Review GRAND MAGUS “Sunraven”

The Swedish capital is the home of Grand Magus. Formed in 1999, the trio grew into a major metal act after releasing their self-titled debut album in 2001. Dedicated and with a lot of iron will, the band has released nine full-length albums to date, while the latest release is just about to hit the stores.

“Sunraven” is the title of the next Grand Magus album, which will feature a nine-song tracklist. It wasn’t always certain that the band would release a new album. Some doubts arose during the pandemic when the question came up if this was it. Grand Magus is a live band and the shutdowns pulled the plug for a while.

It was in 2023 that JB and his bandmates followed their metal hearts and started writing new songs, which can now be enjoyed on “Sunraven”. The new thing about Sunraven is that it’s a concept album based on the poem Beowolf. It’s the story of Beowolf and Grendel that inspired JB to write the lyrics. With such a story as a thread through the album, the songs deal with basic things like life, death, glory, love and hate.

The album opens with “Skybound”, a song about going to Valhalla, which also ties in with the end of the album as Beowolf ends up there. Musically, Grand Magus have sharpened their sound while picking up where they left off five years ago. The opener is a thunderous start to the album. Built on a great riff, it’s JB’s unique vocals that add a lot of intensity to the album and its first song.

It’s the mix of traditional heavy metal and doom metal that still characterises these nine tracks, of which “The Wheel Of Pain” is one. Kept at a moderate pace, the track has a well-crafted melodic line that allows you to sing along when you first hear the song.

The same goes for the stomping ‘Winter Storms’, an ode to heavy metal. Calmer and more atmospheric is the beginning of “The Black Lake”. The song has a certain underlying stoner vibe before the explosive riff marks a turn towards doom metal fascination.

“Hour Of The Wolf” is also worth mentioning for two reasons. Firstly, there is the cinematic intro that leads into a galloping metal ride with plenty of NWoBHM influences. the sound of Iron Maiden provided a blueprint for some parts of the song, which still has enough Grand Magus in it.

“Sunraven” maintains its great metal spirit from beginning to end. The last three songs on the album have the same quality as the beginning of the longplayer. There is the pounding “To Heorot”, which passes the baton to “The End belongs to You”. The closer is a mesmerising metal anthem that bears all the trademarks of Grand Magus and is therefore a well chosen finale for the album.

Grand Magus are back; that’s the clear statement the band makes with ‘Sunraven’. Nine explosive, intense and roaring metal songs is what the band’s latest effort delivers and with an album like this in the books, we can look forward to seeing the band live on stage when they support Opeth on their upcoming tour.