ninehertz

The Toad Kings return, a band who have quickly risen to the status of one of the flagship bands of the UK doom underground. They won me over the first time seeing them live – electric on stage and humble on and off it – perhaps an odd observation, but it remains with me, they genuinely seemed happy to have people watching them and it bolstered first opinions. That was early on in their existence – there’s now a back catalogue of releases that affirm Goblinsmoker’s quality.

The King’s Eternal Throne is just four tracks long, but with great doom depth so as not to leave you feeling short changed. Take Shamanic Rites – here's what makes them so appealing - it’s not the theme, the storytelling, the concept (all of which are well and good), it is the masterful doom and croaky yet powerful vocals, this finds it groove and stays there, not particularly adventurous but happy to reside in its own power.

I’m slightly distracted by the title of the second track, Burn Him, reminding me from out of the blue of that 'local shop for local people' scene from The League of Gentlemen... anyway, the vocals really shrine here, gravelly, hoarse to the point of practically being black metal. It adds such venom to their swamp doom world. There's an interesting injection of pace two thirds through, the song turning stoner rock, or the 'groovier' end of sludge at least.

The title track arrives next, but I’m not taken with it, a bit by the numbers for me which is a shame. It ends with Toad King (Forest Synth Offering), a surprise sub-four minute synth track. Once you get over the desire for more devilish doom riffs, you actually realise this is a really cool way to end the album.

This maybe not their best album, but that points more to the solid body of work they have compiled in such a short existence than any real criticism - The King's Eternal Throne is still an almighty doom behemoth of a record, further bolstering Goblinsmoker’s well deserved lofty reputation.