After the demise of his New England progressive/atmospheric black metal band Autolatry, Dave Kaminsky formed Stone Healer as a musical outlet for a rather excruciating spiritual experience that he endured. He Who Rides Immolated Horses is the debut EP from Stone Healer and features four tracks of highly atmospheric and emotive music. Those familiar with Autolatry’s output around the time of their disbandment should, really, find no surprises here, as the music blurs the lines between sweeping atmospheric black metal and progressively charged heavy metal, all merged with folksy acoustic guitars with a slight tinge of Americana.
Kaminsky stated that music and lyrics on He Who Rides Immolated Horses are a natural continuation of the styling and approach of Autolatry’s work, which saw the band moving further and further away from standard black metal trappings. Instead, their work focused on blurring the lines by adding vestiges of progressive death metal and windy atmospherics alongside traces of post-metal and metalcore. While Stone Healer’s music does sound similar in nature and scope to what Kaminsky has done before, his solo material seems to be more free flowing and natural. Fast paced, near blasting percussion, bursts of trem riffing collide with constantly writhing chord progressions and chunky, rollicking segues. The riffing and drumming wouldn’t sound out of place on most atmospheric black metal albums, but it occasionally works into higher registered progressions with traces of metalcore.
Kaminsky stated that music and lyrics on He Who Rides Immolated Horses are a natural continuation of the styling and approach of Autolatry’s work, which saw the band moving further and further away from standard black metal trappings. Instead, their work focused on blurring the lines by adding vestiges of progressive death metal and windy atmospherics alongside traces of post-metal and metalcore. While Stone Healer’s music does sound similar in nature and scope to what Kaminsky has done before, his solo material seems to be more free flowing and natural. Fast paced, near blasting percussion, bursts of trem riffing collide with constantly writhing chord progressions and chunky, rollicking segues. The riffing and drumming wouldn’t sound out of place on most atmospheric black metal albums, but it occasionally works into higher registered progressions with traces of metalcore.
