Green Lung – This Heathen Land (Review)

Green Lung are a doom rock band from the UK and this is their third album.

Green Lung are back, and they’ve brought with them 42 minutes of new music in the shape of This Heathen Land. Will it match up to the heady heights of 2021’s Black Harvest? Well, that’s a tall order, but let’s dive in anyway.

The songs are as hook-filled as ever, but now they’re even more immersive and atmospheric, if that were possible. Somehow Green Lung have managed to channel the long lost spirits of the 70s even more effectively. While having a heart that clearly exists decades in the past, Green Lung’s captivating music is delivered with contemporary grace and ability.

Organs and synths thickly layer the music, allowing the songs to build and sustain mood without apparent effort. Moments of rampant psychedelia and progressive flourishes are augmented by folk inspirations, providing depth and colour. Backed by a solid rhythm section and some meaty riffs, the songs are holistically complete unto themselves, while still feeding into the whole album’s flow.

This Heathen Land boasts a diverse selection of tracks, one that makes for a well-rounded and compelling listening experience. Each song has something that belongs to itself exclusively, (frequently many somethings), yet none of them are selfish with their gifts. This Heathen Land just keeps on giving.

Black Harvest was such a great album, that I’ve been unsure of how Green Lung are going to follow it. Even now, with the new material on This Heathen Land, I’m still not sure of the exact relationship between the two. Other than the fact that this latest work is the logical continuation and progression on from Black Harvest, I don’t 100% know if it matches up to its predecessors hights. Only time will tell, but I am pretty sure it’s going to be close either way, as This Heathen Land is a scorcher.

Very highly recommended.