This album is many things: proto-metal, progressive hard-rock, early doom-metal. It's also a rewarding listen for any fan of these genres. As one of the earliest examples of progressive hard-rock it is also interesting from a historical point of view. Not all of their experiments work, as you would expect, but more often than not they pull it off, producing some remarkable music along the way. The album opens in spectacular fashion with some scary vocals followed by chugging guitar and some siren like blasts of horn. It sounds familiar. Must've been used in some film or other. The next song "Everybody's Clown" - one of three songs over the six minute mark - sounds like a cross between Sabbath and early Purple. The next two tracks are studies in doom. "Keep Goin'" alternates a doomy blues riff with an almost 60s pop hook. "Toxic Shadows" (a great 'doom' title!) uses another blues riff to kick things off. Both feature respectable guitar solos and some imaginative accompaniment from the rhythm section. The weirdly titled "In the Time of Job When Mammon Was a Yippie" is ... weird ... but catchy, with some nice hooks. The album closes with (what should be) a(nother) doom classic, the title track. An excellent album!
–Jim
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