Juggernaut’s info sheet describes them as “Opeth meets Neurosis” and “Mastodon arranged by Ennio Morricone”. These descriptions are mostly accurate, as on the whole the band puts forth a kind of amalgam of doom, drone, prog, and riff-heavy metal that creates a distinctive atmosphere.

Where a lot of bands in this genre sound very melancholy, with vocals ranging from controlled growls to wispy croons, Juggernaut switches it up and mauls the listener with unrestrained screams, shrieks, and gurgles that evoke pure torment. This is a jarring element at first but as the record plays on it really finds its place. On slower parts such as the beginning of “Nailscratched” the vocals are utterly devastating. The rest of the instruments also come through nicely, and most of the time it feels like the music is beating out some deeply buried sorrow, frustration, and despair.

Juggernaut employ several rabbit-in-the-hat tricks throughout …Where Mountains Walk, such as alternative percussion sounds, film-score style orchestration, subtle guitar effects and a boat-load more.

With song lengths ranging from 1:43 to 9:55, Juggernaut are a band willing to try anything within the limits of their sound, and it makes their album pretty damn fun to listen to. Multiple spins a must!

4.0/5