Grand Magus - Sunraven (2024)^{Release ID: 55677}

Grand Magus are one of my favourite bands, a go-to act when I long for some epic norse heavy metal and a consistent provider of fist-pumping and horns-raising battle hymns. Sunraven is the trio's tenth album and comes a full five years after the very solid, if not exactly earth-shattering, Wolf God. Well, was it worth the wait? I would give an unequivocal "hell yeah!" To my ears this is the band's best since 2012's stellar The Hunt.

Metal has become a very diverse scene over the years. There are bands who push the envelope of what it is to be metal, there are bands that strive to be ever more extreme in brutality or heaviness, there are yet others who seek to elicit deep emotions and those who create gorgeous, sweeping and epic soundscapes. All those are great and deserve every respect, but one of the most maligned types of metal bands that exist today are those that know what their fanbase expect and enjoy and who deliver that in the form of expertly crafted "songs" that tap into the days when fans listened to metal for enjoyment and to pump their fists in the air whilst banging their heads out of sheer exuberance for the glorious sounds leaping at them from out of their speakers. Grand Magus are one such band and, in my opinion, one of the best. This is metal that is meant to be experienced and enjoyed, not dissected by chin-stroking pseudo-intellectuals who would shit themselves at the mere thought of diving into a moshpit.

Sunraven is a very tight album, it's nine tracks run for a total of only thirty-five minutes, so there is no self-indulgent wankery here, this is to-the-point and succinct metal that encapsulates the very essence of the genre. The production is great, with superb clarity and a nice depth to the sound, especially in it's vinyl format. Grand Magus have few contemporary rivals in heavy metal when it comes to writing sing-along choruses and memorable riffs that swirl around your head for days. I for one find it almost impossible to get through a GM album without bawling out at least one chorus, much to the consternation of all the other dog walkers in the woods that day, I dare say!

The rhythm section of bassist Fox and drummer Ludwig are terrific, the drums here sound excellent in fact, and the basslines are economical and powerful, the two operating as a tight and efficient unit, but, let's be honest, Grand Magus are defined by guitarist and vocalist, JB and he is on fine form throughout Sunraven's runtime. He has a strong and fairly powerful, yet unstrained voice with a clear delivery which enables the listener to discern all the lyrics easily. His guitar work is impressive, without being even remotely showy, with well-written, memorable riffs and some of his finest solos to date, sounding natural and efficient but also epic and vital at the same time, which is not always an easy feat to achieve.

There really isn't much more to say, Sunraven is unapologetically business as usual for Grand Magus, but when your business is just so fucking metal then who's going to complain. They take great delight in the tropes of heavy metal and celebrate their own scandinavian heritage and epic myths with pride and affection it seems. I, for one, am glad that a band like Grand Magus, who possess an instinctive feel for metal, still exist and have carved out a dedicated following of nuts who are still able to celebrate the genre for the escapist, life-affirming wonder that it is capable of being. If tracks like !Skyborne", "Wheel of Pain", "Hour of the Wolf" and the title track aren't capable of getting your head nodding and your fingers twitching of their own accord in an attempt to throw the horns, then you probably need to check your pulse... or at least your metal credibility!