Review: Howling Giant – Crucible & Ruin

October 21, 2025

1929

Fee-Fi-Fo-FUN.

I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I wasn’t even aware of Howling Giant prior to reviewing the band’s new album, Crucible & Ruin. It’s a name that feels immediately familiar because it invokes some pretty cool imagery, even if you’ve never actually heard the band. When I finally sat down to listen and the album opener “Canyons” washed over me, I knew I was in for a rare experience of hearing a band for the very first time that I will probably love for a very long time.

Howling Giant—Tom Polzine (guitar, vocals), Zach Wheeler (drums, vocals), Sebastian Baltes (bass, vocals), and Adrian Lee Zambrano (guitars, synthesizers)—plays a variation of heavy psych that also draws from classic metal and shoegaze. Coming from Nashville, where you can watch some of the world’s most talented working musicians any night of the week, you had better believe that Howling Giant’s abilities are in step with their city’s more famous twang merchants.

It’s a bad habit of mine to immediately search for reference points while listening to a new band and I really do try to catch myself, but the groovy second track, “Hunter’s Mark,” had a few moments that really tempted comparison. There’s a comforting vocal similarity to Ghost’s Tobias Forge on display here and as the song progresses past its infectious dual guitar harmonies, you can also pick up on some Southern sludge influence in the Windsteinian riff that closes the song.

The production is immaculate on Crucible & Ruin. Neil Tuuri’s engineering and mixing work perfectly, capturing a band in their peak form. After I took a discography dive on the band, it was clear that Howling Giant have topped themselves creatively with each new release and their previous record, 2023’s Glass Future, took a notable step toward more complex riffs and arrangements compared to their fuzzier debut album. Crucible & Ruin successfully merges both approaches while managing to hide any obvious seams, and it sounds damn good.

Howling Giant has created some of their most memorable music yet on Crucible & Ruin. I dare anyone to listen to “Archon” or “Beholder I: Downfall” without having either song stuck in their head for the remainder of the day. The latter track’s opening line of “Older than time, each step that it takes splits the earth and shakes the sky” leaves a vivid impression on the listener and the words add even more weight to the colossal riff propping them up.

Despite the heaviness that is front and center throughout the album, there are just as many moments where Howling Giant mellows out and allows the listener to catch their breath before it’s taken away again. The 10-song album features two instrumentals, each one seeming to be placed in the perfect spot within the track sequence. “Lesser Gods” is a meditative but weighty jam that goes beyond the typical instrumental fluff that, let’s be honest, way too many albums have. “The Observatory” is more subdued and serene but tees up the closing track perfectly. While I typically don’t like instrumental interludes on most albums, these two are thoughtfully placed and enjoyable to listen to.

The pièce de résistance on this album is arguably “Beholder II: Labyrinth,” where like a lawyer giving their closing argument, Howling Giant tightly states their case over the course of a 6-minute runtime. The song opens with a huge doom chord progression and then a haunting vocal melody that’s interlaced through a chugging guitar riff. To again indulge in the temptation of comparison, the song’s chorus actually reminds me of later-period Rush, where the band had a decidedly heavier bottom end. By the time we reach the final minutes of the song, it becomes pretty obvious why this was chosen to close the album. Guitarists Polzine and Zambrano’s drawn-out chords and ringing harmonics slide into a duo of emotional guitar solos sprawling over the dramatic finale.

Crucible & Ruin should be an enjoyable listen for any fan of heavy music, especially for those who aren’t afraid of a catchy melody. It’s easily one of the best albums of its kind released this year and Howling Giant’s trajectory from this point could be really fun to watch.