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Dread Ogre are a three piece out of Sweden come to lay down the gauntlet of classic doom with their debut, and I'd say they struck pretty fucking hard. Influences include the usual suspects of Candlemass and Black Sabbath along with some Krux, and that becomes obvious when the addictive opening track "Heads Are Gonna Roll" comes stomping out of the speakers. This is all supported by the hooky guitar work and the gritty, often theatrical vocals of Jacob Kramsjö, which goes a long way in energizing and directing the songs. Killer tracks like the Krux-esque title track, album closer "I Sentence You," and the haunting, heavy as fuck album highlight "Justice. Honor. Courage," the latter of which contains hypnotic riffs and a powerful singalong chorus that blows everything else out of the water, perfectly displays what the band can do at full power, and at a little under forty minutes, I'd almost say the only flaw is that this release is just too short.

As far as I'm concerned, there's never enough doom that pays homage to the ancient greats while also building upon their shoulders to devastate the modern scene beyond simple imitation, and if this is what Dread Ogre built on their first attempt, then I eagerly await to see what they come up with next. An impressive debut.