WINTER LIGHT

Boston does it again with the brilliant new s/t LP from Doom Metal merchants Magic Circle. Pressed and distributed by the Armageddon Record store in Boston, I'm unsure if multiple colourways exist, but as you can see, I scored black vinyl. I would imagine that most people who are fond of the pedigree that Boston is so renown for producing would be at least familiar with this band. Since mid-late 2011, excitement has been growing around this record thanks to the digital release of the the albums (arguably) stand out track, "Scream Evil" via youtube. I wouldn't be able to tell you how many times I have listened to that track over the last year. Comprised in bulk by the central characters of the nu scene, what you get here is heavy, old school doom metal with an obvious Black Sabbath lean. While you can certainly attribute that comparison to a few things, including guitarist Chris Corry's brilliantly huge jammed out riffs, the bulk of the praise should be put down to singer Brendan Radigan's flawless vocal performance. Maybe I would't be so blown away by his work if he wasn't better known for fronting a number of gritty, angry hardcore bands over the years (Rival Mob and xFilesx), but the truth here is that with this LP, he's more or less put just about every current long haired doom metal singer to shame in just over 40 minutes. Top shelf metal. Worth all the hype.