Dark and dreary times can have come for all, and not all music can be bright and cheerful, thankfully for those that relish in the merk, Heron has provided the soundtrack for you. Dry, coarse, cleans invite you in before saturated and Godly distorted tones bludgeon you at sloth-like paces matched with just as harsh vocals beating the drums of the apocalypse, and this is just the opener at a mere 9 minutes alone, ‘Long in the Tooth’ indeed. ‘Death on the Malahat’ hits a bit heavier and more deliberately, it has an almost Bolt Thrower touch to its execution as its militant drumming dictates the pace, vocals change up a little between the high snapping and deep, guttural growls.
‘Boiling Ancient Light’ barely even starts and already sounds pure filth, as the gears begin to grind into motion, the froth slowly bubbles and boils before breaching two minutes in, another impressionable epic beast that eats heavily into the 37 minute long LP, the speed increases plenty until it crashes down again six minutes in, there’s something almost Conan about them. ‘Void Lurker’ sticks out as a personal favourite with its evil sounds and horror, its mellow exit matching its beginnings. Track five is by far a standout, needing no introduction, you can see exactly where the blueprints of Heron come from with an amazing cover of a certain little Swedish bands track from 1993, Entombed all the way! A brutal and fantastic rendition to honour the Swedish legends.
‘Endless’ closes out and sits slightly different to the rest of the album, the gnarly is all still very much present, but it’s all about the mellow interlude for me, it sits in such contrast to everything previous yet fits perfectly, and when that heavy kicks back in, there are few words…
All in, Time Immemorial is a dark, oppressive, hope crushing force, it’ll have many walk away in despair simply because they cannot cater to the taste of sludge, but this band is so much more than just sludge, the brush strokes with these are thick, and the lines are clear, but with thick brushstrokes comes a crossing of lines by the plenty. For those seeking heavy, something in here you will find indeed. There’s plenty of room to grow, but this is a strong indication that they are on the way to something here and a band to keep an eye on.
