Nightfly A fairly new band from California, Beastmaker impressed former Cathedral singer Lee Dorrian enough with their self-released EP, You Must Sin, to sign them up to his Rise Above Records. Anyone familiar with this labels stable of artists will hardly be surprised as it’s the kind of doom infused retro metal that Rise Above excel in. More akin to the likes of Black Sabbath and Pentagram than the weed soaked fuzzy groove of Electric Wizard, hell, it even has the cheek to open with church bells like Sabbath’s debut; there’s confidence for you.

Whilst this trio don’t exactly bring anything new to the table it doesn’t really matter when the 12 compositions are this good as one compelling riff follows another. Clean vocals, like a slightly lower register Ozzy are welcome and preferable in this type of doom than the growls employed by some bands in the genre. There’s some tastefully restrained atmospheric guitar arpeggios interspaced between the heavy riffing adding dynamics and interest too. Whilst no track in particular stands out, it’s a measure of the quality on offer here rather than any weakness.

Overall, a great debut album and anyone with a taste for the likes of Sabbath, Witchcraft, the Sword and Pentagram should check them out pronto.