High Warden sends me to the astral plane
DYING VICTIMS PRODUCTIONS is proud to present HIGH WARDEN’s highly anticipated debut album, Astral Iron, on CD and vinyl LP formats.
Hailing from Münster, Germany’s HIGH WARDEN was founded by vocalist / guitarist Alastair van Morgue-Gûl and drummer Sadistic Hammer in 2022. The first sign of life from this self-proclaimed “Morgul Doom Commando” was the demo Land of Stone, released in early 2023 by DYING VICTIMS. Initially hired as a live bassist, Lord Perish joined the band as a full-time member that year.
With their lineup thus set, HIGH WARDEN prepare to ride into battle with their full-length debut, Astral Iron. The title serves as an aesthetic springboard for their idiosyncratic sound. Granted, HIGH WARDEN are influenced by legendary bands like Reverend Bizarre, Doomsword, Bathory, Manilla Road, Pagan Altar, Trouble, and Mercyful Fate, but their version of epic heavy / doom metal is as foreign as it is familiar: Slow Heavy Metal, as they accurately refer to it.
Recorded live, Astral Iron pounds and pulses vibrantly, deploying riffs coursing and crushing barbarically before leaving wide-open spaces in anticipation of that next addicting slash of ancient steel. HIGH WARDEN’s tones match their execution – earthen and mossy, grit encasing clarity – and each of the album’s five primary tracks (“Burgfrieden” is a hauntingly serene synth interlude that gives way to feedback) lumber forward with epic aplomb and high adventure. The vocals of A. v. Morgue-Gûl are plaintive and poignant, illustrating tales mainly based on individual thoughts but suitably packaged as analogies to various fantasy works (like those of J.R.R. Tolkien), historical events, and legends & myths. Unbelievers only need to hear Astral Iron’s closing epic “We Shall Burn at Foreign Shores (The Choice of Achilles)” to witness the blanching power of HIGH WARDEN!
LINE-UP
A.M.- Vocals, Guitars
S.H.- Drums
L.P.- Bass
ARTWORK
Spiros Gelekas
REVIEW
“The Morn is Wiser than the Eve” starts things off for us. Pure riffage, just epic stuff. The vocals were shrieking and high pitched, but also addictive and clearly understandable. The slowness wasn’t overpowering the flow of the song, and nor was the fuzz, both aspects that can really make doom metal make or break for me sometimes. Seriously, the main riff is divine! This was a great way to open up the album, and definitely had me excited for more. In terms of the above influences listed, I was picking up on each of them, but this track leaned more into the doomier side of things and less into the MANILLA ROAD and MERCYFUL FATE side.
“Devil His Due – Whores of Yerusalim”. HIGH WARDEN saw the future and saw my comment about ‘pure riffage’, and decided to begin their second track with yet another masterful piece of doom riffs. Right out of the gate, this one reminded me of CANDLEMASS quite a bit, but I was also picking up on a bit of ETERNAL CHAMPION and similar acts. While mostly a traditional epic doom affair, at the near 5 minute mark, HIGH WARDEN turned it up a notch, leaning a bit into their BATHORY influence (he growls!) as well as upping the overall tempo. They followed that up with yet another excellent riff, and then another. I have no stopped bobbing my head along to this album yet.
“Burgfrieden”. In contrast to the previous two tracks, this one was a less than 2 minute long synth driven track. The sweeping epicness of those synths would feel right at home in an 80s dark fantasy film like Krull. But the inclusion of dissonant guitar sounds almost gives the little track a bit of menace behind its grandiosity. Proper stuff this. These types of interlude tracks aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, and I get that. However, when done well, they add nothing but ambiance and scope to an album, and when done poorly, they’re a minute or two of filler. I definitely think this one falls into the former category, I can’t quite imagine Astral Iron without it.
“Pale Hunter”. Very drum heavy to start off, and for some reason it reminded me of those big Japanese war drum things, no idea why. As per usual, the riffing is immaculate. In this one, I was reminded strangely of Canada’s GATEKEEPER. At being a bit shy of 5 minutes, this was the shortest proper track on the album, and it certainly felt like it. While it wasn’t a bad song, or even a subpar one, I found it lacking a bit of that sense of epic scale that the first two tracks did.
“Astral Iron”. Now that’s a BATHORY influenced opening riff if I’ve ever heard one! The difference in vocal delivery in the beginning made this one stand out easily from the rest, almost a sort of ambient or even post-metal feel to it. While not as apparent as the BATHORY influence, I was really picking up on the MANILLA ROAD and MERCYFUL FATE here. Particularly in the way the vocals are delivered later in the track, they weren’t KD-esque falsetto, but they had his cadence. The ebbs and flows of this one made it an easy favorite for me, great stuff, and by god those riffs are delicious.
“We Shall Burn at Foreign Shores (The Choice of Achilles)”. As befitting a track that is described in the promo as ‘epic’, this one began with waves crashing and gorgeous, contemplative acoustic guitar work that made me imagine a fog covered mountainside as the ocean’s waves beat the rock endlessly. ‘Epic’ was a bold claim, but this track delivered in spades, it was a journey… an odyssey if you would. Genuinely, nothing I say can do this one justice. Dare I bestow upon thee, the coveted title of ‘banger’? I shall. Tis a banger. Also, they briefly segway into speed metal at the end, and it’s pure magic.
CONCLUSION
Epic doom done right! This was an absolute treat to listen to, and I cannot wait to add a copy of this album to my collection. This is easily in the running for my album of the year. I really appreciate that, while HIGH WARDEN makes their influences known front and center, that they aren’t derivative of any of them at all. Rather, they take parts and pieces from who inspired them to pick up axe and mic and use that to fuel their music and lyricism. Peak stuff here, don’t miss it!
TheNWOTHM Score: 9.5/10
HIGH WARDEN‘s Astral Iron releases on 22 November, 2024
>>>>GET YOURS<<<<
The Nwothm 
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