Shepherd-The Coldest Day
Exile on Mainstream Records-Mainstream Record 17-August 16, 2004
By Josh Phillips
Shepherd describe themselves as 70s riff-rock mixed with dark doom and apparently,
The Coldest Day is their second and final release, after a break up due to artistic differences. Listening to this release, you’d never know that the band was on the verge of splitting up.
Built on riffs, but carried by the vocals,
The Coldest Day manages to sound soulful and southern. The strange thing about that, is the fact that these musicians hail from Germany. I didn’t think a German band could make me want to go throw rocks in the Mississippi River on a rainy day, but the cut entitled “Monday” makes me want to do just that. Distant, lulling, haunting vocals guide this song through its foggy atmosphere and as it enters its final minute, there is an outburst of rock n’ roll and a painful scream reminding me of Kurt Cobain on the
Bleach album. That is what makes this vocal performance so interesting for me, the variety from one song to the next. For the track “Tuesday” take James Hetfield(
Metallica), cross him with
My Own Prison era Scott Stapp(
Creed) and you get an interesting doom voice. This selection plods along at a medium pace before “Wednesday” slows things back down, returns to the southern feeling vibe and releases vocals that would fit into the Bob Dylan stereotype category. Listen and you may see what I mean. Following up is “Thursday” and it features the most soulful vocal performance yet and well-timed drumming. The drums don't stand out and lead the way, but add to the overall effect and give the songs more power. “Friday” is a brief instrumental followed by, you might have guessed it, “Saturday” which sounds like a mix of the first two songs and is probably the most grooving this record has to offer. “Sunday” features the best leads on the album and the most interesting group of riffs. Clocking in at over 9 minutes it is also the record’s longest song, next to the following cut, “Doomsday.” This song measures in at 31:29, but I wouldn’t waste my time listening to the entire thing, just skip to the final four minutes or so to hear an actual song. The rest is pretty much sludgy noise, spoken word passages, silence and strangely placed saxophone. If that sounds like your thing, go for it, if not, proceed to skip a good 28 minutes of this album.
Now, I’m not the most familiar with Doom Metal, but I do know that it revolves in large part around slower, powerful riffs and this album has plenty of that, though it is certainly at its peak when the pace quickens. A lot of parts remind me of
Dixie Witch and their album,
Into the Sun, especially the more southern rock styled pieces that grabbed my attention the most. I enjoyed the riffs and the vocal performance was interesting and added a lot of variation to the musical formula. The album really should have ended after “Sunday”, which would have cut the album time in half and made it a more cohesive unit. Opener “Monday” is also by far the album’s best song.
As a note, this band has been compared to
Electric Wizard by some, having never heard that band, I couldn’t tell you whether the comparison is warranted, but if it will help you make a decision, all the better. It’s a shame
Shepherd had to disband after releasing so little material, I would have liked to see an album full of songs like “Monday”, but it doesn’t seem that will happen. A good album that has made my interest in Doom grow slightly, but for the initiated, it may not be what you’re looking for.
7/10
Official Exile on Mainstream Records Website
I dig this band...
