EISENHAUER hails from Germany, riding in on sleek black stallions. Their second studio album "Blessed Be the Hunter" is described as "Heavy Doom Metal"... Doom Metal can be quite a spectrum... After listening to this album, I've found it lies more in the higher energy GRAND MAGUS vein of Doom Metal rather than the slower, gloomy CANDLEMASS vein and I'm all here for it.

"Gods of Pain" has some fantastic guitar work, not just in the riffs and melodies but the solos too! The vocals are like a cross between Matt Barlow and James Hetfield; what a great combo. "Release the Beast" has a chuggier Doom Metal feel; it's a slower tempo track that doesn't really take off until the solo portion 4ish minutes in. "Sun Under My Breast" is a short instrumental that leads into "Wild Boar Banner". This song is still that Doom Metal style, but with plenty of attitude in the vocal melodies. It's kind of a tough guy, 'let's start a bar fight' kind of track. "Ghost Warrior" has a great full fledged Heavy Metal solo section to go with the headbang worthy riffs surrounding. "Ode to the Hammer" was a bit slow going for most of it. I did enjoy the solo section and the cool tempo change at the end though. "Mountain" has this feeling of ascension, like you're climbing a mountain; it just grows and speeds up, like you're barreling toward the summit and past it to the highest peak. It's a triumphant track; you feel almost empowered while listening. "Cult" is a great closing number. The melody is interesting, there's some mysticism in the riffs and melody. It becomes more intense and urgent as 'the gods are coming' and one can imagine clouds in multicolored hues shrouded by dark thunderheads leading them in by the end.

Overall, this was an interesting Doom Metal album. There was a lot of pure Heavy Metal stirred in with some interesting melodic bits.  There were some moments that the same riff over and over made the songs drag on, which was my only qualm with this album. I must mention though, the main highlight of this album for me is the awesome guitar solos. They had this nostalgic flair while also just being kick ass at the same time. While it's not mosh pit fast, or windmill your damn head for a lot of this album, it still rocks pretty damn hard.