Reviews list for Cardinal Wyrm - Devotionals (2020)

I love Cardinal Wyrm - they are one of the great underappreciated doom metal bands operating currently and I have been a massive supporter of theirs since their early days This, their fourth album, however, is a bit of a letdown and may well be the first of their albums I don't purchase a physical copy of. In an attenpt to expand their sound and stretch out, they have released an album that is certainly more ambitious compositionally, but has ended up sounding a bit confused and less focussed. It's not terrible by any means and tracks like Canticle and Abbess kick all kinds of ass and retain plenty of their bombastic doom sound, but it just doesn't maintain momentum and wanders a bit, especially early on. Not a disaster by any means, but a step down from previous releases. Pity, I was really looking forward to this one.