20 Best Metal Albums Of Summer 2017
13. Below - Upon A Pale Horse
The perfect union of weighty doom metal and the NWOBHM, Swedish rockers Below tore the house down with their sophomore release Upon a Pale Horse when it saw the light on the 19th May. Packed to the brim with crushing riffing and gigantic, operatic lead vocals, the album is akin to a head-on collision between Grand Magus and Paradise Lost, perpetuating a pummelling yet epic sense of darkness that would be perfectly fitting as the soundtrack to a great tragedy.
For those addicted to the supple art of headbanging, this 47-minute ride is going to make dual rifflords Paud and Berg your new best friends, while the rhythm section of drummer Doc and bassist Hedman lay out simple yet perfectly mid-paced skeletons for Upon a Pale Horse's captivating, Gothic compositions.
Lead singer Zeb seals the gloomy deal with his Iron Maiden- and Judas Priest-esque cleans, letting his group stand apart from other doom bands with his sheer variety and loud prowess, while finding his pipes oddly befitting of the record's equally giant instrumentation.
Everything about Below is big, heavy and dark, which, for metalheads, is practically a perfect combination.