GRAND MAGUS is a heavy/doom metal band from Sweden, who formed in 1999. I discovered them around 2005 with their third full-length album, “Wolf’s Return.” Flash forward to 2025 and the trio is dropping their tenth full-length album, “Sunraven.” They have also released four splits and a demo. I’ve been listening to this band off and on and for 20 years. While some albums are better than others, they have never released a bad one. As far as “Sunraven” goes, I’d say it’s their best in some time, maybe since “The Hunt” or “Hammer of the North.” The appeal of Grand Magus is they have always embraced who they are. They aren’t out to reinvent the wheel and they leave pretentious leanings behind. The band does nothing more, and nothing less, except play heavy fucking metal.

Fortunately, they don’t let that get in the way of writing catchy songs. As with all their stuff, “Sunraven,” features short to average length songs that are very much riff focused, filled with power rhythms and choruses that will get stuck in your head. Their sound combines traditional metal with doom but I can see some thinking they could be stoner doom/metal as well—their sound is subtle and not overly aggressive but still massive. Their line up has stayed mostly consistent since their inception, only switching drummers a few times. Their current drummer, Ludwig (SPIRITUAL BEGGARS), has been with them for a long time—since 2012. By the way, he is in yet another band called DREAD OGRE who released a new album this year that is rock solid (I reviewed it as well) so be sure to check them out as well. As expected, his sound is always powerful with a lot of energy.

Founders JB Christoffersson (lead vocals, guitars) and Fox Skinner (Bass, backing vocals) are in fine form here and they are seemingly immortal–they retain their fire and passion across the album. The album opens with “Skybound,” and it’s a banger. The riffs are immediate and before the 30 second mark has passed, the song offers a full and immersive sound. As always, the vocals and music compliment each other so amazingly well that few bands do it as well as they do. And that chorus? Good luck removing it from your head without brain surgery. The title track displays their knack for throwing in melodic structures among their more traditional ones. The song begins with that melodic passage before developing a kick ass galloping rhythm. Once again, JB belts out a chorus that cannot be denied. His voice remains strong and I feel he is very underrated—his emotional yet gritty vocals are tailored made for his music.

Fox’s opening bass lines on “The Black Lake,” pair wonderfully with JB’s deep croon. Once those deep riffs kick in, Ludwig makes sure to hammer along with them while providing that all important foundation for the song to stand strong upon. As the song approach it’s mid section, a melodic groove enters and it’s just such a well written moment—the band knows exactly what every song needs. “Grendel,” balances heavy handed moments with a bit of atmosphere for a moody romp that leads into a pretty damn hard hitting chorus—that main riff is a monster. Fox’s bass is just as important as the guitars. The two instruments sharing the riff load is one of the many reasons why this song, and band, is such a success.

The album ends with the appropriately titled, “The End Belongs To You.” Solid drums open the song as the guitars/bass come in. The trio move as one for a min epic song that ends the album perfectly. I can’t decide if the verses or the chorus is more catchy. If they play this song live, I can definitely envision the crowd chanting the song’s title with horns raised high. “Sunraven,” further proves that GRAND MAGUS is one of those bands that will give you what you see. And there isn’t a thing wrong with that. I wish more bands were as consistently badass as GRAND MAGUS. If you’re a fan of the band, “Sunraven,” will please you and then some but if you lost track of them for whatever reason, this will definitely pull you back in.