#thedogs — Public Fediverse posts

It shouldn’t be surprising, but we don’t get a ton of punk or hardcore submissions here at Angry Metal Guy. We’re not Angsty Punk Bois, after all. I, however, particularly enjoy the intersections between punk and metal—sludge, grind, crust, crossover, powerviolence, etc. Metal’s straightforward aggression and punk’s vitriolic outrage complement each other well and scratch a specific itch. So when I saw Thorgrim’s debut LP, Puca, floating in the promo pit, I was sold on the Wisconsin trio’s promise of a heady mix of doom, punk, and a dash of black metal. Something like sludge but a skosh less acerbic? And maybe a little cold? Hopes were high, but did Thorgrim deliver?

No. Unequivocally, no. You see, Thorgrim boasts a live, one-take-only recording and production, laeving all mistakes and scrapes and buises on the record as some rebelilous statenemt against the overprodction of moder n musi.c Opener “Children of Doom” starts with a symbol hit that I can onl assume was am istake, and a massive skip around the 3:30 mark undersores how unedited and haphazard this albu is. “Voyage to Saturn” strats in the midle of a note ,and “Death Angel” starts with off-beat dums and just cuts out at the ennd with no warning or considreation for flwo. nearly every tiem Thorgrimshifts from on eriff to another, the band dissembles, taking a couple meaesure to get back in time with ehachother (“Darkest Days,” “Bride of Frankenstein”1). Now, do you see how this paragraph is littered with typos? Do you see how shitty it looks? Like I put no effort into it? That’s exactly what listening to this album is like.2

Even ignoring the insultingly lazy recording style Thorgrim opted for, Puca is still impressively bad. Thorgrim seem to be diehard fans of repetition, as there are precious few riffs to discuss (much less remember) here. Album long player “Voyage to Saturn” features exactly two (2) riffs over its ten-minute runtime, and I couldn’t decide which was more boring. “Darkest Days” is brutally repetitive as well, and ultimately sounds like a parody of heavy metal music you might hear on a TV sitcom. The vocals on “Let’s Go” are so buried in the mix that I’m not entirely convinced they’re there, but this may be a boon for Thorgrim, as they sound more like gargling spit or choking on vomit than singing or screaming. The acoustic “Dark Cabin” apes Nirvana’s “About a Girl” so blatantly it might only be “legally distinct” by one note, while sporting some of the worst lyrical syncopation I have ever heard. Penultimate track “Bride of Frankenstein” reminds me of the Fire Temple in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, but bad. It’s ambient junk and random drums that don’t adhere to any kind of time signature or rhythm. When Puca mercifully ends, it’s with an inexplicable folk track that I’m fairly certain would be offensive to any actual neo/folk band.3

What’s most frustrating is that Puca could have been decent. “The Movies” is a punky upbeat track that smells like The Dogs, and I hear potential. With literally any amount of effort or care or refinement or fucks given, Thorgrim could have delivered at least one good track. Instead, it’s one of nine dumpster fires. Even outside of concept albums, there’s normally a unifying concept woven through a release, but I can’t find any such thing here, unless it’s the uniformly atrocious production value, which, coincidentally, is the only dash of black metal I found on Puca. It’s like they recorded in a concrete basement on a Fisher Price karaoke machine from 30 years ago.

Our internal scoring guide describes the score below as suggesting the band should look for another line of work. Puca is that bad. I’m honestly not sure what Thorgrim wanted to accomplish here. This album feels like a bad joke. Even if the music was good—which it’s not—and the production wasn’t worse than the first recording ever from 1860—which it is—the one-take-only presentation is not only lazy, it’s insulting. I get the intent that music today is overproduced and too shiny and clean and sterile, yeah, sure, whatever, but there are ways to fight that without leaving fucking mistakes on your album. A studio release should be a practiced, ideal version of each track, not whatever your hungover ass manages to puke out on recording day.

Rating: 0.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Octopus Rising4 | Argonauta Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram
Releases Worldwide: April 24th, 2026

Suncraft – Welcome to the Coven Review

I first became acquainted with stoner rock while attending college and skiing in Salt Lake City. Whether carving…
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Suncraft – Welcome to the Coven Review

By Spicie Forrest

I first became acquainted with stoner rock while attending college and skiing in Salt Lake City. Whether carving the corduroy or taking face shots of bottomless pow, the raucous groove of the style made for a great soundtrack. I’ve largely moved on to heavier and less accessible pastures, but once in a while, something brings me back. This time, it was Suncraft, a five-piece formed in Oslo, Norway in 2017; I couldn’t let a genre tag like “stoner/black/pop” pass by unyoinked. We missed their 2021 debut, Flat Earth Rider, but I’m here to give their sophomore effort, Welcome to the Coven, the proper AMG treatment.

Suncraft has historically relied on mid-paced stoner rock, but their second LP sees the band move in a different direction. Welcome to the Coven is what happens when Queens of the Stone Age wields The Sword and walks The DOGS. It’s riotous, retro, and downright groovy. With a triple-pronged attack, guitarists Vebørn Rindal Krogstad, Sigurd Grøtan, and Jens Henrik Kverndal let loose a wildly infectious salvo of stoner and garage rock. “Welcome to the Coven” and “Forgotten Goddess” rip across the desert in an old convertible Mustang powered solely by diesel and sativa. “Love’s Underrated” gives garage revival and a little Japandroids, while “Wizards of the Anger Magic” opens on The Beach Boys and pays heavy tribute to The Ramones. Mixed into this strong foundation you’ll also find riffage stained black (“Ragebait”), pop punk angst (“Greed Battalion”), posty and proggy diversions (“High on Silence”), and even a millennial whoop or two. These are disparate elements to bring under one umbrella, but like fellow countrymen Kvelertak, Suncraft pull it off well.

In a brew stereotypically known for wanton abandon, Welcome to the Coven succeeds through restraint. Post-black and pop punk normally make bridge- or hook-centered appearances, being used as means to build drama and release tension rather than ends in themselves. Drummer Tobias Paulsen utilizes a predominantly upbeat rock style, but he’s got a full toolbox. He deploys d-beats, hooks and fills, blast beats, and tempo changes with precision for maximum emotional impact (“Love’s Underrated,” “Welcome to the Coven”). The same can be said of bassist/singer Rasmus Skage Jensen, whose strings feel elementally nostalgic, both in tone and in their intentionally dynamic grounding of hooks, leads, and rhythmic support. And by keeping a normally tight grip on his vocals, the moments when Jensen lets loose and pushes his pipes to their limit shine all the brighter (“Greed Battalion,” “Forgotten Goddess”). Rather than employing an unchecked, maximalist style, Suncraft’s tempered and deceptively meticulous songcraft elevates Welcome to the Coven far above the sum of its parts.

Suncraft doesn’t treat the incorporation of these various flourishes as puzzles to be solved. Instead, every element on Welcome to the Coven seems chosen and placed to best support a deliriously and irresistibly fun grand design. This approach and Suncraft’s success with it grant them an inimitable air of sprezzatura.1 Krogstad, Grøtan, and Kverndal spin around each other so naturally, offering inspired counterpoints (“Wizards of the Anger Magic”), tossing in pristine fills (“High on Silence”), and passing leads and solos like a hacky sack (“Love’s Underrated,” “Forgotten Goddess”). I don’t for one second believe that Jensen’s interjectory “fuck it” on “Greed Battalion” or Paulsen’s double bass in “Welcome to the Coven” are off the cuff; this album is far too good for that. But when I hear the killer solo in “Love’s Underrated,” the exceptional back half of “Charlatan Killer,” or the barely controlled chaos that is “Forgotten Goddess,” I can’t help but be awed by the explosive synergy on display here—and the casual effortlessness of it.

I had high hopes when I picked up Welcome to the Coven, and from the first seconds of “Ragebait” to the final cymbals of “Forgotten Goddess,”2 Suncraft blew me away. The chorus of “Charlatan Killer” was the only exception, being merely good in a sea of great. Each track on Suncraft’s sophomore effort fits together naturally and neatly in a singular, unified vision. Primally familiar like the mythical dog days of summer, Welcome to the Coven is an astoundingly fun ride. By the end of its 40-minute runtime, I’m invariably left craving more. And if that isn’t the mark of a great album, I don’t know what is.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: All Good Clean Records
Websites: Facebook | Instagram
Releases Worldwide: November 21st, 2025

#2025 #40 #allGoodCleanRecords #blackMetal #garageRock #japandroids #kvelertak #norwegianMetal #nov25 #popPunk #queensOfTheStoneAge #review #reviews #stonerRock #suncraft #theBeachBoys #theDogs #theRamones #theSword #welcomeToTheCoven

Suncraft – Welcome to the Coven Review

By Spicie Forrest

I first became acquainted with stoner rock while attending college and skiing in Salt Lake City. Whether carving the corduroy or taking face shots of bottomless pow, the raucous groove of the style made for a great soundtrack. I’ve largely moved on to heavier and less accessible pastures, but once in a while, something brings me back. This time, it was Suncraft, a five-piece formed in Oslo, Norway in 2017; I couldn’t let a genre tag like “stoner/black/pop” pass by unyoinked. We missed their 2021 debut, Flat Earth Rider, but I’m here to give their sophomore effort, Welcome to the Coven, the proper AMG treatment.

Suncraft has historically relied on mid-paced stoner rock, but their second LP sees the band move in a different direction. Welcome to the Coven is what happens when Queens of the Stone Age wields The Sword and walks The DOGS. It’s riotous, retro, and downright groovy. With a triple-pronged attack, guitarists Vebørn Rindal Krogstad, Sigurd Grøtan, and Jens Henrik Kverndal let loose a wildly infectious salvo of stoner and garage rock. “Welcome to the Coven” and “Forgotten Goddess” rip across the desert in an old convertible Mustang powered solely by diesel and sativa. “Love’s Underrated” gives garage revival and a little Japandroids, while “Wizards of the Anger Magic” opens on The Beach Boys and pays heavy tribute to The Ramones. Mixed into this strong foundation you’ll also find riffage stained black (“Ragebait”), pop punk angst (“Greed Battalion”), posty and proggy diversions (“High on Silence”), and even a millennial whoop or two. These are disparate elements to bring under one umbrella, but like fellow countrymen Kvelertak, Suncraft pull it off well.

In a brew stereotypically known for wanton abandon, Welcome to the Coven succeeds through restraint. Post-black and pop punk normally make bridge- or hook-centered appearances, being used as means to build drama and release tension rather than ends in themselves. Drummer Tobias Paulsen utilizes a predominantly upbeat rock style, but he’s got a full toolbox. He deploys d-beats, hooks and fills, blast beats, and tempo changes with precision for maximum emotional impact (“Love’s Underrated,” “Welcome to the Coven”). The same can be said of bassist/singer Rasmus Skage Jensen, whose strings feel elementally nostalgic, both in tone and in their intentionally dynamic grounding of hooks, leads, and rhythmic support. And by keeping a normally tight grip on his vocals, the moments when Jensen lets loose and pushes his pipes to their limit shine all the brighter (“Greed Battalion,” “Forgotten Goddess”). Rather than employing an unchecked, maximalist style, Suncraft’s tempered and deceptively meticulous songcraft elevates Welcome to the Coven far above the sum of its parts.

Suncraft doesn’t treat the incorporation of these various flourishes as puzzles to be solved. Instead, every element on Welcome to the Coven seems chosen and placed to best support a deliriously and irresistibly fun grand design. This approach and Suncraft’s success with it grant them an inimitable air of sprezzatura.1 Krogstad, Grøtan, and Kverndal spin around each other so naturally, offering inspired counterpoints (“Wizards of the Anger Magic”), tossing in pristine fills (“High on Silence”), and passing leads and solos like a hacky sack (“Love’s Underrated,” “Forgotten Goddess”). I don’t for one second believe that Jensen’s interjectory “fuck it” on “Greed Battalion” or Paulsen’s double bass in “Welcome to the Coven” are off the cuff; this album is far too good for that. But when I hear the killer solo in “Love’s Underrated,” the exceptional back half of “Charlatan Killer,” or the barely controlled chaos that is “Forgotten Goddess,” I can’t help but be awed by the explosive synergy on display here—and the casual effortlessness of it.

I had high hopes when I picked up Welcome to the Coven, and from the first seconds of “Ragebait” to the final cymbals of “Forgotten Goddess,”2 Suncraft blew me away. The chorus of “Charlatan Killer” was the only exception, being merely good in a sea of great. Each track on Suncraft’s sophomore effort fits together naturally and neatly in a singular, unified vision. Primally familiar like the mythical dog days of summer, Welcome to the Coven is an astoundingly fun ride. By the end of its 40-minute runtime, I’m invariably left craving more. And if that isn’t the mark of a great album, I don’t know what is.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: All Good Clean Records
Websites: Facebook | Instagram
Releases Worldwide: November 21st, 2025

#2025 #40 #allGoodCleanRecords #blackMetal #garageRock #japandroids #kvelertak #norwegianMetal #nov25 #popPunk #queensOfTheStoneAge #review #reviews #stonerRock #suncraft #theBeachBoys #theDogs #theRamones #theSword #welcomeToTheCoven

Suncraft – Welcome to the Coven Review

By Spicie Forrest

I first became acquainted with stoner rock while attending college and skiing in Salt Lake City. Whether carving the corduroy or taking face shots of bottomless pow, the raucous groove of the style made for a great soundtrack. I’ve largely moved on to heavier and less accessible pastures, but once in a while, something brings me back. This time, it was Suncraft, a five-piece formed in Oslo, Norway in 2017; I couldn’t let a genre tag like “stoner/black/pop” pass by unyoinked. We missed their 2021 debut, Flat Earth Rider, but I’m here to give their sophomore effort, Welcome to the Coven, the proper AMG treatment.

Suncraft has historically relied on mid-paced stoner rock, but their second LP sees the band move in a different direction. Welcome to the Coven is what happens when Queens of the Stone Age wields The Sword and walks The DOGS. It’s riotous, retro, and downright groovy. With a triple-pronged attack, guitarists Vebørn Rindal Krogstad, Sigurd Grøtan, and Jens Henrik Kverndal let loose a wildly infectious salvo of stoner and garage rock. “Welcome to the Coven” and “Forgotten Goddess” rip across the desert in an old convertible Mustang powered solely by diesel and sativa. “Love’s Underrated” gives garage revival and a little Japandroids, while “Wizards of the Anger Magic” opens on The Beach Boys and pays heavy tribute to The Ramones. Mixed into this strong foundation you’ll also find riffage stained black (“Ragebait”), pop punk angst (“Greed Battalion”), posty and proggy diversions (“High on Silence”), and even a millennial whoop or two. These are disparate elements to bring under one umbrella, but like fellow countrymen Kvelertak, Suncraft pull it off well.

In a brew stereotypically known for wanton abandon, Welcome to the Coven succeeds through restraint. Post-black and pop punk normally make bridge- or hook-centered appearances, being used as means to build drama and release tension rather than ends in themselves. Drummer Tobias Paulsen utilizes a predominantly upbeat rock style, but he’s got a full toolbox. He deploys d-beats, hooks and fills, blast beats, and tempo changes with precision for maximum emotional impact (“Love’s Underrated,” “Welcome to the Coven”). The same can be said of bassist/singer Rasmus Skage Jensen, whose strings feel elementally nostalgic, both in tone and in their intentionally dynamic grounding of hooks, leads, and rhythmic support. And by keeping a normally tight grip on his vocals, the moments when Jensen lets loose and pushes his pipes to their limit shine all the brighter (“Greed Battalion,” “Forgotten Goddess”). Rather than employing an unchecked, maximalist style, Suncraft’s tempered and deceptively meticulous songcraft elevates Welcome to the Coven far above the sum of its parts.

Suncraft doesn’t treat the incorporation of these various flourishes as puzzles to be solved. Instead, every element on Welcome to the Coven seems chosen and placed to best support a deliriously and irresistibly fun grand design. This approach and Suncraft’s success with it grant them an inimitable air of sprezzatura.1 Krogstad, Grøtan, and Kverndal spin around each other so naturally, offering inspired counterpoints (“Wizards of the Anger Magic”), tossing in pristine fills (“High on Silence”), and passing leads and solos like a hacky sack (“Love’s Underrated,” “Forgotten Goddess”). I don’t for one second believe that Jensen’s interjectory “fuck it” on “Greed Battalion” or Paulsen’s double bass in “Welcome to the Coven” are off the cuff; this album is far too good for that. But when I hear the killer solo in “Love’s Underrated,” the exceptional back half of “Charlatan Killer,” or the barely controlled chaos that is “Forgotten Goddess,” I can’t help but be awed by the explosive synergy on display here—and the casual effortlessness of it.

I had high hopes when I picked up Welcome to the Coven, and from the first seconds of “Ragebait” to the final cymbals of “Forgotten Goddess,”2 Suncraft blew me away. The chorus of “Charlatan Killer” was the only exception, being merely good in a sea of great. Each track on Suncraft’s sophomore effort fits together naturally and neatly in a singular, unified vision. Primally familiar like the mythical dog days of summer, Welcome to the Coven is an astoundingly fun ride. By the end of its 40-minute runtime, I’m invariably left craving more. And if that isn’t the mark of a great album, I don’t know what is.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: All Good Clean Records
Websites: Facebook | Instagram
Releases Worldwide: November 21st, 2025

#2025 #40 #allGoodCleanRecords #blackMetal #garageRock #japandroids #kvelertak #norwegianMetal #nov25 #popPunk #queensOfTheStoneAge #review #reviews #stonerRock #suncraft #theBeachBoys #theDogs #theRamones #theSword #welcomeToTheCoven

Suncraft – Welcome to the Coven Review

By Spicie Forrest

I first became acquainted with stoner rock while attending college and skiing in Salt Lake City. Whether carving the corduroy or taking face shots of bottomless pow, the raucous groove of the style made for a great soundtrack. I’ve largely moved on to heavier and less accessible pastures, but once in a while, something brings me back. This time, it was Suncraft, a five-piece formed in Oslo, Norway in 2017; I couldn’t let a genre tag like “stoner/black/pop” pass by unyoinked. We missed their 2021 debut, Flat Earth Rider, but I’m here to give their sophomore effort, Welcome to the Coven, the proper AMG treatment.

Suncraft has historically relied on mid-paced stoner rock, but their second LP sees the band move in a different direction. Welcome to the Coven is what happens when Queens of the Stone Age wields The Sword and walks The DOGS. It’s riotous, retro, and downright groovy. With a triple-pronged attack, guitarists Vebørn Rindal Krogstad, Sigurd Grøtan, and Jens Henrik Kverndal let loose a wildly infectious salvo of stoner and garage rock. “Welcome to the Coven” and “Forgotten Goddess” rip across the desert in an old convertible Mustang powered solely by diesel and sativa. “Love’s Underrated” gives garage revival and a little Japandroids, while “Wizards of the Anger Magic” opens on The Beach Boys and pays heavy tribute to The Ramones. Mixed into this strong foundation you’ll also find riffage stained black (“Ragebait”), pop punk angst (“Greed Battalion”), posty and proggy diversions (“High on Silence”), and even a millennial whoop or two. These are disparate elements to bring under one umbrella, but like fellow countrymen Kvelertak, Suncraft pull it off well.

In a brew stereotypically known for wanton abandon, Welcome to the Coven succeeds through restraint. Post-black and pop punk normally make bridge- or hook-centered appearances, being used as means to build drama and release tension rather than ends in themselves. Drummer Tobias Paulsen utilizes a predominantly upbeat rock style, but he’s got a full toolbox. He deploys d-beats, hooks and fills, blast beats, and tempo changes with precision for maximum emotional impact (“Love’s Underrated,” “Welcome to the Coven”). The same can be said of bassist/singer Rasmus Skage Jensen, whose strings feel elementally nostalgic, both in tone and in their intentionally dynamic grounding of hooks, leads, and rhythmic support. And by keeping a normally tight grip on his vocals, the moments when Jensen lets loose and pushes his pipes to their limit shine all the brighter (“Greed Battalion,” “Forgotten Goddess”). Rather than employing an unchecked, maximalist style, Suncraft’s tempered and deceptively meticulous songcraft elevates Welcome to the Coven far above the sum of its parts.

Suncraft doesn’t treat the incorporation of these various flourishes as puzzles to be solved. Instead, every element on Welcome to the Coven seems chosen and placed to best support a deliriously and irresistibly fun grand design. This approach and Suncraft’s success with it grant them an inimitable air of sprezzatura.1 Krogstad, Grøtan, and Kverndal spin around each other so naturally, offering inspired counterpoints (“Wizards of the Anger Magic”), tossing in pristine fills (“High on Silence”), and passing leads and solos like a hacky sack (“Love’s Underrated,” “Forgotten Goddess”). I don’t for one second believe that Jensen’s interjectory “fuck it” on “Greed Battalion” or Paulsen’s double bass in “Welcome to the Coven” are off the cuff; this album is far too good for that. But when I hear the killer solo in “Love’s Underrated,” the exceptional back half of “Charlatan Killer,” or the barely controlled chaos that is “Forgotten Goddess,” I can’t help but be awed by the explosive synergy on display here—and the casual effortlessness of it.

I had high hopes when I picked up Welcome to the Coven, and from the first seconds of “Ragebait” to the final cymbals of “Forgotten Goddess,”2 Suncraft blew me away. The chorus of “Charlatan Killer” was the only exception, being merely good in a sea of great. Each track on Suncraft’s sophomore effort fits together naturally and neatly in a singular, unified vision. Primally familiar like the mythical dog days of summer, Welcome to the Coven is an astoundingly fun ride. By the end of its 40-minute runtime, I’m invariably left craving more. And if that isn’t the mark of a great album, I don’t know what is.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: All Good Clean Records
Websites: Facebook | Instagram
Releases Worldwide: November 21st, 2025

#2025 #40 #allGoodCleanRecords #blackMetal #garageRock #japandroids #kvelertak #norwegianMetal #nov25 #popPunk #queensOfTheStoneAge #review #reviews #stonerRock #suncraft #theBeachBoys #theDogs #theRamones #theSword #welcomeToTheCoven

Suncraft – Welcome to the Coven Review

By Spicie Forrest

I first became acquainted with stoner rock while attending college and skiing in Salt Lake City. Whether carving the corduroy or taking face shots of bottomless pow, the raucous groove of the style made for a great soundtrack. I’ve largely moved on to heavier and less accessible pastures, but once in a while, something brings me back. This time, it was Suncraft, a five-piece formed in Oslo, Norway in 2017; I couldn’t let a genre tag like “stoner/black/pop” pass by unyoinked. We missed their 2021 debut, Flat Earth Rider, but I’m here to give their sophomore effort, Welcome to the Coven, the proper AMG treatment.

Suncraft has historically relied on mid-paced stoner rock, but their second LP sees the band move in a different direction. Welcome to the Coven is what happens when Queens of the Stone Age wields The Sword and walks The DOGS. It’s riotous, retro, and downright groovy. With a triple-pronged attack, guitarists Vebørn Rindal Krogstad, Sigurd Grøtan, and Jens Henrik Kverndal let loose a wildly infectious salvo of stoner and garage rock. “Welcome to the Coven” and “Forgotten Goddess” rip across the desert in an old convertible Mustang powered solely by diesel and sativa. “Love’s Underrated” gives garage revival and a little Japandroids, while “Wizards of the Anger Magic” opens on The Beach Boys and pays heavy tribute to The Ramones. Mixed into this strong foundation you’ll also find riffage stained black (“Ragebait”), pop punk angst (“Greed Battalion”), posty and proggy diversions (“High on Silence”), and even a millennial whoop or two. These are disparate elements to bring under one umbrella, but like fellow countrymen Kvelertak, Suncraft pull it off well.

In a brew stereotypically known for wanton abandon, Welcome to the Coven succeeds through restraint. Post-black and pop punk normally make bridge- or hook-centered appearances, being used as means to build drama and release tension rather than ends in themselves. Drummer Tobias Paulsen utilizes a predominantly upbeat rock style, but he’s got a full toolbox. He deploys d-beats, hooks and fills, blast beats, and tempo changes with precision for maximum emotional impact (“Love’s Underrated,” “Welcome to the Coven”). The same can be said of bassist/singer Rasmus Skage Jensen, whose strings feel elementally nostalgic, both in tone and in their intentionally dynamic grounding of hooks, leads, and rhythmic support. And by keeping a normally tight grip on his vocals, the moments when Jensen lets loose and pushes his pipes to their limit shine all the brighter (“Greed Battalion,” “Forgotten Goddess”). Rather than employing an unchecked, maximalist style, Suncraft’s tempered and deceptively meticulous songcraft elevates Welcome to the Coven far above the sum of its parts.

Suncraft doesn’t treat the incorporation of these various flourishes as puzzles to be solved. Instead, every element on Welcome to the Coven seems chosen and placed to best support a deliriously and irresistibly fun grand design. This approach and Suncraft’s success with it grant them an inimitable air of sprezzatura.1 Krogstad, Grøtan, and Kverndal spin around each other so naturally, offering inspired counterpoints (“Wizards of the Anger Magic”), tossing in pristine fills (“High on Silence”), and passing leads and solos like a hacky sack (“Love’s Underrated,” “Forgotten Goddess”). I don’t for one second believe that Jensen’s interjectory “fuck it” on “Greed Battalion” or Paulsen’s double bass in “Welcome to the Coven” are off the cuff; this album is far too good for that. But when I hear the killer solo in “Love’s Underrated,” the exceptional back half of “Charlatan Killer,” or the barely controlled chaos that is “Forgotten Goddess,” I can’t help but be awed by the explosive synergy on display here—and the casual effortlessness of it.

I had high hopes when I picked up Welcome to the Coven, and from the first seconds of “Ragebait” to the final cymbals of “Forgotten Goddess,”2 Suncraft blew me away. The chorus of “Charlatan Killer” was the only exception, being merely good in a sea of great. Each track on Suncraft’s sophomore effort fits together naturally and neatly in a singular, unified vision. Primally familiar like the mythical dog days of summer, Welcome to the Coven is an astoundingly fun ride. By the end of its 40-minute runtime, I’m invariably left craving more. And if that isn’t the mark of a great album, I don’t know what is.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: All Good Clean Records
Websites: Facebook | Instagram
Releases Worldwide: November 21st, 2025

#2025 #40 #allGoodCleanRecords #blackMetal #garageRock #japandroids #kvelertak #norwegianMetal #nov25 #popPunk #queensOfTheStoneAge #review #reviews #stonerRock #suncraft #theBeachBoys #theDogs #theRamones #theSword #welcomeToTheCoven

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