Out of the briars and mud into the grey skies of the realm south-facing London, England-borne heavy rock/heavy metal quintet Green Lung return for a third full-length album intending it to serve as an atlas for their adventures through the surreal folklore and witching horror of their land. The latest leap in their quick and clean ascension beyond stoner doom-rock beginnings ‘This Heathen Land‘ doesn’t slap away the fuzz and the colossal lean of riffs past entirely but tempers doom fittingly into their oeuvre per a larger story told. Focused on deeper experiential value and equipped with their catchiest material to date this album gets its hooks in by way of refined yet easygoing songcraft in tune with the soaring highs and lows of the late 70’s/early 80’s heavy rock experience and because of this it’ll read as an ambitious yet entirely approachable ride.

Green Lung formed circa 2017 and they’ve been somewhat relentless since, finding quick popularity between stoner doom metal and approachable heavy psychedelic rock tonality as they’d matured quickly. Around 2018 they’d add a hymnal element per a bit of organ grinding and leaned into an occult/heavy rock sound which’d precipitated their jump to Svart Records by the time I’d reviewed their second full-length album (‘Black Harvest‘, 2021) where you’ll find a pretty thorough course through their discography leading up to that point. When the big swinging doom-rock riffs and Hammond hum hit on “Old Gods” a couple years ago that mid-to-late 70’s Sabbath sneer hit pretty hard and make a quick fan of me and fans of The Sword, Uncle Acid and folks seeking something a bit bigger in scope than the usual retro-stoner drift. We’d more-or-less get a sense of where this third LP would go by way of songs like “You Bear the Mark”, still carrying some of that stoner swing in their movement but leaning away from the big riff towards the big hook. We’ll consider that a warm up for this comparatively cinematic, better fleshed and rounded showing on ‘This Heathen Land‘ as we step out of doom and deeper into their own shade of folken, 80’s prog-rock tinged sound.

There are no smoke and mirrors applied to the themes of ‘This Heathen Land‘ as the subtitle explains itself per “A Journey Into Occult Albion” and Green Lung‘ve outlined their intent of a cinematic experience which reflects old creeped-out television documentaries on the occult past of England and the album is designed to look like a road atlas or tourist guide to those events. This gives much more scenery for these folks to depict beyond the fittingly cathedral-set sermon of ‘Black Harvest‘ but they generally arrive upon a strong sense of place by way of varietal moods, different sorts of melodies and generally keep their work feeling like a well rounded classic heavy rock undertaking in hi-fi; In terms of the render and general production values they’ve worked with Wayne Adams (Bear Bites Horse Studio) in aiming for the era of Martin Birch, producer for all things Deep Purple related as well as Dio-era Sabbath and early Maiden, for inspiration and while that is an interesting spin the record ends up achieving a presence closer to recent records from Ghost (see: “Maxine (Witch Queen)” and Turbowolf per the mix from Tom Dalgety. This isn’t such a major note or criticism, though, they’ve upheld and surpassed the rich and glowing dramatism of the last record and it helps quite a bit as the band’s songcraft becomes doubly ambitious in its stretch beyond the tropes of underground retro-metal and stoner rock.

Though we are still a far cry from a ‘The Guessing Game‘-level experience fans of peak Cathedral might step into this album appreciating the gusto of opener “The Forest Church” certainly a peak pre-’78 heavy metal piece in the most theatric sense, organ solo and operatic finale included. We aren’t necessarily greeted with the idiosyncratic vision of rock one might expect from a third LP and instead a very normal bit of theatre not so far from what the good folks in Wytch Hazel‘ve been up to recently. That’d been my biggest criticism of the album as a whole, no doubt the feeling is right and the listening experience is expertly crafted but there is no such weird soul here beyond an ‘old school’ fantasy realized with impeccable detail. As we reach the aforementioned three-and-a-half minute radio ready buzz of “Maxine (Witch Queen)” it isn’t exactly ‘Opus Eponymous‘-level creepin’ stuff but a good sign that Green Lung are not only trying new things but daring to write catchy, ear-poking jigs worth repeating. The clincher and probably the intended seal for the first impression made is of course “One For Sorrow” the sole official doom metal piece (and a bit of a depressive anthem for anyone looking) on the tracklist and one which lives up to the spirit they’d described in terms of a late 70’s/early 80’s tipped piece which still has their own rugged fuzz riffs attached.

Side B stretches out a bit, covers bigger vistae in scene with some longer pieces. Within those ~5-6 minute realms Green Lung do their best work in touching upon sobered folkish strum (“Songs of the Stones”), the big psychedelic riff-ripping rides they’re (thus far) known for (“The Ancient Ways”, a favorite of mine) and reprises the eerie energy of the first half with plenty more synth choices which rarely repeat. All else builds toward what is I suppose the point where we get the farthest leap out of their skin by my mark with “Oceans of Time”, a glittery vampyr love ballad which shakes its ass on the way out. — While there were a few moments in the full listen where I was sure I’d just as well stick with ‘Black Harvest‘ and duck out otherwise the infectious quality of this record’s songcraft continued to prick at my mind for one more listen. Otherwise the true charm of this record comes from the full experience and yes, that means marveling over the booklet, the packaging, and the lyrics since this’d been what sent me over the edge beyond a clear above-average product to something slightly more essential for the heavy rock/heavy metal ear today. A high recommendation.

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