Album Details

• Artist: Pilgrim
• Album: Misery Wizard
• Label: Metal Blade
• Year of Release: 2012
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: patchen on 2012-02-07

From Providence comes another murky, ancient beast, though Pilgrim are more Sabbtath than Lovecraft. The six songs on "Misery Wiizard" lurch and crunch with deliberate anti-groove, a grim heaviness that ought to put a fierce fear in many a doom poser. This is the real meat. Even the mythic- fantasy lyrics are at a higher level than most doom acts.

While heavy and gritty like a good doom metal band, Pilgrim also dare to incorporate the operatic vocals and soaring dramatic riffs that in lesser hands would be grist for the next Christopher Guest film. So you listen to with a certain cringe to songs like "Astaroth" and "Quest" for the slip into self-parody that never comes. The band is too self-aware to make such mistakes, and the foundational riffs are so massive and memorable that even if some cheese floated to the surface you wouldn't care. Like Sabbath's first record, "Forsaken Man," Adventurer" and the title track are so fresh and overwhelming that any wincing over subject matter is ignored; there is better meat and grog to be had in these massive tracks.

User Reviews and Comments

on 2012-12-13 SolitaryMan Said:

Just happened across this record, and I've enjoyed it thoroughly. My only problem with it is the somewhat formulated approach they take in certain places, where variety would pay off more than a seemingly endless drone of the same riff. Of course, blunt repetition of riffing is a hallmark of doom metal at it's heart, which is one of the fundamental reasons why it's always turned me off to a degree. Still, this is a worthwhile album, and I now understand why so many doomheads creamed their pants over it earlier in the year.
Rating: 7/10