Tales from the Heavy Underground: Jipsy’s Review of Dead Runes’ Raidho!

Jipsy’s Review of Dead Runes’ Raidho

This Nashville based band is one to keep your ear on. After getting started in 2016, then venturing in other directions, they circled back during the pandemic and locked in their sound. Their new album, Raidho, was released in February, (2024) and has eight tracks, each of them solid and memorable.

With heavy riffs and doomy breakdowns, their music has enough edge to keep your heart rate elevated and gives you something to be a little angry about.  Yet their vocals and overall song pacing lean into prog rock territory and pull you up into something like hope.

The guitar work by Hunter East is inviting, deliciously crunchy at times and soothing at others. It brings to mind the stylings of Dean DeLeo, Mark Tremonti and even the great Robin Trower.  Pogs, the bass player is no joke. His skill rides right through each song and strengthens the melodies naturally. Supporting each track is solid, tight drumming of Steve Janson that is clean, creative and never boring.

Vocally, this album rings out with the strong and beautiful tones of Hunter East, whose voice is somehow reminiscent of both Kerri Livgren and Scott Weiland. He delivers excellent phrasing of the lyrics to the melodies. His voice and arrangements fit the music seamlessly. It is evident he writes the lyrics so that he can sing what he loves.

They are a little bit Stoner Metal, a little bit Doom, and a lot a bit Prog. The last song on the album, “Sea Tripper”, delves into the realms of psychedelia and wraps up the journey nicely. This is a collection of songs to be heard from beginning to end, wall-to-wall, as they say. It is also one to return to often and sing along.

And hey! If you want to check out more about Dead Runes, don’t miss my exclusive interview with the guys!

-Jipsy Froud

That’s it for Jypsy’s Review of Dead Runes’ Raidho. Look below for more content from the one and only Jipsy!