STONEGARD – From Dusk Till Doom

Stonegard’s debut album, Arrows (2005), was a stunning release. The Norwegian quartet had written a set of songs that was more than worthy of international recognition. Not that the band achieved world domination, but as they’ve got more and more live gigs it became clearer and clearer … as long as Stonegard plays their songs live, their fan base seems to increase.

Stonegard is a thrilling live band. However, their debut recording was only 35 minutes long, so now it’s about time that the fans got some new material to digest.

From Dusk Till Doom is their new offering, and as the amusing title may reveal, they haven’t got any softer. Drummer Erlend attacks his drum kit more violently than the last time around, and the melody lines are more compressed. They have also added a lot more Hardcore backing vocals, which give their musical expressions a much more Black approach.

By doing so, they’ve risked losing some fans who might not be comfortable in following them deeper into the dark woods, but quite a few new, eager listeners will definitely pop up from behind the trees. From being a band easily comparable to kings of the hill like Metallica, Anthrax, and Megadeth, Stonegard has now put on even more weight. However, they has not spawned anything fat and clumsy like Metallica’s St. Anger. No, From Dusk Till Doom is strutting with muscles.

From Dusk Till Doom might not hold standout tracks like “Arrows,” “The White Shaded Lie,” and ”Triggerfinger” from their debut, but the album still displays highlights like “Morpheon,” “Helios, Cursed,” “S&C” and “Locust” — heavy killer tracks that are all showing how Grrim has developed nicely as a vocalist.

Stonegard has done a lot for the Metal scene in their home country Norway over the last two years. Steadily, they are broadening their arena. Be aware.