Funeral Doom is one of the more difficult subgenres of heavy music to get into. Hell, I am not even sure if I can say I am a fan of the subgenre, moreso some bands or even some albums by said bands.
Tag Archives: doom metal album reviews
ALBUM REVIEW: Altar of Oblivion – In The Cesspit Of Divine Decay
Of all the sub-genres journalists tend to get blamed for flourishing, Doom is one of the most easily defined. Its tempo is the most distinguishing feature that separates it from the other metal genres that tend to play at more aggressive speeds. Even Doom has now been divided into other sub-genres, one of these being Traditional Doom, to which bands like Candlemass, Trouble, and Cathedral are assigned. Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: Göden – Vale Of The Fallen
Violins will and should always belong in various subgenres of Metal, and when done right, the addition of a classical string instrument can transport listeners to vast transcendent landscapes – see Dawn Ray’d (RIP).Going even further and introducing new or grossly underutilized techniques can (and often does) represent a beacon of freshness for both the musicians and fans alike.Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: Red Rot – Borders Of Mania
Combining extreme music sensibilities and Doom-inspired vocal machinations, Red Rot have put forth their latest full-length, Borders Of Mania (Hammerheart Records), a fifteen-track compendium that oftentimes struggles to find an identity and isn’t helped by erratic song lengths that squelch any momentum that may have been built – the forty-four-minute effort could have been better served as two separate polished releases. There are serviceable characteristics here and there, but certainly not enough to justify the ambition. Continue reading
EP REVIEW: Hollow Leg – Dust
A tasty slice of rhythmic, headbanging Sludge, this groovy, nicely gnarly EP finds Hollow Leg in fine fettle, smoking hot and leaving many others in their wake – leaving them in the dust, you could say.Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: Lord Dying- Clandestine Transcendence
It was back in 2019 when we last saw a release from Portland, Oregon’s own Lord Dying. The album in question being Mysterium Tremendum proved to show a widening in their sound with an ever increased air and nod to progressive rock alongside their more notable sludge elements, as well as a narrative which includes a large focus on the notion of death, mortality and questions around these.
Four years later, events of the world have hardly made this subject matter any less focused in people’s minds and certainly not in the band, as latest album Clandestine Transcendence (MNRK Heavy) continues with this overarching narrative, as well as a continuation on their ever-expansive song writing. Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: Body Void – Atrocity Machine
If the sonic ambush and equilibrium-busting nature of Body Void’s Atrocity Machine (Prosthetic Records) didn’t make it clear enough: the world has been ass-backwards basically since humanity began to human.
ALBUM REVIEW: Godthrymm – Distortions
And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. Blank canvas. Blank page. No words. Then came … Poetry. Psalms. Hymns. The power and the glory. OMG – Oh My Godthrymm! This is the one, my good brothers – one for the ages, one for the rampages, the spillages, the courageous.
ALBUM REVIEW: Usnea – Bathed In Light
It really is a renaissance time for heavy, melodic experimental doom fans with The Exuviae Of Gods series from Mournful Congregation, the cathartic Katatonia-indebted Mother of Graves making significant waves and now the first album from Portland’s beloved Usnea in over half a decade. A band rooted in care-for-others and awareness of their place in the cosmos making some of the most expansive and also acerbic doom around? What’s not to love?
ALBUM REVIEW: Wallowing – Earth Reaper
Much like the dense expanses of sci-fi space that their music thematically focuses upon, the UK’s Wallowing are a band of mystery. With their identities largely hidden and their physical presence in cloaked and masked outfits, Wallowing instead allow their music and their theming of darkened science fiction to be the true focus of their creative outlet.