GRAND MAGUS: Sunraven (HEAVY METAL): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

While many of us regret that the collaboration between JB and Spiritual Beggars, the stoner project of Mike Amott (Arch Enemy), only produced two discs, “On Fire” (2002) and “Demons” (2005), we could at least count on Grand Magus, the singer's main port of call, to savor his organ worthy of a David Coverdale in Viking mode (we still remember his cover of 'Stormbringer' on “Sword Songs”).

However, since 2019 and a memorable “Wolf God”, the trio had withdrawn into a worrying silence, to the point of giving rise to fears of their inevitable demise. Of course, the pandemic may have been the reason for their hiatus for a while, but the Swedes didn't seem to be in much of a hurry to plug in their instruments again. It wasn't until November 2023 that they finally decided to get the band back up and running, recording this tenth album which, incidentally, would not see the light of day until a year later, in October 2024.

But Grand Magus is still alive and well, and that's good news. That he has lost none of his granitic energy is another. Better still, it's safe to assume that these years of more or less enforced abstinence have recharged his batteries, whereas he seemed to have slipped quietly into a certain routine. “Sunraven”, however, does nothing to change the style forged by JB and his two faithful companions. Inspired by the legend of Beowulf and carving into the cold rock of eternal fjords this epic heavy doom whose identity has been fixed since at least “Iron Will” (2008), the successor to “Wolf God” never surprises.

But, even more than its most recent predecessors, it makes you want to gallop into the mountains, mead horn in hand, Thor's hammer around your neck. Raw and stirring, these nine tracks are among the most jubilant Grand Magus has carved. 'Skybound' kicks off the listening experience, efficient and unstoppable, melodic yet battle-hardened. The rest is in the same vein, sometimes as heavy as good old Black Sabbath (the immense 'The Black Lake', the album's true Valhalla), always catchy and surprisingly racy ('Grendel'), while the backing vocals of 'Hour Of The Wolf' are reminiscent of Iron Maiden. Above all, JB's superb, warm, rocky voice, which improves like fine wine, carries everything away, infusing the whole with that class that belongs only to him.

“Sunraven” isn't just pure Grand Magus, it's first and foremost the best. Its existence and success reassure us of the vitality of a band whose career, contrary to what its silence may have led us to believe, is not over. - Official website

GRAND MAGUS

SUNRAVEN

NAPALM RECORDS

HEAVY METAL