ALBUM REVIEW: Patriachs in Black - Visioning

Formed in 2021, Patriarchs in Black bring us their third offering, Visioning, and it’s a bit good. A supergroup of sorts, they were formed by former Type O Negative/Danzig drummer Jonny Kelly and Hades/ ex-Non Fiction guitarist Dan Lorenzo. Vocals and bass are filled by a variety of their friends from bands as diverse as Corrosion of Conformity, Dog Eat Dog, A Pale Horse Named Death, Riotgod, Watchtower and Exhorder, amongst others. 

The music is a mix of genres, mostly bluesy doom, there are some thrash and hard-core moments in there too, opening with Entry, a cello instrumental, which may seem like an odd move for a metal album, but it’s a beautiful, mournful segue into the second track, What Do They Know ( For The Champions), which has an immense Sabbath-style riff, and strong vocals from Mark Sunshine ( Riotgod). Up next, we have Before I Go, which is reminiscent of Down In A Hole by Alice In Chains. Again, the vocals are excellent, this time by Karl Agell (COC) and it’s another crushingly doomy riff. Then comes Heart of Spite, and another monster riff, the vocals of Rob Traynor (Black Water Rising) really compliment the riff.

Low Price follows, and it’s a slower number, possibly the most forgettable tune on offer. Mark Sunshine takes the vocals again, but with tempo changes and a false end to keep it interesting. Following this is Welcome To Hell Again, a very different beast, almost Nu Metal, and one of the weakest tracks for me, but the riffs are heavy as anything else here, the vocals of Kelly Abe and DMC, are strong, but not to my taste. My personal favourite Whiskey On My Mind is up next, another bluesy, sludgy number, with a superb riff, and the vocals of Frankie Diaz really work here, you could almost be in a whiskey bar with him! Next up is Empty Cup, starting with a short drum solo and a droning guitar motif, the vocals of Kyle Thomas (Exhorder) are a bit raspy and I’m not sure about them, but it’s a strong song otherwise. Curse My Name follows and its a faster number (not thrash fast, but faster for a doomy album). Another belting riff, the vocals by Jason McMaster (Watchtower/Sad Wings/Brokenteeth) are a bit of an acquired taste, but don’t detract from the song, which also has a great solo. A Few Good Men follows, another faster number, with an almost Rage Against The Machine feel, and a call and response vibe. This is where I feel the album loses its way a bit, but the song is okay, although the vocals of Kelly Abe grate a bit in places. 

Birth, an instrumental, is next, which is a bit like Orchid from Black Sabbath’s Master Of Reality in feel, but after the previous tune, this is a real juxtaposition, and finally we have the title track, Visioning. It’s an unusual end to an album, being heavy on drums and bass, with the guitar as an underpart, slowly rising throughout the song, Mark Sunshine handles the vocals again, which are understated, but overall, I quite liked it. I normally try to give equal mentions to all the musicians involved, but with different bassists (Iron Lou, Dale Neabore, Jonny Araya, Sal Juvarra, Easy Ezekiel, Eric J Morgan), and other musicians (Jonathan Eng (Viola on Entry and Birth), Jason Donnelly (DJ Puzzle DJ, turntables on A Few Good Men) made it very difficult to do this. To be honest, I have had this album in my inbox for almost two months and put off listening to it because of the band name being so bad, but wish I had tried earlier, as its a contender for my album of the year list. If you like your music Bluesy, Sludgy and Doomy, give this a try

Visioning is out now via Metalville Records

Review by Andrew Matthews