Tag Archives: texas heavy metal

SPIRIT ADRIFT – Ghost At The Gallows

I enjoyed SPIRIT ADRIFT’s previous album, 20 Centuries Gone (2022), which included a number of covers), and Ghost Of The Gallows, this metal trio from Austin, Texas takes it up a notch. Based around songwriting, and vocals of Nate Garrett, who also handles bass, rhythm guitar and a few other things here, Spirit Adrift also features the lead guitar work of Tom Draper, and drums by Mike Arelanno, Ghost Of The Gallows is a classic modern day metal release. A lot to dig in to here, 8 solid tracks, all different enough and interesting enough to warrant many returns to find something more to like. Favorites include “Hanged Man’s Revenge”, the ballad “These Two Hands”, and the album’s epic title track which closes this. *Check out the press info and links below.

With Ghost At The Gallows, bandleader Nate Garrett has delivered Spirit Adrift’s most fully realized work to date; a record that confidently stands at the crossroads of heavy metal at its most epic and elemental and hard rock at its most honest and heartfelt.

The road lead to the album was nothing short of massive undertaking. Garrett has been weaving the sonic tapestry of Spirit Adrift since 2015, marking his own personal growth from doom metal and his much-documented sobriety to today’s sonic triumph with Ghost At The Gallows. The album intricately pulls together every element of Garrett’s riff-mongering musical mastery to arrive at a conclusion and start a new chapter for Spirit Adrift.

LINKS:

https://spiritadrift.bandcamp.com/album/ghost-at-the-gallows

http://www.spiritadrift.com

LAS CRUCES – Cosmic Tears

Texas (San Antonio) doom metal band Las Cruces released their 4th album in 2022. The band formed in the mid-90s and underwent a number of changes (pretty sure no one on the band’s 1996 debut album is still here). Cosmic Tears took a number of years to get released, and features most of the same line-up as the band’s 2010 album Dusk. This one features Jason Kane on vocals (Kane of Jason Kane & The Jive), who joined the band and recorded his vocals when he was just 17. These guys have some cool album covers, with Cosmic Tears being done by Michelle Sanchez Menchaca.

Cosmic Tears is full of heavy doom metal, very much in tune with early Black Sabbath, with dark heavy slow riffs, heavy on the bass and fantastic drums. This album really is a solid set of songs front to back that any self-respecting Sabbath fan should check out, with the near 8 minute opening title track, and album favorites being the lead off single/video “Wizard From The North”, “Egypt”, and “Holy Hell”. The CD features 10 tracks, while the LP (which I have) includes just seven.

This album was finally released in June of last year, and is a tribute to longtime drummer Paul DeLeon who passed away in January of ’21 from complications of Covid. The band did play live last year to promote the album and are booked at the Maryland Doom Festival in June of this year.

LAS CRUCES:

Jason Kane – vocals
George Trevino – guitars
Mando Tovar – guitars
Jimmy Bell – bass
Paul DeLeon (RIP) – drums

Links:

https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/album/cosmic-tears

Las Cruces | Doom Metal San Antonio, TX

https://www.facebook.com/crucesdoom/

Check Out Jason Kane’s Story