Regular gig goers will probably be familiar with the name Heriot. Having played festivals such as Download and Slam Dunk, and scored support slots with Sleep Token and Architects, this Bristol based band have covered a lot of ground in the last few years. Even if you haven’t caught the band’s explosive live show, then you’ve probably heard them championed by the likes of Trivium and Lamb Of God. Having signed a deal with the legendary Century Media label, there’s a weight of expectation attached to their debut album and Devoured By The Mouth Of hell finds them stepping up to the plate, and in some style.
Opening track ‘Foul Void’ arrives with all fists flying; there’s a sense of urgency here which means that there’s no time to waste on elongated introductions or fancy preliminaries. There’s a wall of feedback from which the band appear with the red raw vocals of Debbie Gough leading the charge closely followed by a jack hammer riff and a pounding rhythm section. In terms of heaviness, it proves itself pretty prophetic and introduces many themes that will echo throughout the album; there’s a tension of opposites here between crushing brutality and litheness, each acting as a foil to highlight and enhance the other. Then there’s the contrast between Debbie’s banshee screech and Jake Packer’s guttural growl whilst the guitars are tethered by a weighty rhythm section. The result is akin to stepping into a hall of mirrors with sound being refracted and reflected in different directions.
With no two tracks inhabiting the same sonic space, Devoured By The Mouth Of Hell makes the perfect calling card; there’s elements of hardcore, industrial and trad metal on display, but it never feels eclectic. The album is threaded together by an almost indefinable quality, I guess you’d call it a signature sound, a propensity towards the darkness that gives the album an overarching, unified feel. There’s something magical when Erhan Alman (guitar), Julian Gage (drums), Debbie Gough (vocals/guitar) and Jake Packer (vocals/bass) play together, it’s the kind of chemistry that only happens once in a lifetime (if you’re lucky) and there’s definitely an alchemy at work, a musical magic, that radiates from the speakers during ‘Sentenced To The Blade’ that’s jaw-dropping in its majesty. This is an album that’s bursting at the seams with great ideas, so much so that one listen will never be enough to take it all in and it’ll reward repeat plays as successive spins reveal all its nuances.
As the more established bands start to shuffle off towards the great gig in the sky, the burning question arises at the end of every festival season as to who will be next year’s headliners, well the answer has finally arrived in the shape of Heriot. Believe the hype.
- Devoured By The Mouth Of Hell is released via Century Media on 27th September 2024.
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Track List:
1. Foul Void
2. Harm Sequence
3. Opaline
4. Siege Lord
5. Sentenced to the Blade
6. Solvent Gaze
7. Lashed
8. At the Fortress Gate
9. Visage
10. Mourn
