Howling Giant â Crucible & Ruin Review
By Dear Hollow
Howling Giant occupies such an odd place within its scene. The Nashville collective is stoner metal and psych rock to the core in an energetic way that recalls the down-and-dirty acts like High on Fire or Mastodon, but layers of melody and creative chord usage feel progressive a la Intronaut or Baroness and the triple vocal harmonies are catchy yet evasive, not unlike Torche or Helmet. They also donât take things too seriously, with a solid sense of humor and a relatable relationship with fans to bring their formidable technical skill to earth.1 Now a release removed from the formidable debut full-length The Space Between Stars and even more from the Black Hole Space Wizard suite, Howling Giant proves their worth once more.
To address the elephant in the room, Glass Future saw Howling Giantâs progressive tendencies flying their freak flag too much. While attempting to keep the stoner murk and reconcile it with aptly crystalline melody, the band lost what is so great about them: solid songwriting. Itâs completely contrary to what gave them the edge over genre mates Sergeant Thunderhoof in their dueling split â their head-first dabbling in more elusive chord progressions felt like a more stoner-inclined dime-store version of Intronautâs Habitual Levitations. This is what makes third full-length Crucible & Ruin so refreshing:2 itâs everything you love about the Nashville now-quartet â and more. The template of killer riffs, soaring choruses, searing solos, and stoner haze is amplified by new guitarist/synth player Adrian Zambrano â adding layers and textures to Howling Giantâs already winning formula.
Howling Giant feels reinvigorated with Crucible & Ruin. Songwriting prowess on full display, the kitchen sink of riff, solo, melody, and catchiness has never looked so clean. While some remnants of Glass Future hang around in more evasive chord structures and emphasis on melody (instrumental âLesser Godsâ), the tracks shift from the anthemic to the kickass, rounded out by the understated Helmet-esque triple-vocal attack â a potentially divisive element of Howling Giantâs sound â3 and that warm stoner haze. Chunky riffs dominate and add a jolt of energy (âHunterâs Mark,â âBeholder I: Downfallâ), while anthemic choruses and transcendent chord progressions take listeners to a psychedelic heaven (âArchon,â âArchivistâ). Southern fried bluesy vibes a la All Them Witches also grace the vibe with a backwoods atmosphere (âBeholder II: Labyrinth,â âMelchorâs Bonesâ), paying homage to their home state of Tennessee. All assets culminate in the two parts of âBeholder,â the Phrygian key giving them a more epic and grandiose feel.
With the addition of Zambrano, Howling Giant has never felt so fleshed out. Compared to the flashy vocals and melodies of Sergeant Thunderhoof, Howling Giant has always been a meat-and-potatoes type of band, but Crucible & Ruin finds the band building upon this template using more versatility in its musical arsenal. Layers of melodic overlays grace rhythmic punch a purpose and intensity (âCanyons,â âScythe and Scepterâ), the tasteful balance between the melodic and the skronky add intrigue and madness (âHunterâs Mark,â âArchon,â âBeholder I: Downfallâ), and ethereal atmosphere is built atop and duels with more downtuned riffs and bass (âLesser Gods,â âArchivist,â âBeholder II: Labyrinthâ). The dueling guitars add a much-needed and ridiculously tantalizing dimension that takes Howling Giantâs already solid sound to new heights.
Howling Giantâs vocal approach of hyper harmonies will remain a divisive element, the central riff and spoken word of âMelchorâs Bonesâ can get a bit repetitive, and instrumental âLesser Godsâ is a bit questionable, but donât let that distract you from the fact that itâs the bandâs best album to date. Crucible & Ruin distills everything that makes Howling Giant great and beefs it up, weaponizing their already formidable songwriting with Zambranoâs melodic and textural synth and fretwork. Featuring riffs upon riffs with complex songwriting that doesnât fly over listenersâ heads, relatable vocals that donât lose their punch, and new guitar work that takes the band to new heights, across a forty-eight-minute runtime that zips by, itâs hard not to bob your head. While comparisons to Mastodon, Baroness, and Anciients are fair, Howling Giant is its own beast, an intersection of stoner haze, riffy intensity, and melodic taste. Crucible & Ruin caught me by surprise in the best way, and is sure to appear at year-end.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Magnetic Eye Records
Websites: howlinggiant.bandcamp.com | howlinggiant.com | facebook.com/howlinggiant
Releases Worldwide: October 31st, 2025
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