In some ways, Beelzefuzz’s loss was Pale Divine’s gain. The two outfits already shared three (out of four) members before the latter played its last gig at last year’s Maryland Doom Fest. And while Pale Divine previously had more of a straightforward, traditional doom sound, the proggier influences of the now-defunct Beelzefuzz are much more apparent on their sixth album.
Consquence of Time kicks off with “Tyrants & Pawns (Easy Prey),” which takes a pretty decent doom-metal riff, then adds a few more melodic flourishes. Some time changes in the last couple minutes add a more proggy flair, while we also see the appearance of a second lead vocalist – former Beelzefuzz frontman Dana Ortt. Second track “Satan in Starlight” abandons the doom-metal crawl for more of a Judas Priest mid-tempo gallop, with Ortt’s vocals soaring above the mix. Clocking in just shy of three minutes, “Shadow’s Own” displays the early 70’s grooves of Gun’s “Race with the Devil” with a dual-lead vocal adding extra impact, along with soaring guitar solos more akin to Alex Lifeson.
The meandering, gloomy “Phantasmagoria” is perhaps the closest this record comes to true doom, but again, Ortt’s vocal effectively cuts through the melancholy. The 10-minute title track also contains a riff that’s vintage Pale Divine, before slowing to a crawl just past the four-minute mark for a minute-long interlude leading to perhaps the most affecting lyric of the whole album – “So coooold” – followed by a super-slow-mo guitar solo.
Although they don’t necessarily bring the doom for the full 43 minutes, this song shows they’re still quite capable when they decide to do so.
RATING: 7.5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_KxfOFJ_cU
(Cruz del Sur Music)
