Brandon Richier (Vocals, Guitar), David Atkinson (Bass) and Nate Marcy (Drums) have produced an outstanding debut record. To sound so poised, so captivating, utterly mesmerising, often, with their first recorded output, is nothing short of astonishing. As soon as Burial Songs begins, with bleak, simmering sitar and death march percussion, you are locked into Palehorse/Palerider’s doom-laden groove, and for the next 40 minutes you are taken to all of the right places at all of the right times.

The band name-check Earth, Slowdive, Sleep, Chelsea Wolfe, True Widow and My Bloody Valentine in their biography and press release. Yes, I can hear elements of each of those bands in their sound, but the sum of those and other parts transcends the sludge and the slowgaze into something far more celestial, sublime. I am reminded, more than once, of the spirituality of Fields of the Nephilim, the visceral intensity of The God Machine, and the brooding darkness of Swedish post metal outfit A Swarm of the Sun. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.