Heritage, the first full-length realisation of the dream of Structure protagonist Bram Bijlhout, is a wondrous thing; Bound tightly to the traditions of Northern European doom/death, the album nevertheless opens up wide new vistas for fans of a genre that has increasingly become hamstrung by convention and, dare I say it, laziness…

Put simply, Heritage is a masterclass in the use of taste, nuance and control in the setting of a crushingly heavy set of songs. Bijlhout is a guitarist of no little skill, and the way he interpolates streams of lacrimose melody into some of the most unforgiving chug you’ll have heard in aeons is a joy to behold.

I’m not going to pick out highlights per se, because the whole album runs together as a beautifully sequenced whole; from the attention grabbing opener Will I Deserve right through to the final strains of closing track Until The Last Grasp, the listener is held in thrall to the brilliance of Bijlhout’s songwriting skills, which are gilded by the consistently impressive vocal presence of Pim Blankenstein and the thoughtful, intelligent embellishments of drummer Robert Soeterboek, both of whom appear to be at the top of their respectibe games throughout.

Few albums that I’ve come across of late sound as complete and fully-realised as Heritage; The craftsmanship involved, the way everything has been considered in terms of how each track is set within the context of the album, and how then that album is presented to the listener as a living, breathing whole is nothing short of staggering. It’s an album you’ll find yourself wanting to return to over and over again, and an album that’ll find continues to give new aspects of itself upon each return. In an age of the throwaway, this album is a triumph of the anti-throwaway, and a testament to the brilliance of all those involved in it’s creation.

Heritage releases on April 25th.