Horn of the Rhino – Summoning Deliverance ...

We, sometimes unfortunately, live in a time where music is easily available to anyone with internet access and it’s easy for bands to put music out for people to hear. Due to that fact there is a large amount of absolute garbage out there to wade through to find the bands that are truly loaded with talent yet have difficulty getting recognized.

One such band that I’ve been following for several years now that seems to get no love whatsoever but is incredibly awesome is Spain’s (yes, Spain!) doom laden masters Horn of the Rhino. Perhaps it’s because Spain isn’t exactly known as a hotbed of metal but to me that should make Horn of the Rhino stand out all that much more but yet I rarely hear them getting mentioned. It’s a complete shame because if you love doom or just metal in general you should know about Horn of the Rhino. Hopefully I can win a few of you over today.

Due to Horn of the Rhino getting little to no press it seems I tend to miss when they release new music. This was the case with their latest album, Summoning Deliverance, which I only found today because I went looking to see if they had any new music out. To my joy and surprise I found a new album waiting for me that was released at the end of August (August 26th to be precise) via Doomentia Records (link to label site: HERE). I couldn’t hit play fast enough. I discovered Horn of the Rhino a few years ago by mere chance on one of my many forays into my never ending quest for new music.

I forget what band’s YouTube clip I had clicked on but a suggestion for a HotR song popped up so I hit that, I was hooked immediately and I’ve been a fan ever since. That song was Speaking In Tongues off 2010’s Weight of Coronation, which is still my favorite HotR album btw. So I’ve followed the band ever since. As with any band some of their songs hit me, some miss but man when HotR hit they hit hard! The list of tunes from them I listen to on a near daily basis is long indeed. You can catch up on their back catalog via their bandcamp page here (link: HERE) including their last album as Rhino before changing their name to Horn of the Rhino.

Horn of the Rhino is driven by mastermind, guitarist/vocalist Javier Galvez along with Sergio “Rambo” Robles on bass and Julen Gil behind the drum kit. Their newest album is Summoning Deliverance and finds HotR being a little more sludgey than on some previous releases but they have always incorporated many styles into their sound even the inclusion of a saxophone in the past. To call Horn of the Rhino just a doom metal band doesn’t do justice to all they include in their sound from sludge to death to black metal and more. Having listened to Summoning Deliverance in its entirety a few times now I would say it may be their heaviest offering to date. Early on, especially on 2010’s Weight of Coronation, the band stuck pretty much to doom which they do fantastically well when they go pure doom but with each album they have incorporated more and more into their sound so now great doom isn’t all the band has to offer. Summoning Deliverance, I would say, is their most diverse offering to date incorporating even more elements into their unique doomy stew.

Summoning Deliverance starts off with the static fuzzed out intro, Awaiting The Scourge, that leads straight into the opening track, Exvenhstench. While this song like most HotR songs uses doom as a base it adds in some elements of black metal which to my ears, though I could certainly be mistaken, is the first time HotR have done so other than an odd random flash here or there somewhere in the past. Sometimes mixing styles can backfire but as HotR has so many times the mix works well and Exvenhstench just really rocks your balls off right from the get go letting you know Summoning’ is going to be one fun filled doom laden ride.

Onward Through Domination is another example of HotR laying down some absolute doom gold. When Galvez & crew make a pure doom song it never fails to kick your ass hard. For a doom track it’s not slow and plodding but more mid-tempo that had my head bobbing up and down nicely. It should be said that Galvez’s voice is just amazing as he can go from clean to growl and everything in between with the ease of spreading butter across a slice of warm toast. Then there are the riffs… just wow! The bass line of ‘Domination by “Rambo” is what hooked me on this one. It’s one fantastic song but not even my favorite on the album which should tell you how good this album is right there.

Onward Through Domination fades out and High Priest comes in to kick your ass. This is one fuzzy, fast sludge track that would fit perfectly on any Crowbar album or another of my favorite current sludge bands, Black Tusk. High Priest just rocks beating you over the head with its riff and Galvez’s screeched vocals barking in your ear forcing your head to bang even harder. Then we seemingly go back to heavy doom territory on Their Tombs which begins with what sounds like someone banging on the inside of a tomb wanting out. Though the song begins in slow methodical doom fashion it soon bursts out quickening the pace as if a jackhammer is being taken to your skull spilling the gooey insides onto the sidewalk. The song just won’t stop pummeling you setting the jackhammer to the side only to pick up a sledge hammer giving you one slow whack at a time until they pick up the jackhammer once more to go to town on you. By the end you’re just a splatter on the sidewalk no longer recognizable as ever being human. Then HotR attempt to put you back together.



Track Six, Deliverance Prayer, is absolutely my favorite off the album. After beating you to an unrecognizable pool of blood and gore Galvez’s oft times incredible soothing voice comes in to gently pick up the pieces and start stitching you back together. The track is just beautiful as if it may actually be able to deliver you up to the heavens as an offering to the gods. That is until the album continues pleasantly dragging you back into the depths of the Abyss where you belong with the short interlude Drogg Om Thraal pulling you back down into the depths. It sounds as if hell may just have opened up to swallow you where you must confront the Grim Foreigners. Grim Foreigners is yet another excellent sludgey track once more incorporating some black metal tones into the mix which, simply put, makes it sound more evil. Galvez sounds here like a demon chasing you until he finally has you by the throat to drag you to the feet of the Master.

Builder of Carrion Effigies starts off with some elephants stomping your skull riffage leading into a blistering sludge track in the vein of earlier track High Priest but where High Priest only beat you senseless for six minutes Builder’ makes sure you’re pounded to mush with an eight minute all out pummeling assault. Where Summoning Deliverance was the first time I can think of HotR adding black metal in the mix it is also the first time I can remember hearing flashes of thrash in the mix as well. Builder’ at its heart is a fuzzy, down tuned thrash attack which is as refreshing as it is awesome. HotR don’t hold anything back here defying the pigeon hole of just being a doom band though the album closes back on their doom roots with An Excess of Faith. Galvez seems to channel Ozzy on this one since it sounds as if the song would fit right in on an early Black Sabbath album which I say as a giant compliment. It reminded me a bit of the song Black Sabbath though there is plenty more in there as well.
If Horn of the Rhino is new to you I would encourage you to take a listen to all four of their albums but I’d say Summoning Deliverance is as good a place to start as any. My personal favorite is still Weight of Coronation but I’ve also listened to that more than any other and it’s really a pure doom album where now the band has incorporated even more styles into their sound which isn’t a bad thing at all. Too many bands today trod out one album after another all sounding pretty much the same but to hear a band grow and change over time evolving musically beyond where they started is far more enjoyable to me. It shows that a band are beyond just musicians but artists as well. Now having heard Summoning Deliverance a few times, I couldn’t help repeating it, I’d say while it definitely sounds like Horn of the Rhino it is also their most diverse album to date and I look forward to seeing how this band continues to evolve in the future. I certainly hope they’re around for a long time to come. So for those in need of a simple rating I’d give Summoning Deliverance about an 8.5/10. Now I think I’m going to go listen again, feel free to join me.


Words: Feind Gottes (Thy Demons Be Scribblin)

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