siLLy puPPy
WORSHIP OF KERES is an up and coming traditional doom metal band from Lake Shasta, CA which is just north of Redding. As of early 2020 this band has still not released a full-length album but has so far put out two stellar EPs. This debut titled BLOODHOUNDS FOR OBLIVION was released in 2016 and only contains three tracks that up to 17 minutes but what a nicely done set of tracks this one is!
In Greek mythology the KERES (plural of Ker) were female death-spirits that personified violent death and were drawn to bloody corpses on battle fields so as you can imagine WORSHIP OF KERES crafts a subject matter that is quite dark and based in the occult and other nightmarish tidbits of horror. The music is primarily based in old school death metal particularly from the 80s (think Pentagram, St Vitus, Pagan Altar, Witchfinder General etc) but the band dabbles a bit in NWOBHM as well as thrash for brief moments of time.
BLOODHOUNDS FOR OBLIVION contains three tracks: “Book 1,” “Book 2” and “Book 3” and each connects to the other quite nicely. The music’s procession is a doomy stomp that builds in intensity as it ramps up. The guitar tones are nice and fuzzy but distorted into full metal decibalage. The highlight of the band’s sound for sure are the haunting vocal performances of Elise Tarens. Female fronted doom metal as been all the rage in recent years and it does seem that the slow tempos of doom metal cast the perfect sonic spell for a witchy musical experience.
This EP really comes off as if it’s one single track segmented into three chapters yet it’s not exactly prog or anything but the band has definitely mastered the art of subtle changes in order to keep the music interesting on a more active level but this is a very receptive style of doom metal that generates cyclical melodic loops and uses the dynamics and tempo changes to change things up. This is a really compelling album that portends a band that’s on its way to better days and with the band’s signing to Svart Records it’s very likely that this band won’t be a secret for too much longer. I for one look forward to a full album’s worth of material.