Review: Horseburner ‘Voice Of Storms’

A perfect album to me is one that flows continuously. Each track seamlessly transitions into each other as one long song. The continuity is paired with a theme that matches the lyrics and cover art as one collective product. Ufomammut’s Eve comes to mind as one of the that checks all these boxes.

Horseburner‘s Voice Of Storms is the nine track forty-seven minute follow up album to The Thief that is one cohesive piece of art. The album cover is eye catching and fits with the lyrics that tell the tales of mistreated women throughout history. Each song is carefully crafted and placed with thought in each position on the album. Some songs (not all) effortlessly transition into each other. For instance, The Gift feeds into Heaven’s Eye like a river delta. The album can and should be listened to from start to finish like a book, but each song could also be experienced as an identity of their own.

For example, if you’re wanting some progressive metal in the vein of early Mastodon then check out The Gift which has a Blood and Thunder vibe with a hardcore edge. The harsher vocals on the album punch through gritty riff at the get go but become more melodic in time. You can then swing over to the frantic Palisades that has a hint of Dream Theater about thirty seconds in and its wild intro leads to a Vince McMahon meme worthy breakdown just over the minute mark.

Or, if you’re like me and have a mild obsession with the Izzet color scheme (where’s my Magic The Gathering fans?) then jump on over to Heaven’s Eye which draws on the power of Red and Blue albums by Baroness. The melodic vocals are tamer in comparison to The Gift but still pack a punch as they soar above the harmonic leads. Speaking of harmonic leads, Diana is where you should go next. The track leans more into the adventurous Howling Giant style simultaneously giving a nod to Horseburners‘ prior album The Thief with an ear worm of a riff. After that, take a listen to the single Hidden Bridges that draws comparisons to early Baroness and features a solo worthy of the term face melting. The track encompasses the lovable nuances of Horseburner while simultaneously showing the direction their music is heading.

The volley of silver arrows fly gracefully through the air and come cascading down as the explosive riffs press through…

At the mention of post-metal Horseburner says ‘Don’t worry, we got you.’ And they weren’t lying! Opening track Summer’s Bride is more of an intro running at nearly two minutes but the droning background slowly builds with clean reverb that crescendos into chaos. It’s short and sets up the album perfectly but Horseburner has more up their sleeve. Silver Arrow is a beautiful interlude further into the album that fills the surroundings with cavernous reverb. The volley of silver arrows fly gracefully through the air and come cascading down as the explosive riffs press through.

If the thought of silver arrows crashing down in battle has you looking for an adventure of your own, make sure to check out the acoustic song The Fawn. Grab your boots, your sword and shield and take the fantasy world by storm as your trusty bard serenades the journey in epic fashion. The well-paced track keeps you moving towards imminent danger on your quest.

If none of the above piques your interest and you’re not in the mood for a wild adventure, then the final song Widow (The Hunt & The Prize) is what will help. The grand closer encompasses many of the aspects of the previous songs into one tightly knit conclusion and can spark the fire for you to listen to the entire album. Besides the incredible track A Joyless King from 2019’s The Thief, I would use Widow as a great introductory song for a new (soon to be lifelong) fan.

I started this review by discussing my ideal album. While I stand by Ufomammut’s perfection with Eve, Horseburner challenged my ideas which is exactly what music should do. The band reaches across the genre spectrum pulling inspiration from a variety of sources. The various styles make me skip songs some days while I seek to listen to those very songs on other days and that’s powerful.

Label: Blues Funeral Recordings
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram

Scribed by: Josh Schneider