Following in the mold of metal duos Black Cobra and Early Man, German doom deuce Beehoover offers colossal slabs of metal from bassist Ingmar Petersen and drummer Claus-Peter Hamisch. As the rhythm section of doom rockers Voodooshock (who reportedly parted ways with Petersen and Hamisch), they channeled ’70s-era Black Sabbath into Wall of Sleep-like compositions. Beehoover, however, is all about eclectic doom, as album openers “Solitude in Bloom” and the title track immediately recall fuzz juggernauts Chingalera mixed with scoopfuls of Melvins to keep listeners jazzed for quick tempo changes and chord progressions. “Pain Power” combines the melodicism of late-career Trouble with the stoner qualities of Five Horse Johnson.

Petersen apes a perfect System of a Down’s Serj Tankian in the indefatigably Primus-gone-stoner “Dance like a Volcano” (an obvious play on Genesis’ “Dance on a Volcano”), though he growls more aggressively while inserting strange spoken-word passages in the dynamic “Esophagus Overdrive.” In the latter half of the title track, he approaches the golden tenor of Goatsnake’s Pete Stahl. The band does throw a few change-ups that serve as breathers between long swaths of untamed metal: “Iron Hörse” is a short interlude of toy synth and muffled arguing in Deutsch, while “My Funeral Procession” lopes along mournfully with an acoustic guitar and Nick Cave-like vocals.

“I Desert” and “Spirit & Crown” are parallel highlights: after nearly three minutes of End of Level Boss-like ambient soundscapes, the tracks lurch forward like Chingalera, drawing lines of definite experimentation while remaining undeniably heavy-handed. Even the nine-minute closer, “Stanislav Petrov,” throws together all above elements for a final tonnage of dastardly maniacal riff-rock. Among the doom cognoscenti, Beehoover should be regarded as a vibrant entropic force that taps into the reptilian core of a headbanger’s brain.

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