Doublestone

Doublestone EP

Written by: TAJ on 27/01/2013 15:21:35

Behind the name Doublestone are three men from Copenhagen who with their newest self-titled EP have adapted a very back to basics sound rooted in the seventies. Retro doom/hard rock are very apparent elements that make you think of bands such as Black Sabbath and Pentagram. It's the occasional heavy guitar riffling that crawls alongside a groovy bass line, the very apparent occult references (example song title “Hand of Lucifer”) that binds such associations. I mention retro before doom, as a wider understanding of the term doom today is often of a lot denser and slower heaviness, while Doublestone connect more to the earlier artists of the genre, being noticeably more melodic. The production too is aimed for this soulful period of the seventies, being recorded without modern musical alterations.

However it's not all doom and gloom although Doublestone use some of those elements. Just take “Hand of Lucifer” that despite the title and lyrics (“This road is paved with blood and tears”) actually displays a very cheerful vibe sound-wise. It follows a classic hard rock formula of a more groove-oriented verse with a cosy bass line and distortion-stripped guitar play while letting out all the fuzz on the guitar in the chorus where now drums and high hat's are struck equally eagerly and the vocals turn a notch wilder. Being such a classic and tested formula it provides the right effect and sounds great but at the same time occasionally ends up sounding a bit too similar to other acts. Especially following song “An Omen” makes me think of Kadavar's “Black Sun Rising” with a similar bass line.

“Doublestone” is definitely a pleasant listen with great hooks and overall it pulls off the retro vibe really well, but it does however lack identity as well. This said, I find the EP closer “Wolves Gotta Howl” quite interesting as it in some way uses and even combines, the up-beat spirit of the hard rock tracks and the alerting atmosphere of something dark to come. A track that shows promise for the full length to distance the band from anonymity.

7

Download: Wolves Gotta Howl, Your Mother Said, Hand Of Lucifer
For The Fans Of: Kadaver, Orchid, Graveyard, Pentagram
Listen: facebook

Release Date 19.01.2013
Self Released

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