Epitaphs by Sojourner is one of those singles that made me sit up and say; ‘What the fuck is this?’

Now, admittedly I probably shouldn’t have uttered such an outburst at my Uncle Dave’s funeral, but that alone should tell you just how much of a ‘Eureka!’ moment that Epitaphs is.

Now, I could sit here and twiddle my mustache, sipping on an ale brewed from berries you only find on the hillside of a Mexican valley, that has been infused with the arse hairs of a Yak, and boast about how Sojourner are one of those bands I’ve known about for years, but the truth is that until this very moment, I didn’t even know they existed. Which isn’t a bad thing as they have no idea who I am either, but as an introduction to a band goes, Epitaphs is a home fucking run.

It starts with a gentle piano refrain that morphs into some serious dark music and when Emilio Crespo’s vocals hit yoylu think “Ah, yes! Symphonic Black Metal, got it!’

Except then Heike Langhans vocie joins in and you don’t got it. At fucking all.

It is everything you would expect. It is grandiose, it sounds like it could fill the Grand fucking Canyon, but then it shifts so suddenly into a blend of the darkest metal that is heavily tinged with folk music – while containing two vocal styles that are the polar opposites of each other – that you can’t quite get your head around what is unfolding before you.

It’s like a swift karmic kick to the head, but one that you need to help shake the cobwebs of your tired expectations free from their bindings, to release you from decades of tropes that have become the norm.

This is fucking brilliant. Plain and simple.

I’m not sure if I love Epitaphs by Sojourner or if I fucking love it, but what I do know is that if you want something that will rattle your cage in a way that hasn’t happened in years, then you need to head on over to their Ampwall page and check this out for yourself.