Tag: Destroyer of Light

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Slumbering Sun Returns with Swooning “Together Forever”

Formed back in 2022, Austin-based outfit AND JOVM mainstays  Slumbering Sun — Monte Luna‘s James Clarke (vocals), Destroyer of Light‘s Keegan Kjeldsen (guitar) and Kelly “Penny” Turner, Temptress‘ Kelsey Wilson, and Monte Luna’s and Scorpion Child’s Garth Condit (bass) — is a Texas underground metal scene All-Star outfit that specializes in “music for crazy romantics,” as they’ve dubbed it, a melodic doom metal that incorporates elements of Celtic folk, grunge, prog rock and shoegaze. 

The Austin-based quintet’s full-length debut, 2023’s The Ever-Living Fire debuted at #20 on the Doom Charts. The band played their first show at SXSW’s Stoner Jam, then embarked on a series of regional tours before capping off the year with a set at Ripple Fest.

The band spent the bulk of last year, writing and recording their highly-anticipated sophomore effort, Starmony, which saw its official DSP and limited vinyl release earlier this month.

In the lead-up to the album’s release, I wrote about two of the album’s previously released singles:

  • “Midsommar Night’s Dream,” a track that begins with a gorgeous, pensive piano and string driven introduction, before quickly morphing into swooningly heartfelt and nostalgia-fueled dirge anchored around the sort of fuzzy power chords that would bring smiles to the faces of Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Neil Young, all while being arguably the most cinematic song they’ve released to date. 

  • “The Tower” a track that begins with a broodingly atmospheric introduction that quickly morphs into slow-burning, power chord-driven dirge with dexterous guitar solos. “The Tower” continues a run of material that’s soulful and cinematic while showcasing the band’s unerring knack for crafting a sound that recalls The Sword, Soundgarden and others. 

“Together Forever,” Starmony‘s latest single is a slow-burning ballad that sees the band pairing the swooning Romanticism of goth with the churning and fuzzy power chord-driven dirges of doom metal. The new single continues a run of material that’s perfectly suited for folks who love to hear anthemic songs with enormous power chords and rousingly anthemic hooks and choruses with beers raised in the air — but while also feeling something.

The accompanying video features footage shot over the past two years of touring across Texas and the rest of the Midwest, including the late night food food stops, the endless trees and white lines of the road, the small shows, and the pals you meet across the scene — with an uncanny precision.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Slumbering Sun Shares Cinematic “Midsommar Night’s Dream”

Formed back in 2022, Austin-based outfit Slumbering Sun — Monte Luna‘s James Clarke (vocals), Destroyer of Light‘s Keegan Kjeldsen (guitar) and Kelly “Penny” Turner, Temptress‘ Kelsey Wilson, and Monte Luna’s and Scorpion Child’s Garth Condit (bass) — is a Texas underground metal scene All-Star outfit that specializes in “music for crazy romantics,” as they’ve dubbed it, a melodic doom metal that incorporates elements of Celtic folk, grunge, prog rock and shoegaze.

The Austin-based quintet’s full-length debut, 2023’s The Ever-Living Fire debuted at #20 on the Doom Charts. The band played their first show at SXSW’s Stoner Jam, then embarked on a series of regional tours before capping off the year with a set at Ripple Fest.

The band spent the bulk of last year, writing and recording their highly-anticipated sophomore effort, Starmony, which is slated for a limited-edition vinyl and digital release on May 6, 2025. In between writing and recording sessions, they toured the Midwest and released last year’s “Out of the Blue & Into the Void,” a song that seemingly mashes up classic tracks by Neil Young and Black Sabbath.

Slumbering Sun’s latest single “Midsommar Night’s Dream” begins with a gorgeous and pensive piano and string-driven introduction, before morphing into a swooningly heartfelt and nostalgia-fueled dirge anchored around the sort of fuzzy power chords that would bring a smile to the faces of Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Neil Young, all while being arguably the most cinematic song they’ve released to date.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Slumbering Sun Share Horror Movie-Influenced Visual for “Dream Snake”

Austin-based doom metal outfit Slumbering Sun — Monte Luna’s James Clarke (vocals), Destroyer of Light’s Keegan Kjeldsen (guitar), Temptress‘ Kelsey Wilson (guitar), Monte Luna‘s and Scorpion Child‘s Garth Condit (bass) and Destroyer of Light’s Penny Turner (drums) — is an All-Star band featuring acclaimed members of Texas’ underground metal scene. 

After the breakup of their previous band, James Clarke and Keegan Kjeldsen resolved to forget the bitter pain of an album that would never be released, by creating something new. They decided to start a new band with an album that Kjeldsen wrote between work on other projects. The pair continued the creative process at their rehearsal space with a few songs strummed on a clean, electric guitar: Clarke began to write melodies with the pair finishing lyrics. 

Clarke and Kjeldsen recruited Temptress’ Kelsey Wilson, who made the commute from Dallas for the writing and recording process. Scorpion Child’s Garth Condit and Destroyer of Light’s Penny Turner, who played in other bands with Clarke and Kjeldsen respectively were recruited to be the band’s rhythm section — and from that point on, Slumbering Sun was a full-fledged band. 

Released earlier this year digitally and on cassette and CD, tthe Austin-based doom metal outfit’s full-length debut The Ever Living Fire was recorded in a week-long recording session this past summer. Sonically, their full-length debut sees the band exploring broader melodies than their previous work while drawing from Celtic folk, doom metal act Warning, as well as 90s grunge rockers Soundgarden and Alice In Chains. 

In the lead-up to the album’s release, I wrote about three singles:

  • “Liminal Bridges,” an expansive song featuring an atmospheric introduction with swirling, shoegazer-like textures, followed by stormy, power chord-driven riffage and thunderous drumming paired with Clarke’s melodic crooning and enormous, arena rock-like hooks. The track sonically brought — to my ears, at least —  The Sword  to mind — ok but with a prog rock-leaning sensibility.

  • “Dream Snake,” an equally expansive track that opens with Black Sabbath and Soundgarden-like intro with fuzzy, power chord-driven riffage, thunderous drumming and a soulful solo paired with Clarke’s Ozzy Osbourne-like delivery until roughly around the five-minute mark. At that point, the song morphs into a sludgy doom metal dirge for the next two minutes or so before a gorgeous string arrangement carries the song into a gentle fadeout. Lyrically rooted in longing and heartbreak, “Dream Snake” sees the members of Slumbering Sun drawing from different eras one metal and doom metal and crafting something both familiar and new.

  • Album title track “The Ever Living Fire.” Continuing a remarkable run of expansive, mind-bending material, the song begins with a gorgeous 35 second, acoustic guitar-driven introduction before quickly exploding into an expressive and soulful doom metal dirge, built around sludgy power chord-driven riffage, thunderous drumming and Clarke’s crooning. And around the five minute mark, the band introduces a melodic hook that shifts the song in a trippy display of densely layered guitars. The song ends with a roughly minute-long, gorgeous acoustic gutter driven coda making it one of the more prog-leaning songs of the album’s released singles. 

Continuing to build about the attention the album’s first three singles have received throughout the course of this year, the Austin-based doom outfit recently shared the video for “Dream Snake.” Directed by the band’s James Clarke and Keegan Kjeldsen, the video follows four buddies driving to their regular dive bar for drinks and hijinks. They all happily greet their bartender, who serves them all their regular drinks. The bartender offers them a special stash of drugs called Sumatran Dream Flower with devilish delight. “Y’all really wanna get fucked up? Well I gotcha,” he seems to say. Fittingly, after snorting the Sumatran Dream Flower, they start having wild and paranoid visions of evil creatures wanting to kill them. Little do they know, it’s not a hallucinogen-fueled fever dream; it’s very real. B movie horror menace and bloodshed ensue to hilarious, goofy effect.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Austin-based doom metal outfit Slumbering Sun — Monte Luna’s James Clarke (vocals), Destroyer of Light’s Keegan Kjeldsen (guitar), Temptress‘ Kelsey Wilson (guitar), Monte Luna‘s and Scorpion Child‘s Garth Condit (bass) and Destroyer of Light’s Penny Turner (drums) — is an All-Star band featuring acclaimed members of Texas’ underground metal scene. 

After the breakup of their previous band, James Clarke and Keegan Kjeldsen resolved to forget the bitter pain of an album that would never be released, by creating something new. They decided to start a new band with an album that Kjeldsen wrote between work on other projects. The pair continued the creative process at their rehearsal space with a few songs strummed on a clean, electric guitar: Clarke began to write melodies with the pair finishing lyrics. 

Clarke and Kjeldsen recruited Temptress’ Kelsey Wilson, who made the commute from Dallas for writing and recruiting process. Scorpion Child’s Garth Condit and Destroyer of Light’s Penny Turner, who played in other bands with Clarke and Kjeldsen respectively were recruited to be the band’s rhythm section — and from that point on, Slumbering Sun was a full-fledged band. 

Slated for Friday digital, cassette and CD release, the Austin-based doom metal outfit’s full-length debut The Ever-Living Fire was recorded in a week-long recording session this past summer. Sonically, The Ever-Living Fire sees the members of Slumbering Sun exploring broader melodies while being inspired by Celtic folk, doom metal like Warning, as well as beloved 90s classics like Soundgarden and Alice In Chains. 

In the lead-up to the album’s release later this week, I’ve written about two singles:

  • “Liminal Bridges,” an expansive song featuring an atmospheric introduction with swirling, shoegazer-like textures, followed by stormy, power chord-driven riffage and thunderous drumming paired with Clarke’s melodic crooning and enormous, arena rock-like hooks. The track sonically brought — to my ears, at least — The Sword  to mind — ok but with a prog rock-leaning sensibility.
  • “Dream Snake,” an equally expansive track that opens with Black Sabbath and Soundgarden-like intro with fuzzy, power chord-driven riffage, thunderous drumming and a soulful solo paired with Clarke’s Ozzy Osbourne-like delivery until roughly around the five-minute mark. At that point, the song morphs into a sludgy doom metal dirge for the next two minutes or so before a gorgeous string arrangement carries the song into a gentle fadeout. Lyrically rooted in longing and heartbreak, “Dream Snake” sees the members of Slumbering Sun drawing from different eras one metal and doom metal and crafting something both familiar and new.

The Ever-Living Fire‘s third and latest single, album title track “The Ever Living Fire” continues a remarkable run of expansive, mind-bending material. Beginning with 35 second gorgeous, acoustic guitar-driven introduction, the song quickly explodes into an expressive and soulful, doom metal dirge rooted into sludgy riffage, thunderous drumming paired with Clarke’s crooning. Around the five minute mark, the band introduces a melodic hook that shifts the song into an explosive display of layered guitar work. The song ends with a roughly minute-long gorgeous, acoustic guitar-driven coda. It’s arguably the most prog-leaning of the album’s released singles.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Austin-based doom metal outfit Slumbering Sun — Monte Luna’s James Clarke (vocals), Destroyer of Light’s Keegan Kjeldsen (guitar), Temptress‘ Kelsey Wilson (guitar), Monte Luna‘s and Scorpion Child‘s Garth Condit (bass) and Destroyer of Light’s Penny Turner (drums) — is an All-Star band featuring members of Texas’ underground metal scene. 

After the breakup of their previous band, James Clarke and Keegan Kjeldsen resolved to forget the bitter pain of an album that would never be released, by creating something new. They decided to start a new band with an album that Kjeldsen wrote between work on other projects. The pair continued the creative process at their rehearsal space with a few songs strummed on a clean, electric guitar: Clarke began to write melodies with the pair finishing lyrics. 

Clarke and Kjeldsen recruited Temptress’ Kelsey Wilson, who made the commute from Dallas for writing and recruiting process. Scorpion Child’s Garth Condit and Destroyer of Light’s Penny Turner, who played in other bands with Clarke and Kjeldsen respectively were recruited to be the band’s rhythm section — and from that point on, Slumbering Sun was a full-fledged band. 

Slated for a February 24, 2023 CD, cassette and digital release with a vinyl release over the summer, because of pressing plant delays, the Austin-based doom metal outfit’s full-length debut The Ever-Living Fire was recorded in a week-long recording session this past summer. Sonically, The Ever-Living Fire sees the members of Slumbering Sun exploring broader melodies while being inspired by Celtic folk, doom metal like Warning, as well as beloved 90s classics like Soundgarden and Alice In Chains. 

Late last year, I wrote about the expansive “Liminal Bridges.” Centered around a song structure featuring an atmospheric introduction with swirling shoegazer-like textures, followed by stormy, power chord-driven riffage and thunderous drumming paired with Clarke’s melodic crooning and some enormous, arena rock friendly hooks, The Ever-Living Fire‘s first single sonically brings The Sword and others to mind — but with a prog rock-leaning sensibility. 

Clocking in at a little over 8:30, The Ever-Living Fire‘s second and latest single “Dream Snake” further establishes the Austin doom outfit’s penchant for expansive song structures: Opening with fuzzy power chord-driven riffage and thunderous drumming paired with Clarke’s Ozzy Osbourne-like delivery, the song first nods at classic Black Sabbath and Soundgarden-like metal, complete with a soulful yet forceful solo. At the five minute mark, the song turns into sludgy doom metal dirge for a good two minutes before a gorgeous burst of strings carry the song into a gentle fadeout.

Lyrically rooted in longing and heartbreak, “Dream Snake” sees the members of Slumbering Sun drawing from different eras one metal and doom metal and crafting something both familiar and new.