JOINTHUGGER is a Heavy Stoner Doom Metal band from Norway. Formed in 2012, they released their debut album in 2020. Now, they return with their sophomore effort, titled "Surrounded by Vultures," which contains five lengthy tracks. "In Dire Need of Fire Ch. 2" leads off the album. It begins with fuzzy guitars and bass, and a trippy sound. It plods forward with the heavy footsteps of a wooly mammoth through a sea of snow on a frozen tundra. "Midnight" is an eleven-minute opus, beginning with more fuzzy guitar tones and bass notes so low they almost fall off the registry. The vocals are clean and smooth. Closing in on the half-way mark, the song picks up in pace. Like a fair amount of Stoner Metal, the same riff is used throughout much of the song, dragging out like time when you have nothing to do.

"Empty Space" is a shorter song that drips with the blues and swings with easy rhythmic qualities. Vocals are kept to a minimum. "Delysid Rex" opens with a hypnotic riff and some super-low bass guitar notes. Vocals come in, then retreat, as the song ventures into free spaces that were previously hidden. Taking an extended jam session, it lumbers forward without a care in the world. "I know you're always around, 'cause you smell like shit" he croons. "The Calm" closes the album. It moves with a couple different riffs, and even some clean guitars, picking up just before the half-way mark. The jamming is noteworthy, but can also get repetitive.

Overall, the nature of the album is almost "free-jam" like, in that the songs have an effortless and straightforward quality to them. It would be easy to get lost in the grooves here. Although much of the focus is on the guitars, and little on the vocals, it's the bassist that really steals the show here. It was a good album, but even for the style, lacks a little in dynamism.