Stones of Babylon- Ishtar Gate (Raging Planet RP362)

This is the 2nd album by the Portuguese instrumental doom rock band, Stones of Babylon. This album follows their debut Hanging Gardens from 2019 that I reviewed on this blog. This album features 6 tracks following a sort of Mesopotamia theme. Fantastic artwork (look forward to see the vinyl of this one).  The CD starts off with Gilgamesh, some sounds and an ancient language chant, before the first Candlemass like riff kicks in!!  I was just waiting for Messiah to kick in.. Anyway, the band riff away for a while and then the guitar kicks in some wah and the mood changes. A more open clean production on this album.  Anyway, lots of changes but pretty solid 9min track… Anunnaki starts slowly with just guitar before the rest of the band kicks in. The same riff is repeated many times when the drums and bass kick in before the heavy shit kicks in. After 4mins it comes down with a clean guitar sound and then a flangy effect is used and then back to the heavy… A more noisy guitar is mixed in as well towards the end as we pass the 9 min mark. Pazuzu starts off with what sounds like Richard Burton and more mysterious sound and a bit of eastern riff but one that has been used a lot by a lot of bands. Then the most brutal heavy riff of the album kicks in. Not a new riff by a long shot but a heavy one! A bit of delay on the drums later on was a cool add on during the mellower section. The title track is next and starts with the bass alone. It goes thru some eastern like riffs and things change more rapidly than on other tracks. A quite diverse track and not as heavy. The Fall of Ur has a very nice 2nd guitar line at different parts between the heavy.  Tirgris and Euphrates closes the album.. 

Great to hear a band like this in Portugal but I have to say, not a lot of new ideas appear and we have heard this style of doom rock a lot. It is hard to make something unique in this genre. Check it out. Solid but not that unique. I think they could have messed about with the sound, more layers, more experimental twists… I do not know… Anyway.. a cool album… It grows on you the more you hear it aswell… Parabéns! 

http://stonesofbabylon.bandcamp.com

http://ragingplanet.pt