Saturnus Paradise Belongs to You

Records of the Week with Jon and Ted #20


Each Friday, Editors Ted Nubel and Jon Rosenthal will share their picks for Records of the Week — not necessarily what’s out this week, just whatever’s on our mind or on our record players.

Jon Rosenthal

Saturnus

Paradise Belongs To You

What a gloriously sad album. Long-running Danish melodic death/doom metal band Saturnus’ debut, released on Euphonious Records in 1997, took doom on a tragic journey through the rise and fall of love and life. Paradise Belongs To You is exemplified by the image of the frozen fox which graces its cover; the beauty of death, but also the untold sadness and emptiness that surrounds it. Featuring ethereal guitar work by :Of the Wand and the Moon:’s Kim Larsen and an emotive performance by vocalist Thomas AG Jensen, this first foray into Saturnus’ world is truly gorgeous doom, filled with big hooks and heavy sorrow. Now returning after a lengthy break, Saturnus’ upcoming The Storm Within is bound to please old and new fans alike, and hopefully their new partnership with Prophecy Productions will bring this album back in print!

Ted Nubel

Early Man

Closing In

I don’t know if whatever Early Man exactly is has ever been fully replicated. I mean, folks have tried, but it’s never as fun. Musically, you’re looking at a combination of heavy, thrash, and speed metal with a massive focus on catchy hooks and tight songs, but Adam Conte’s vocals are iconic and genre-spanning. I remember owning this CD and thinking it was basically just stoner rock, which somehow feels right, but is also inarguably wrong. There is a bit of truth, though. Conte’s vocals just doom, to use a genre as a verb, and tracks like the fantastic “Death is the Answer” are absolutely stoner jams with some crunchy riffs.

It was somewhat emblematic of the creative boom in stoner rock that took place in the mid-2000s, where stoner rock practitioners found that they could crib a whole lot from heavy metal and it would sound awesome–except I think that Early Man is kind of the reverse scenario.

Anyway.

“Death is the answer to my prayers… YEAAAAHHHH!”