PILGRIM OF FIRE is a doom metal act from Derbyshire, England. "An Age Of Penance And Oblivion" is their debut album, and it's pretty solid. This band's music goes beyond the requisite BLACK SABBATH influence and puts their own occult-infused spin on the familiar theme.

The album's intro track, "Forsaken," is an interesting one. It tells the tale of a man losing his faith, murdering his priest, and dedicating himself to the left-hand path. It's a little on the long side, but upon repeated listening, it doesn't get annoying at all and sets the stage for the entire album well.

The second track, "Rest In Oblivion," starts with a basic doom metal riff but becomes compelling rather quickly. Next, the vocals come in, where Andi Haywood sounds like a deeper-voiced OZZY OSBOURNE. Later in the song, his voice trembles while singing in the same way that Dax Riggs of ACID BATH does. Nevertheless, there's a great jam that breaks out midway through the track, and Marc Hoyland's guitar solos are top-notch.

"The Bargain" starts with a slow thrash intro and quickly picks up the pace. The song itself is about a person's decision to follow Satan and become an agent of the occult. That is perfect doom metal subject matter. The song develops well over its eight-minute runtime and doesn't drag at all.

The next track, "Euphoria," is PILGRIM OF FIRE's "Planet Caravan." It is slowly paced and overtly psychedelic. The drawn-out vocals reminded me of Al Cisneros' work with OM. The slow, clean blues guitar licks only help to reinforce that comparison. It's a neat track, but it's a bit too slow for its length.

The album's final track, "Ashes Over Water," fell flat. The previous track, "Servant Of Samael," is an evil ballad that works exceptionally well. This track follows a similar format and pales in comparison. It feels like one slow ballad, too many. Add in that the album ends with the sounds of a woman crying and water splashing. That's just too melodramatic when compared to the rest of the album.

"An Age Of Penance And Oblivion" is an excellent debut album with more hits than misses. PILGRIM OF FIRE drew inspiration from the entire pantheon of doom metal history and created an album that celebrates all things dark and evil in a way that is fun and intriguing. If this album is any indication of what to expect from this British duo, then I'm looking forward to their future releases.