Seeming to appear from nowhere Early Moods, pulling in members from various thrash bands. This band released an e.p. spellbound in 2020.
They landed on my radar when a live clip of them from Psycho Vegas turned up on my social media feed.(see! It’s not all bulls**t politics and metal Gate keeping bores).
Image wise a lot of retro doom bands walk a thin line between uniform and losing it in the dressing up box but Early Moods appear to be on right side of authenticity and hark back to proto-metal looking more akin to Steppenwolf or Iron Butterfly than the usual black flares and battle jackets. A Singer Alberto Alacraz in fact sports the greatest Afro seen this side of 1968.
What about the music? Well no one is reinventing the wheel here. With the solos lifted almost directly from the Iommi school. With a glut of retro/doom bands drawing from the Sabbath well why do we need to be bothered with another? What sets them apart?
For one thing the Vocals are extremely melodic and the hooks are great and will pull you in from first song Live to Suffer. They have also gone for more of a Dio era Sabbath sound. Return to Salem’s Gate could have slotted into Heaven and Hells trackless perfectly. They also follow another Sabbath tradition by having a song named Early Moods and its a corker.
There are also some other elements added to the overall dish. Twin melodic leads from Eddie Andrade and Oscar Hernadez are reminiscent of Maiden or Priest. The Rhythm section of Elix Feliciano (Bass) and Chris Flores (Drums) mine the Geezer/Ward gold for all they are worth. Middle tracks Defy thy Name and Memento Mori are closer to Candlemass's metallised take on doom and adds some variation to overall flow of the album.
The combination of melody and heavy works and raises the songs above the usual hammer horror style of the majority of their peers.
With Trouble and Saint Vitus taking years between albums, Pentagram over thanks to Bobby Leibling being just a horrible little goblin. Only Candlemass from the Doom heavy hitters still recording and touring regularly perhaps its time fir a new wave to emerge.
Early Moods definitely have the chops, the songs, and the Riffs. Big boots to fill but on the evidence of this album them boots will stomp you in to the ground. One to watch.
Their debut album is out in October.
-Bobo Coen
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