A while ago, we told you to listen to Path of Might. Let me refresh your memory: the riffs are insane. The vocals are all raspy glory. The drums are mountains collapsing. The name of the game is stoner metal and good one at that, perhaps some of the best we’ve heard in a while. Near the end of that post, we mentioned that, unlike their sister band White Fire, they were very much alive and that more material was coming. Well, lo and behold! As this editor rose from his slumber an email was waiting from Bandcamp: “Path of Might just released Chapels to the West [EP], check it out here“. Of course, being the Internet Metal Nerd that I am, I complied immediately and boy, was I pleased.
Chapels to the West is just two tracks and one of them is a Soundgarden cover. However, the track “Chapels to the West” itself is amazing. It features a more laid back and drawling sound for Path of Might, channeling projects like The Samsara Blues Experiment or The Ego:centrics. The track opens right with that, all honey-drenched riffs. The vocals kick in with just as much gusto as on the previous EP but now the riffs that accompany it have more shine to them and less punch, less bloated feedback. This allows the bass much more prominence. Instead of amplifying the guitars and working with them to create a wall of sound, it has its own voice and terminology. The drums are also much faster and lightning-like, again echoing Mastodon and the role the drum kit plays in that seminal band.
Like the longer tracks on the previous EP, “Chapels to the West” relies on a broad tool kit to keep you engaged. It channels all the elements I mentioned above and varies them up to avoid the curse of receptivity that often plagues this sub-genre. The cover track, straight off the all-important Badmotorfinger, is a nice addition to round off this EP and make it more than a single release. It’s true to the source in keeping the wide-eyed wonder that was Soundgarden alive. As such, it’s a clever insight into what makes Path of Might. However, let me close this article the same way I closed the previous one: we need a full release, pronto. Pretty please?