Band:	Horns Of Anguish
Album:	Barriers
Style:	Doom metal, Sludge metal
Release date:	August 2009

01. Beyond The Bounds Of Life
02. Barriers
03. Ominous
04. Scorch
05. Evading Capture
06. Led Astray
07. A New Bred Plague

Horns Of Anguish is a new band from Sweden (amusingly enough, they first called themselves Grandma's Vomit), with only two members, who recorded everything on Barriers, their first album. This little slab of heavy music features seven songs, for a bit less than an hour of music.

Now, let's be more specific. With Barriers, we're speaking about slow, about heavy. Yes, doom, but one that often leans towards a sludgy sound à la Cult Of Luna or Ghost Brigade, for example - the songs "Ominous" and "Scorch" are clearly in this vein.

The drumming is all tight and good, as is the riffing. The voice sounds not really powerful, and that's a shame really, as it otherwise fits quite well in the music. The mix did put it a bit in the background, and this emphasizes nicely the disenchanted tone of the album.
The songs themselves are generally well written. They might be repetitive, but not in the boring sense of the word, and the band is not afraid to add quite a few variations in the riffs - and then there's also the startling break in "Led Astray". All the songs are different from each other, having their own identity while staying in the same mood (quite forlorn if you ask me).

As it's Horns Of Anguish first record, so some things to upgrade for sure; I guess some songs could have been shorter, for example. While they have nothing original or exceptional about them yet, it's a nice start, as they did put on some good stuff. And well, if you're not into doom, you might just let your mind wander elsewhere. However, if you like your stuff reasonably slow and heavy, you certainly should give Horns of Anguish a try.