After 3 singles released post COVID era, the band Thorndale from the Netherlands is releasing a 6 song EP named Lightning Spawn independently in 2024. In a current power trio formation, the band is labeled as Stoner Rock. Let me light my joint for this review then. The EP starts with the song that names the EP, “Lightning Spawn” and I can tell you that it is a pretty basic Heavy Metal output and it does not sound much Stoner Rock to me. With tuned down guitars and melodic vocals, their first tune reminds me of bands like CREED or MILES KENNEDY. We follow with “Ain't the End of My Rope” and we can feel much more the “stoner” vibe now. Good crunchy guitars and an audible bass well set in the mix. The riffage is also very good. The only thing that is not convincing me much is the vocals. Not that they are bad, they are just not what I expected with such heavy riffs. They look like they belong more in an epic kind of Metal band.

We get another sluggish guitar riff with “Born As A Stranger”. I could swear to you that listening to this EP, the only thing that  comes to my mind is that I played drums in a band that sounds a lot like this one. Despite a more aggressive vocal in the band I was in, the guitar sound is strikingly similar. Well, my band did not do much.  “I Accuse You” is next (I hope it is not a guitar plagiarism lawsuit!), and it is another slower tempo, one string tune down as fuck riff. This one has the best vocal performance so far for my ears. The vocals now match the sound much better. The band has no credited drummer and it does not sound programmed as far as my ears can tell. We reach “Into The Eye” that is a little different. With an unusual beginning the band escapes again from Doom Metal and goes back to the very basic and a little dated traditional Heavy Metal. I did not feel any traces of the previous tune on this one.It sounds like it does belong in another album making this work inconsistent.

We get to the end of our short journey with “Foreboding” that has the most interesting guitar riff so far despite the flanger. The bass has some interesting jazzy lines escaping from the guitar riff. This is another tune that the band goes back to a more gloomy vibe that matches the albums proposal and the bands Stoner Rock label. Good effort but with a lot to develop.The production is decent but is not top notch and this is not an issue as this is their first EP work released independently, so this is expected. However, in future releases, a little more refinement in the sound would help. The vocals are fine in general and good in one song. I found it too melodic and not matching the rest of the sound.