High Priestess’ 2018 debut was an album that kept popping up on my radar as an album to check out. Usually when I hear this much about a band I tend to get weary. While I never like to judge a book by its cover (or what I think the cover looks like), I decided to give High Priestess a spin. High Priestess’ self titled debut kicks off with a very promising tune called “Firefly.” This 10:12 epic started out piquing my interest and musically I felt like this band just might be on to something but by the 3 minute mark I found myself bored as fuck and just shaking my head: Here we go, just another doom band.
“Banshee” was just downright annoying with all of the cat growls (yes, I get it. Banshee. Rawwwrr!). This song had some really promising moments where I could totally hear a Doors (think “The End”) influence but then they just went right back into their ploddy generic doom shtick. I could pick these songs apart one by one in a nutshell, the best way I can describe High Priestess is just yet another forgettable doom band.
High Priestess has some good ideas and don’t get me wrong, they can play their asses off. Musically they are better than a lot of the other bands of this genre but at this point, being a doom band is akin to being just another deli meat on the shelf. The doom genre is so over saturated right now that it’s getting hard to actually pick out the ones that are doing it with some sincerity or those that are doing it to just ride the wave in.
I feel like High Priestess would make a much better psych rock band than a doom band as it just sounds forced and contrived. It’s really unfortunate because there are so many elements to this band that, if done differently, I would love but as it stands now, High Priestess is just another forgettable band in a sea of subpar doom bands.
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