PATRIARCHS IN BLACK is a heavy/doom metal band based in New Jersey/New York. They were formed by Dan Lorenzo (HADES, VESSEL OF LIGHT, NON FICTION, CASSIUS KING) and Johnny Kelly (TYPE O NEGATIVE, A PALE HORSE NAMED DEATH, DANZIG, KILL DEVIL HILL) and ‘My Veneration’ is their second full length album. Much like their previous album, this one features several guest stars to help the guys bring the doom hard. But, ultimately, the album is held down tight by Dan’s riffs and the stalwart backbone of Johnny’s drums. The duo have incredibly synchronicity, which isn’t a shock to any one that follows Dan’s work—he meshes so well with every musician he works with.

The guy was born to be a song writing, riff king and his form is impeccable as ever. As mentioned, the album has a strong doom influences mixed with hard rock and good old fashioned heavy metal. Despite the revolving door of guest musicians, each song flows exceptionally well and has riffs for days. Throw on an elephant’s ass tons of groovy and rhythm prowess and the results are an album that hits hard from top to bottom without a bad song. The album albums with a melodic intro for the first part of "Dead or Dying."  About a minute in, Johnny’s crisp drumming and Dan’s thick riffs combine with Agell’s very capable vocal presence. Honestly, I wish he was on the album more; I would love to hear an album with him providing vocals on every song. The song writing credits go to both him and Dan—the two clearly have a rapport together and I would love to see/hear it explored further.
The album tends to focus on each guest’s individual abilities and I absolutely love this and attribute it to Dan’s songwriting.

‘Lust For Lies,’ is a perfect example of this. Johnny Araya gets to show his bass skills so well here because of the moments in the song where the guitars hang back. This also allows Rob Traynor’s vocals a chance to shine too. His style is rather dynamic and I found him to be an interesting vocalist that drives the song well. Dan’s riffs are monumental and dark, especially after the three minute mark where he it hammers it in for a home run with Johnny Kelly backing him up with his own bestial attack. ‘Veneration’ is an interesting song with a lot going on! Jonathan Eng’s violin and Paul Walter key’s are unexpected but very welcomed elements. As if that wasn’t enough, DMC makes an appearance too. With all these very different elements together, a lot of bands wouldn’t be able to pull it off but by god they do it without a hitch. This song is groovy and cool as hell!

The keys and violin return once more for ‘My Veneration,’ and it is one of the darkest songs on the album. Almost somber and Gothic at times, the three different vocalist on this song keep it fresh and exciting at every turn. Dan and Johnny give a performance that is so heavy that if played too loud it might create a sink hole. This is a slow but thunderous mini epic and it is one of my favorites on the album. The later half of the album keeps the album from fatigue with a couple standout songs, such as ‘Heaven Burn,’ with energetic performances from all involved but especially Kelly Abe, who is another person I’d love to hear more from.  This song is fast and razor sharp, providing a short but sweet metal rager.

Abe provides another solid performance on the last original song, ‘Digital Lies.’ He gets pretty heavy here, almost death metal grows in some places. The stoner/doom riffs are the perfect backdrop for him to play off of and it is also perfectly accented with Kelly’s drumming All in all, Dan and co have released an excellent sophomore album in ‘My Veneration’ which will hit all the sweet spots for doom/metal fans but has more than enough dynamic variety to keep even nonfans interested.