Remember when bands used to “get it together in the country”? Demon Head do. In the winter of 2017-18 they headed out to a remote recording studio in the Danish countryside to record their third album. But this is no bucolic, hippy, communing with nature type affair. More a “getting lost in the woods, people with strange animal masks, ‘it’s time for your appointment with The Wicker Danzig’” situation. The creepy rural seclusion approach has worked: Demon Head have definitely got it together on Hellfire Ocean Void.
The Night Is Yours and In The Hour Of The Wolf are the standout tracks: occult, old-fashioned metal that will appeal to fans of Tribulation and In Solitude. There are also lots of rustic interludes and mystical ambience which, combined with the band’s Pentagram-style proto-doom, gives the album a folk horror allure. The guitar work is much improved, some exciting NWOBHM-esque workouts and solos here, and Ferriera Larsen is finding his own voice: shaking off the Bobby Leibling/Fonzig comparisons of old.
As with previous albums, there’s a tendency to meander which means it takes a few listens to grab you. But it’s their most thoughtful, consistent and well-crafted effort yet with depth and atmosphere in abundance. It builds on the promise of their earlier work and suggests exciting ways forward. Fan of pagan, old-school metal? It’s time for your appointment with Demon Head.
HEAVY METAL OVERLOAD 
Danish Metal! Hope u sent this review to them…
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Proto doom is way better than normal doom. Up to 38% better.
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Spoken like a man with no Candlemass or Saint Vitus albums!
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Aren’t they proto retro doom?
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Slightly post proto retro I think?
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To the point of being neo doom?
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At its best, yes.
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Got me intrigued. Sounds awrite, too. What has become of me? Listening to Danish doom metal peddling.
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Enjoy it while you can. After Brexit we won’t get any European doom metal peddling.
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We’ll be stuck with Mumford & Sons and Florence & The Machine.
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This caused me to pull out Thunder on the Fields, an album I have not spent sufficient time with since picking it up. Truly good stuff, and your review’s positive view of “building” and “suggesting” convinces me I must get myself into the Hellfire Ocean Void soonest. That said, c’mon man! The Demon Head is great specifically because of its bucolic hippy doom leanings! I hope their time in the countryside doesn’t have them leaving the communing behind completely…
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Thunder… was my last fave of the three they’ve done. Has grown on me but just never really registers.
Haha I meant more the “peace and love” kind of bucolic hippyness. Not just sounding 70s and wearing flares!
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