A band with a strong reputation and a pretty storied career usually doesn’t switch gears in the middle and go in a much different direction. Well, I guess the Bee Gees did, and look how they turned out. Their first reference in this site’s history. But you don’t see it very much is my point, so when it happens, it’s intriguing.

About a decade ago, Hooded Menace veered away from dank, guttural doom metal to embrace the electricity of the forces we had in the 1980s. It certainly was a choice, and so far, it’s worked out pretty fucking great. Their new record “Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration” stays in the direction they’ve been on, but never abandoning their doom roots nor pulling back on the murkiness. This seven-track, 47-minute traveler goes in and out of the shadows, exciting along the way with metallic glory. The band—vocalist Harri Kuokkanen, guitarist/bassist/keyboardist/founder Lasse Pyykkö, drummer Pekka Koskelo—radiates, the energy firing through your veins, feeling half as long as it is. Plus, there’s a pretty awesome cover song that really took me by surprise.

“Twilight Passages” is a mystifying opening instrumental with warm guitars and synth swooshes, moving into “Pale Masquerade” that punches and roars right off the bat. Leads smoke and glimmer as the growls pay homage to the darkness, and the pace continually grows more aggressive. Leads smoke and glimmer before soaring while the growls curdle, and the final moments give off a vintage 80s feel. “Portrait Without a Face” starts clean before the bass starts chugging, growls coat, and warm guitars let blood coat flesh. Doomy churning increases the fog coverage while the leads accelerate, the strings moan, and misery spreads onto the throne of menace.

“Daughters of Lingering Pain” is slower when it dawns and even more sorrowful, howls scraping as the guitars glaze, the bass driving deeper into the drama. The tempo is strong and alluring, the guitars gutting and blazing, and then nasty wails clench throats as gothy undertones bring a serious chill to everything. “Lugubrious Dance” fades in, the sadness rising to the surface, doomy and muddy playing leaving bruising. Nasty wails slice and add to the blood loss, and then the pace slows, dragging you through darkness and into abandoned caverns. The guitars pick up the pace as throaty vocals strangle, doomy snarling stomps, and the mental wounds set in even deeper, the final moments scorching open wounds. “Save a Prayer” is a cover of the Duran Duran track from their 1982 album “Rio,” and it sneaks up on you if you’re not paying attention to the track listing. They make this song their own, the familiar chorus feeling even more foreboding in this band’s hands. Closer “Into Haunted Oblivion” runs 9:46, fading in from the dark, guitars unloading, speed coming and going, the growls crawling through cracks. Guitars explode as the soloing blazes, the drums are hammered, and everything takes off from there. Leads echo and melt, the growls gurgle, and the ending comes coldly but quickly, ripping air from your overstimulated lungs.

“Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration” is more of the good stuff from Hooded Menace, a band that keeps finding new ways to keep things interesting and moving into different, yet just as morbid territories. These seven tracks flow seamlessly, even the seemingly out-of-left-field cover track that might be a weird choice for any other band. This record is as strong as anything they put out the last half decade and provides a nice change of pace from the grislier early days, making for a really strong resume from front to back. Also, perfect fodder for Autumn! 

For more on the band, go here: https://hoodedmenace.bandcamp.com/music

To buy the album (North America), go here: https://shopusa.season-of-mist.com/

Or here (International): https://shop.season-of-mist.com/

For more on the label, go here: https://www.season-of-mist.com/