Kiwi Kick

Thousand Limbs, a promising New Zealand four-piece doom metal band, are making waves in the doom metal genre. The release of their debut full-length album, The Aurochs, has many fans curious to hear their full sound. 

Kicking off the album, “A Blessed Life to Suffer,” is an eight-minute progressive rock record. Confidently blending melodies, Andrew Shaw on guitar leads the band through the beginning of the album.

“A Dim Light to Guide” switches up the atmosphere and introduces a misty doom-and-gloom sound, certainly living up to the track name.  

From the first two tracks, Thousand Limbs demonstrate their chemistry as a group with many fast-to-slow tempo changes throughout their lengthy tunes. Nick Baldwin’s skilled bass work mainly sets the tone across the duration, guaranteeing the rest of the band follows suit with a gloomy Monday morning tone.   

There is not much to mention about the third track on the album, “Only His Shadow.” On arrival, listeners are presented with the slowest song. While it may not be the most entertaining listen, it acts as an icebreaker into the next two tracks.  

It’s a fair argument that the opening three tracks of The Aurochs aren’t turning any heads in the street. This is a shame, as first-time listeners may give up at this point, but if they hold on long enough to reach tracks four and five, world order is restored. 

Track four, “The Aurochs – Ensnared,” lives up to the hype of being the title track. Raw, heavy and straight up in your face. Patrick Gray’s aggressive guitar throws the kitchen sink at you. Thousand Limbs have arrived. This track has countless positive characteristics, a most pleasant surprise.

Hurling straight into “The Aurochs – Aligned,” the second of the two title tracks, continues the captivating solid metal sound. Gritty and adventurous, Thousand Limbs revive the album in such an enjoyable manner. Each band member’s complete energy translates through to the listener.     

More energy, more passion, more everything. Big fan.

As listeners reach the later part of the album, tracks “Form” and “Fall of Body and Mind” showcase a similar sound. Heavy, weighty riffs combined with dark bass notes have a good shot at blowing speakers out. 

The skillful blending of melancholy and anger hits hard as drummer Stuart Hardwood hits the crash cymbal. 

The album concludes with “A Boundless Heart,” delivering a memorable performance. The standout factor in this closing song is Hardwood’s beautifully tuned high and low toms. While the track predominantly features the familiar hard-hitting metal sound, it also includes a very pleasant piano breakdown. This serves as a reminder that metal can be as soft as it is aggressive.

To many musicians keeping it short and sweet is the aim of the game — not to Thousand Limbs. 

An album spanning across ten tracks and a playtime of over 55 minutes, The Aurochs isn’t a quick fix, it has to be appreciated in its time. 

Coming into their first full-length studio album, fans and critics wondered if the Kiwi lads could produce a full-length album with the same punch and impact as their shorter EPs.

The proof is in the pavlova, The Aurochs.