Horn of The Rhino - Weight of Coronation (2010)

  Rhino continued their eclectic musical activity after a name change as Horn of The Rhino. Even though this might also suspect a new start, since the band's music seemed to turn more unified, but in general this tendency was just another twist that was previously usual at them too, but this time on a bigger scale.

   Still "Weight of Coronation" is a way calmer album, and on the side of the involved various different style influences (sludge, doom, stoner, even progressive metal) the combination of stoner/doom became dominant. Interestingly because of the wide style range there could be a long line of names to be menioned if it's about exact band influences; and it might be difficult to not make it up too subjective, since all bands together mind sound like a great paradox. But this antinomic soil definitely includes all the basics that the band was building up their music from. Their previous aggressive sludgy approach drifted closer to a more melancholic, heavier and kind of psychedelic tone. The intensiveness that was one of their main features as Rhino, didin't disappear completely, only it's role reduced. Occasionally it returns still, but less effectively. If sludge/doom metal basics getting similarly mixed, progression-related influences, the music turns inevitably softer, partly because too noisy sound and intense speed performed by savage hammering doesn't let other features to prevail, or only very restricted. Sludge and progressive metal are not really compatibe with each other, no matter how many are experimenting with that: one on the 2 styles have to give up a lot from it's effectiveness. So drifting closer to stoner rock seems like a quite reasonable step. Also the extended song lenghts and the heaviness-based main tone doesn't make these various different influences easily identified. Both having a unifying effect, that are working together quite effectively. By this tendency the band introduced a more mainstream aspect of themselves, but that's still not the easiest album to go into, thanks to their mix of complexity and heaviness.