Album Review: White Stones – Kuarahy

Martín Méndez was just 17 years old when he relocated from Uruguay to Sweden to play bass in Opeth. Considering he couldn’t even speak the language there, it was quite the leap of faith. While Opeth have gravitated towards more progressive and psychedelic territory, White Stones’ debut – named after Martín’s place of birth – revisits the heaviness he started out playing.

There’s an evil to the riffs on Worms and Ashes that’s excitingly familiar, rivalling the bloodthirsty extremes manifested on Opeth’s Deliverance, while Taste Of Blood treads new sonic ground with its own ethereal and exotic suspense. Naturally, there are still traces of jazz and progressive rock here and there, but this is most definitely a metal album, which will only come as good news to all those hell-bent on ‘making Opeth growl again’.

Conceived in the downtime between tours by the band’s second longest-serving member, this debut is a heavy, intriguing bit on the side.

Verdict: 3/5