Essentially the work of one man, former Snub alumnus Ian Field-Richards, Outrun the Day run a nice line in doom-laden, woozy hard rock that’s sure to appeal to anyone who enjoys a bit of slowed-down mayhem in their musical diet every now and then.

Much of the material here follows a well-worn – and, let’s be honest, well-loved – musical path but highlight pieces like Burden still have much to offer the discerning ear. If you’ve followed the band thus far in their career you’ll be familiar with much of the material here as seven of the ten tracks – or versions thereof – have appeared on the bands various demos and EPs. But even if you haven’t heard the band before you’ll catch on quickly as the the music hits it’s stride early and the groove they find is an easy one to ride on.

Field-Richards has presented a varied, nicely-paced set of songs here – and sequenced the album beautifully, with nice regard to dynamics and pacing. Consequently the mellifluous instrumental, Meandering, with it’s Floydian resonances, offers the perfect comedown after the metallic grind of Pinebox, offering the listener a nice break before the riffy Battered and Bruised picks up the pace again.

Battered and Bruised is itself probably this writer’s fave piece on the album; A menacing mix of wailing leads, bullish rhythms and some unsettling, scratchy effects in the verses, it’s the perfect mix of styles and moods rolled into one easy-to-digest sub five minute gobbet. It also shows a songwriter who knows just how much you can pack into an on-the-face-of-it relatively rigid genre. The song pushes and pulls the concept of ‘doom’ this way and that in an intriguing and highly skilful manner, in the process managing to produce some of the most listenable heavy rock I’ve heard in a while.

The album is already receiving praise from far more august corners than my little piece of South London, and it’s certainly something you should give a bit of time to if you’re anything like the discerning music fan I took you to be…

Burden releases on September 23rd.