In the wake of the battle, it has emerged that Thane has died. Great sorrow overcomes the tribe. It is a loss to the realms of middle-land. The hero, the sacrificial warrior, takes leave in the ensuing funeral - a burning pyre. The seeress enshrouds the village in fog using her skill at weather magic, shielding the mourners from further attack. As the mists descend, wisps of light and streaks of spark climb skyward, until the shield-skin of Thane finally cracks and his soul lifts to Heofen, with a powerful bluish light.
This has been staple listening for me since I first got the CD in 2006. Raw but not to the extent that it is unlistenable, the riffs are heavy and memorable, with each song having it's own identity.
Wartooth's vocals are certainly a highlight of Bretwaldas' sound. Rough and gritty, in the best way, as he snarls out lyrics about Dark Ages warriors, heathenism and nature. If you can imagine if Lemmy was a Brummie and sang on an early Black Sabbath album then you're getting somewhere near the sound of this Midlands duo.
This album is class from beginning to end but if I was to have to choose highlights I'd go for album opener The Haunted Ride, Iron Skies (a song of two gloriously different halves) and Beneath the Eaves. The latter appeared on a CD with Zero Tolerance magazine way back and was the undisputed stand out track on there. Grimslath
A more melody-driven album than Battle Staffs... with a tighter feel to the song structures, but still retaining that rich, doom-sodden heaviness. This release came out four years after Battle Staffs... and it’s always good to see a band further develop their sound, without losing one drop of the raw energy that drew you to them in the first place Ken Goodey