I am pretty sure that the members of SAHG had no idea when they started jamming that this side-project would arguably become bigger than their main bands. Yet here they are on their third album, having played with bands like CELTIC FROST and at Wacken. It is not too surprising that SAHG has been so successful; although the fact that this style of music is done so well by these musicians belies their main bands. Bassist Tom Cato Visnes is a member of GORGOROTH while guitarist Thomas Tofthagen also plays for AUDREY HORNE, a grungy hard rock band.

SAHG is known for playing Doom Metal with a bit of a psychedelic influence, but on "III", the heavy doom has been replaced by a more rock-ish sound. The music is more like stoner rock than doom Metal, and as a result some of the heaviness is lost. That does not necessarily mean that this is a bad album though. Opener "Baptism of Fire" is very catchy and there are plenty of moments where the vocals surprisingly carry the songs. We are not talking about Russell Allen here, but Olav Iversen definitely knows his limits and never tries to stretch beyond them (which is a good thing).

Some fans will probably find the riffs to be disappointing, since they are mainly stoner rock riffs and the production does not focus on heaviness. However, the momentum really gets going with "Hollow Mountain" and "Downward Spiral," both being solid slabs of heavy Metal that remind me a bit of 90's TROUBLE. However, the hallmark of this album has to be "Mother's Revenge" which is the perfect mix of drug-addled late-60's psychedelia and mid-70's BLACK SABBATH.

Is the heaviness and doominess missed? Yeah. Is this album still worth owning? Definitely. Not all of the songs are winners and I feel that on this album, SAHG relies too much on instant catchiness as opposed to songs and sections that take longer to sink in, yet stay gratifying for a much longer period of time. That being said, "III" is still recommended and it is unlikely that fans of the band's previous works will be disappointed.