Chasing the unknown, continuing their drift from amorphous form down into their own inner world and encompassing thoughts A Coruña, Galicia-based occult doom metal quartet CRUZEIRO return with a nigh paradigmatic shape-shift on this sophomore full-length album. ‘Hic Sunt Dracones’ still carries the stoney timbre of heavy psychedelic blues rock in some sense but its torment and elation herein aligns closer to a love of newer waves of occult rock and the plasticity of traditional doom metal formae. In the process of revealing a far more tuneful and dramatic self they’ve repositioned the mirror’s refraction, cinching up their approach toward a song-oriented flow from side-to-side which yields far more memorable songcraft and a bit more of a serious soul up front.

Cruzeiro formed as a ritualistic neo-psychedelic rock trio circa 2019 and that original sound can be explored via their first demo (‘Demo‘, 2019) though it only tangentially introduces a first draft of their sound. Taking on vocalist Beatriz Onix (ex-Misty Grey) and infusing inspiration from occult rock, stoner metal and throwback doom metal meant for a completely different experience and one that’d been particularly ambitious via their four song ~40 minute debut LP (‘Cruzeiro‘, 2021) where extended pieces and melancholic vocals caught my ear. I’d given short review of that record at the time praising its immersive “jammed” feeling qualities comparing their sound to bands like Witch Mountain at their stoniest. Even still that’d been a quick and dirty full-length from a fairly new conception, not yet a representative deal beyond the moment it was created in as we find a new angle, a different temperature and approach via ‘Hic Sunt Dracones‘.

Six minute doom metal pieces, five minute bluesy yet possessed heavy rock songs, the whole temporal dynamic of Cruzeiro shifts from stoner-deep rituals and extended jams toward a form of occult rock inspired psychedelic doom metal which is arguably extremely light on the stoner music traits. Instead we get a tormented rhythmic step, texturally rich doomed moodiness beset by swinging rock moments and of course the big draw here from the outset is of course the heavily layered, dramatic station of the vocalist where Onix approaches with a thousand-layered belt a la King Witch‘s ‘Under the Mountain‘ era. This suits a more aggressive, sweeping traditional doom/Sabbath groove as we drop into the sublime abyss of opener “Sibyl of the Rhine“. This’d been an instant point of induction on my part especially the turn taken beyond ~3:12 as the piece raises its hackles and the groove of the riff is peaked with a harmonic hit. Despite the caterwauling disorientation available to this introduction and the almost too big gang vocals on the song the Cruzeiro sound clicked with me immediately thanks to its guitar work and huge slightly roughed-up bass guitar sound clanging about beneath.

The momentum is strong fresh off the opener and “Death Mountain” takes us into what these folks do best in terms of blustering hard-rocking doom metal in a huge echoic chamber though the remainder of Side A winds down beyond the catchier chorus and heady Occultation-esque guitar hooks and dramatic soul of “Ankh”. The full ride through ‘Hic Sunt Dracones‘ hadn’t truly hooked me into its gig ’til I’d hit Side B and cracked into the brilliant snarling waft of “Galaxies Waltz“, one of the more harrowing curses from the band on this album. The break in the song around ~3:19 minutes in and the directional change taken in the riff repeats what’d been notable about the album opener in a very different way, letting out a rasp and a slow-beaten hail of fire that eventually translates into a more rocking groove and back again. This song paired with the more lax and slinking drip of “Velvet Heart” (see also: “Figa!”) would end up being my favorite portion of the tracklist and overall the most effective example of the intense maturation Cruzeiro‘ve undergone in the last few years.

The running order and overall arrangement of the album has given some strong consideration for parity of experience between the two halves of the record, conscious of the vinyl format and the need to keep the action going on the second half. Most of the quartet’s songcraft manages to be lengthy and detailed enough that their depth arrives with some extra patience, bringing some reward beyond built tension’s release in a way that reminds me of earlier Messa sans the post-doom drift. Yet even the longest piece on the record (closer “Figa!”) finds somewhere to go with it. “Figa!” likewise carries some of the lounging yet tormented fumes found on “Velvet Heart” as those soaring quasi-blues driven pieces’d just about proved an even bigger strength for Cruzeiro going forward. The full listen might appear uneven in its interest but this still amounts to a great leap beyond the jammed and myriad out-of-focus ideas of the band’s debut. There should be some parity of interest in these sounds and bounding heavy/doom metal pieces between folks who’ve some love for traditional doom metal and occult heavy rock.

Otherwise the curation of this record is exceptional between a stylized sound and visual introduction. Engineering/mixing from Javi Félez @ Moontower Studios and mastering from Jaime Gomez Arellano @ Orgone Studios is a well-proven combination across many sub-genres and styles, here lending detailed depth to the guitar work while handing the throne and the sense of space via a strong boost to the rhythm section, allowing an ancient yet vibrant urgency to Cruzeiro‘s sound. The only aspect of this release that I’d gone back and forth on in terms of its sound design is the heavy use of reverb/layers for the vocals up front, as it threatens to overtake the instrumental needlessly on the opener, though this was not an issue as the album burned on. I’d likewise appreciated the cover artwork via David Tejero, a zoomed in and colorized version of a finely detailed illustration bringing a swirl of draconic biology through a beige and red screen printed look. Taking it all in there is a certain standard to the aesthetic and sound design here which both suits and serves this band extremely well. There should be plenty enough personality, a few big riffs and a host of memorable songs that ‘Hic Sunt Dracones’ should leave a mark on the right fan. A moderately high recommendation.

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