Andrew Danso

Alunah suffer from an identity crisis, with their music much more embedded in classic roots, than what they say themselves to be psychedelic doom. It’s wrong, this is a classic prog rock outfit, which perhaps flirts with the ideas of sludgy doom, and trippy psychedelia - otherwise it’s a label only stamped for effect.

Personality conflicts aside, “Call of Avernus” kicks things off lethargically, but it’s only when Alunah decide to break free of their stuffed shirt genre reservations, do they really find their feet, and the first track “Living Fast In An Ancient Land” is really indicative of this; starting at snails pace before switching through the gears into a classic rock riffathon. Soph Willet nails it half of the time on the record, with a dynamic performance, reminiscent of Kelly Johnson (Girlschool). The other half feels misfitting, crying out for something more powerful and less melodic, something to punch above the muddy wall of powerchords. Whilst this is certainly a prickly debut, it doesn’t quite get underneath the skin, psychedelic, doom, classic, progressive, or whatever category applied.

7/10 Powerplay issue #128