Published: June 2, 2023

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Having a look online at where Inherus sit musically their members have come from various bands such as Witchkiss, Botanist, Swallow The Ocean and Lotus Thief to name but four. It’s labelled as a mix of post-metal and heavy rock that takes in black metal, doom, psyche on its musical journey.

So, when it starts with a roar and a warm guitar sound that bows at the alter of the Lord Tony Iommi it’s not what I expected at all. Forgotten Kingdom is all about the riff and blackened vocals with a suitable melodic backing that is given additional weight by Beth Gladding that provides that dynamic between clean and harsh. It continually changes its approach from track to track, One More Fire concentrates on Beth’s strong vocals in its opening stages against an almost minimal backing as she tells her story in an unhurried fashion. The harsh vocals come in with a backing that matches as we switch back and forth as the two styles come together. It put together so well; everything is in synch with each other which is key here.

The Dagger continues in the same manner, with those ethereal vocals really shining here, throwing in tasteful solos as it continues on its long path. They achieve so much with the combination of these clean vocals and a simple guitar riff which builds emotion and feeling. Oh Brother adopts the same approach and again uses the top-class clean vocals as a base to build and expand the song into that otherworldly realm, this time facing attack from the death growl vocals. Final song, Lie To The Angels starts as Forgotten Kingdom did, emphasis on a more up-tempo heavy approach but with a strong vocal delivery on both sides of the coin. They lean into the darker side here without forgetting the great work they have done leading up to this.

This is going to appeal to fans of expressive longer jams with the majority of songs running at nine minutes plus. It lives up to its description of a mix of psyche/doom which will definitely resonate with those who love those genres. The album is chock full of memorable riffs and musical intent. Its handled so well that it has clearly been a labour of love for those involved. If anything, the song lengths are too much for me but that is a minor criticism and results from an ingestion of thrash metal from an early age. As I’ve said fans will love it, and those involved should feel rightfully proud of their achievement with this.