept. 4. The Stockholm-based trio offer seven songs on the 37-minute long-player, and meet heavy rock methodologies and tones with darker currents of metal and a raw progressivism in the construction. What does any of that mean? Well, they have fuzz and, broadly speaking, are riff led. But it doesn’t sit still either in terms of style, and the stank on Martin Sällström‘s guitar and the rawer punch of Magnus Öhrn‘s bass and Östen Jäderberg‘s far-away snare lends bite, an aggressive edge, whatever you want to call it, and especially in longer pieces like “Rat Riders,” which alone could be the source of any Domkraft comparisons you’ve been seeing, lends a sludgy impression. Sludge rock? Okay, sure, that’s a thing, but it’s not the totality of Vulture Neck‘s sound, and doesn’t account for the ride-cymbal urgency of “Höst” or the subtle depth of mix wrought by “Raining Fire, Raining Stones” (premiering below), which would seem to be the finisher for side A, arriving after the slower and thus doomlier march of “Phantom Carriage,” which thrills first in its build and then in the ebbs and flows around the resultant crunch.
It’s a weird one, but that’s the point. The production is part of that — and I’m not saying the self-recording sounds bad, because it doesn’t, but it is raw — but there’s also an atmosphere that feels grim and influenced by underground extremity. You can hear it in “Raining Fire, Raining Stones.” And by “progressivism” I mean it’s happening on purpose, that in the psychedelic twists of
“Bright Lights Descending” there’s intention behind their diversion. It’s not that they’re playing to style, but with it, and as they hop from niche to niche in the microgenre multiverse, the album becomes a complex blend presented in as straightforward a manner as it could be, with “Hands of a Drowning Man” picking up from the atmospheric end of “Bright Lights Descending” and giving over to a shouty swing marked by a rising current of low-end noise that, eventually, consumes it, leading to finale “Abyss Made of Stone,” the immediate swagger of which feels like a victory lap taken for the persistent offkilterism of the album just prior. And the ethic holds as they stop after five-plus minutes and reroute into a quieter, melodic-vocal-topped epilogue that caps the record. Even with the manageable runtime, you’d call it a journey to undertake.
In addition to being involved in sundry other projects/groups, Sällström, Öhrn and Jäderberg were all members of the also-plenty-unclassifiable five-piece I 11:e Timmen, and some of that band’s individualized exploration continues in Vulture Neck‘s material, but again, it’s a stripped-down take, with thicker tone and a more metallic lean. I 11:e Timmen broke up in 2018, right around the time Vulture Neck formed, so perhaps continuing the thread into the new band was part of what got them going, but as Vulture Neck underscores, evolution has brought the trio to a place of their own in terms of sound, and as debut albums go, they arrive markedly clearheaded and aware of what they’re doing, or at very least that’s how it comes across as the shouts cut through “Raining Fire, Raining Stones” and the guitar lead issues its subtle threat of things to come.
As always, I hope you enjoy:
Vulture Neck, “Raining Fire, Raining Stones” track premiere
Vulture Neck dwell in Stockholm, Sweden and have been riffing together since 2018. They’ve done a handful of live performances and released three digital EPs/singles. The music has elements of old school Doom, Sludge, Heavy Metal and Hard Rock, once even described as a mix between Venom and ZZ Top! This rather broad and crooked path has been a conscious choice from the band to make their sonic trip more interesting. The lyrics are composed by singer Magnus Öhrn and convey an atmosphere reflective of our inevitable, impending doom.
Lyrical concepts like drowning, the Black Plague, Death (in the form of Phantom Carriage by Selma Lagerlöf), scavengers and volcanoes befit the rawness of the music. The debut self-titled full-length is recorded and mixed by the band themselves and professionally mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege.
First out the gate is lead single “Raining Fire, Raining Stones”. A driving, fist-pumper of a track that grinds forward with filthy fuzz. Amidst the assault the band take moments to step back and expand into dark, doomy psychedelia, before diving back into sludgy fury.
“Raining Fire, Raining Stones” will be available on streaming August 21st, and the debut self-titled album drops September 4th.
Tracklist:
1. Höst (2:46)
2. Rat Riders (7:03)
3. Phantom Carriage (5:16)
4. Raining Fire, Raining Stones (3:44)
5. Bright Lights Descending (5:53)
6. Hand Of A Drowning Man (5:55)
7. Abyss Made Of Stone (7:06)
Vulture Neck is:
Östen Jäderberg (ex-I 11:e Timmen, ex-Tranquilizers) – Drums
Magnus Öhrn (Kungens Män, ex-I 11:e Timmen) – Vocals, Bass
Martin Sällström (Blissful Stream, ex-I 11:e Timmen, ex-Pest (Swe)) – Vocals, Guitar
