THE SONIC OVERLORDS are a Swedish hard rock band with a lot of doom elements built into the sound. Formed in 2017, they are already seasoned musicians, creating an epic record with some excellent songs on it. After four years of writing and playing and working on original content, their debut record, The Last Days of Babylon, was released on October 22, 2021, via M-Theory Music.

The record opens with "Utopia." The tuning is a little reminiscent of sludge metal, but the tempo is much more of a hard rock song. The guitars are excellent, and the rhythm is as solid as can be. The vocals have enough grit in them to really stand out. The backing vocals give the song a lot of texture. This is a great show of what is to come from the rest of the record. "In My Darkest Room" is another great example of the doom infused aura. Again, the combination of gritty and clean, dark vocals is quite good.

"Lords Of No Tomorrow" starts slower, giving way to more of the doom sound. The extended phrases in the vocals are awesome and paired with the backing vocals give a sense of depth to the lyrics. The guitar riff is pure sludge and has just the right tempo for this song. The bass is choppy at times, adding a nice bit of flash to the riff. I love how the drums feel like they're heavier and faster than they really are. There is a lot of potential power that is just barely put forth, giving the song a deeper feel.

Going for a higher, lighter tone is "Sands of Time." The guitars are not as dark and the rhythm is a bit faster, straying away from the doom just a bit. Not too far, though. That sound is still there, just not as heavy this time. The vocals are also lighter. There's still a lot of grit, but there's just not as dark a feel. The extended notes at the end of some of the phrases give a softer texture without trying to sound too far off the core sound of the band. This difference in tone qualities is well done and shows just how good THE SONIC OVERLORDS can be in multiple pitches.

All the songs are really good, but the one that completely hooked me is "World on Fire." The intro has a bit of a ballad feel and even a little melodic metal in it. This is an intro though, so the song shifts, and those shifts are epic! The chorus kicks in with a wonderful shift in tempo and tone. I mean, that shift is fantastic. Especially with that held note that goes from clean to gruff. I got shivers at that one. The guitar solo is so well placed and paced that I immediately fell in love. The fact the solo reaches its' own crescendo is a killer bonus. This song is stunning.

THE SONIC OVERLORDS may be new, but they are not noobs. The songwriting, the musicianship, the layering on "World on Fire," those are veteran skills performed with relative ease by a hot new band. This is what I want to hear a lot more of in 2022.