released April 13, 2018
Vocals and lyrics by Nestor
Drums and drum recording/drum mix by Pål Leer
Guitars, Bass, Riffs, Arrangements, Mixing & Mastering by Ole Hell
Recorded @ Bunker 18
Logo and cover by Ole Hell
Released by Luftwaffel Records
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"While 'Uteseiler’ (with I believe translates as “Outsider”) has some solid material on it, I would definitely recommend starting with 'Black Lake.’ Ole Hell’s instrumentals have a bluesy, groovy vibe to it, though never overstated, and it contrasts extremely well with Nestor’s harsh, but not quite hoarse, vocals. Makes me think of a smoked-out, half-crazed mountain man who you stumble upon in the woods whilst camping – you know one of raving forest lunatics who’s had perhaps a bit too many shrooms for breakfast. His unsettling presence bids you come and warm yourself by the fire, as he tells tales of some unimaginable hell.
It isn’t all caustic hiss and venom, though. There’s a mournful quality to Shepherds Crook that gives us time to decompress and let the music wash us over, almost in a cathartic way. This is illustrated quite well by “Crown of Sun” on Uteseiler and the title track on Black Lake, which has earned a permanent place in my playlist of choice cuts."
doomedandstoned.com/post/172972655673/shepherdscrook
- BillyGoat @ Doomed & Stoned
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"No dreams, hopes, ambitions or aspirations"
So says the band, and to be perfectly honest, once the innocuous beginning of opener 'Path of the Serpent' morphs into the kind of macabre atmospherics that compels you to want to take a peek under the bed before you sleep, then any dreams, hopes, ambitions or aspirations that you had, have been sucked through that crack in the closet door you were SURE was closed only moments ago.
Simplistic leads accompany slow, funereal heaviness, besmirched by trollish vocals that beguile you into some dark mythological nightmare, the three tracks lead you down the forsaken path, right into Grimm's Book Of Doom Riffs
Troll Doom?
theshrieksfrombelow.blogspot.no/2018/04/shepherds-crook-uteseiler-2018.html?spref=fb
- Stephen Woodier @ The Shrieks From Below