Review: Heriot – Devoured by the Mouth of Hell
Just do yourself a favor and listen to this one.
Heriot is an interesting band with an interesting story and an interesting blend of influences. Let’s tackle that aforementioned story first. Originally the band was formed way back in 2014 based in Swindon UK; they released a debut EP titled Violence and then went on to play shows such as the Bloodstock festival in 2016. After that however, their Drummer Julian Gage moved to Bristol for college and the band went mostly stagnant for a number of years. In 2019 they added Debbie Gough to their lineup as a second guitarist/vocalist and practically rebuilt the band from the ground up including a new musical style. From that point on they re-launched the band including a new debut single in 2020 and an EP in 2022. This is when I learned about them and started listening myself. That brings us to today with their debut LP titled Devoured by the Mouth of Hell. Spoiler alert… it’s fucking good.
The new record comes in at just under 34 minutes long—that’s a bit short for my liking but there’s a lot going on across its 10 tracks so it feels like a longer listen than it actually is. The closest genre I can think to compare it to would probably be sludge, but trust me when I tell you that’s selling it short. There’s no shortage of pure sludge HM-2 driven knuckledraggers, but there are also tracks that take inspiration from elsewhere and venture far off the expected path. It starts strong with the track “Foul Void” opening with some atmospheric, dissonant guitar lines; that is, until about 15 seconds in when Debbie Gogh’s high-pitched shrieks slice through the mix. From then on this track acts as an unstoppable sludge steamroller with nasty double tracked guitars accented with almost death metal style drum motifs. That style persists with many of the other tracks on this record but there are definitely a few standouts.
Speaking of standouts, the third track “Opaline” reminds me a lot of the collaboration album between Chelsea Wolfe and Converge; it’s much more relaxed which is a good contrast compared to most of the rest of the record. It opens with some nice clean guitar smothered in reverb; we then get the drums and Debbie Gogh coming in but this time much more laid back—it almost has a retrospective vibe to it. This track also has probably my favorite guitar solo from the record, super juicy tone and slow-paced, emotive lead lines, just the way I like them. By the last third of the track the energy picks back up a bit with some distorted guitar and guttural vocals which all lead directly into the next track which continues the sludge breakdown fest the first two tracks started.
Each of the next few tracks have remarkable qualities to them, be it the melodic rage of “Siege Lord,” the blistering stomp and guitar tone of “Sentenced to the Blade,” or the haunting samples and bassline of “Solvent Gaze.” However, the track that really stands out to me is “Lashed;” in a way it reminds me a lot of a Health song—it has much more of an industrial edge to it than anything else on the record. It’s another one of the slower tracks that act as a sort of intermission similar to “Opaline” but this one has a bit more substance to chew on. Like many Health tracks it has a slow, droning 4/4 beat, and on top of that beat they layer atmospheric synths double tracked and panned to either side with the vocals slicing through the center of the mix. We get a good variety of Debbie’s haunting, almost ethereal cleans and Jake Packer’s low-pitched distorted screams, and it all culminates in an extremely densely-packed song that I still find more details in even after listening to it 10+ times. That replay value is in my opinion a huge strong suit of this project as a whole.
I really enjoy the way this album flows, I can tell they put some serious time and thought into the track order here. The first two tracks have great synergy with each other by making use of similar styles while still being distinct from each other, the third track acts as almost an intermission allowing a moment to breathe while being a phenomenal song in its own right. The heavier songs are very dense and I love that about them, but if the more chill songs were removed I could imagine kind of glazing over and not noticing all of the intricate details if experienced back to back. Like mentioned previously, they provide another intermission track with “Lashed” but they’re only intermissions in the sense that they aren’t balls to the wall batshit crazy like the rest. Every track here has a purpose and a sound of its own while still fitting in with all of the rest. I’m just extremely impressed with the songwriting on display with this one.
In conclusion, I think this thing speaks for itself, listen to it front to back and give it all the attention it deserves—you will not be disappointed. The musicianship is remarkable and the production is flawless. I’m half tempted to give a complete breakdown of every track but I’m deciding against it because I feel that if you’ve read this far you should just experience it yourself at this point. As for standout tracks I think “Opaline,” “Sentenced to the Blade,” “Solvent Gaze,” “Lashed,” and “Visage” are my favorites but don’t just listen to those, I think this record is much better enjoyed in order, the way the band intended it to be. I could keep on going but since this is already my longest review I think I’m gonna cut myself off.
For the first time since I started writing for TovH over a year ago, this one gets…
5/5 Flaming Toilets Ov Hell
Check it out on Bandcamp! Go on… Buy that beautiful 24 bit lossless copy, you know you want it. I definitely would if I didn’t get it already.
Devoured by the Mouth of Hell was released on September 27th via Century Media Records.
