Doom is not Norway’s primary metal export. Gloombound’s new album Dreaming Delusion (Gruesome Records) helps put their stretch of fjord on the map when it comes to the genre. They hit all the sonic notes needed from this branch of despairing doom. They are further fleshed out once you get to the second song, as layers of nuanced melody are added. Keyboards expand the span of their atmosphere. This sound is given a dynamic whiplash when they chug into a more rabid Death Metal fury, before reaching the middle ground with syncopated breakdowns.
In 2011 Boston quartet Morne tore up the Atmospheric Doom template with sophomore album Asylum (Profound Lore): a dark, brooding masterpiece with strong Crust influences, it garnered favourable comparisons with the likes of Neurosis and Agrimonia whilst acknowledging their own identity. Fourth studio album To the Night Unknown (Armageddon/MORNE) is the band’s first recorded output for five years, and it kicks in with fizzing tension. 