Given the right approach and circumstances, talent doesn’t stay in the underground for long. It’s the sort of scenario that happens maybe once for every thousand acts, if not ten thousand or more. Thus, when a name undergoes a meteoric rise and finds itself becoming part of what the modern landscape of metal can easily rely on for excellent material, rarely does such a thing come about with minimal fanfare. For years now, Green Lung has been showing us how modern doom can be done while giving great reverence to what came before while still carving their own path forward. Nowhere is that more prevalent than with their impending third opus that stands as arguably the band’s greatest opus yet.

Pulling from their own backyard to make for a bombastic backdrop of Old English myths alongside more than a little bit of current age fire to really add a special kind of kick to all the material, Green Lung has really made something exceptional here. Their previous efforts were all pieces to behold for their own rights, but “This Heathen Land” is hands down their most mature and complete creation to date by miles! Far from a collection of mere riffs and a Black Sabbath worship complex that barely sets them apart from much of the doom landscape as we know it, these nine tracks are here to dominate with absolutely nothing standing in their way. With mythology as the driving force behind such a powerful concoction born out of a tremendous understanding of the sound that has come with years of bringing it to life on top of decades of living in its presence, “This Heathen Land” is damn near the definition of what it means to have a cultivated doom experience that incredibly few others in the current landscape who are as fresh as Green Lung can come close to delivering. Just as capable of intense riffage as well as an epic scope that draws you ever-further into the mysteries and wonders that Green Lung has to offer, this is an album that demands to be heard by far more than the already ravenous fanbase that Green Lung has rightly gathered over the years.

This is one of those records that upon its announcement was always destined for greatness on some level given all that Green Lung has accomplished before this opus, but I cannot stress it enough: “This Heathen Land” has real magic in everything that it summons forth! I wouldn’t be surprised to see this record hailed as one of the absolute best that 2023 has dealt out in ways of exemplary doom metal, and it would be damn difficult for anyone to try and argue otherwise.

“This Heathen Land” releases on November 3rd via Nuclear Blast Records!

LISTEN to singles from “This Heathen Land” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Green Lung on Facebook here.