Shape of Despair are no strangers to the Funeral Doom Metal scene. In fact, they are arguably pioneers of the quite-niche genre, having debuted in 1998.
Tag Archives: doom
NEW MUSIC FRIDAY: February 4th New Music Releases
ALBUM REVIEW: Eldovar – A Story Of Darkness And Light
Not content to just let the sludgy boi/spooky girl pairings have all the fun with multi-artist collaborations in Doom, A Story Of Darkness And Light (Stickman Records)features the coming together of Elder and Kadavar as Eldovar (I don’t know where that ‘o’ comes from either). The two groups certainly make for interesting bedfellows; while both are arguably rooted in Seventies Rock traditions, Elder has evolved to Heavy Prog splendor while Kadavar largely subsists on off-the-cuff Stoner Blues. However, their shared interest in various genre experiments as well as established track records of high quality material gives plenty of fertile ground for such a union.
ALBUM REVIEW: Temptation’s Wings – Marauders of the Killing Moon
If Black Label Society was influenced by Classic Metal and Doom instead of Southern Rock, they would probably sound a lot like Temptation’s Wings. The Asheville, North Carolina-based group features delightfully Ozzy-esque vocals with extra Zakk Wylde gruffness, guitars rooted in beefy bottom-heavy tones with playing that consists of steady gallops and melodic leads, and rhythms with a certain Southern Metal swing. All presented with a barbarian attitude that lends itself well to tales of drinking and mythological conquest.
Kurokuma Announces New Album – “Born of Obsidian”
Acclaimed UK Sludge/Doom band Kurokuma has announced their very first full-length album -“Born of Obsidian” will arrive February 4th, 2022! The band has previously put out a collections of singles, EPs, and split releases with other bands such as Conan, Granule, and Under. The new album will release on Bandcamp, other streaming DSPs, CD and custom cassettes on the day of release, with a vinyl version set to arrive summer of 2022. UPDATE: The band has shared a new single – “Jaguar” and pre-orders are live. We’re looking forward to some brutal new jams soon but in the meantime check out the album credits below. Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: Apostle of Solitude – Until The Darkness Goes
Apostle Of Solitude’s fifth full-length doubles down on the formula last expressed on 2018’s From Gold To Ash, condensing their signature melancholic Doom Metal even further to its most foundational elements. Until The Darkness Goes (Cruz Del Sur Music) is just a little over thirty-six minutes long, making it their shortest album to date, with the six songs herein almost exclusively driven by slow riffs and mournful vocal harmonies.
REVIEWS ROUNDUP: Indigo Raven, Witnesses, A Pale Horse Named Death, and Chrome Waves
Indigo Raven – Looking For Transcendence
Indigo Raven plays a style of Doom/Post Metal rooted in Chelsea Wolfe’s heaviest excursions, contrasting atmospherically monolithic guitar chugs and slow burn rhythms with ethereal vocals and occasional electronics. Those vocals in particular help the French trio stand out, putting on a passionately bluesy performance that differs from the more vulnerable approach of peers like Frayle and Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard.
ALBUM REVIEW: Monolord – Your Time To Shine
Five albums into a career as one of the top bands in the modern Stoner Doom scene, Monolord offers their mellow, tripped-out effort to date with Your Time To Shine (Relapse Records). While there’s still plenty of dank fuzziness to go around, it feels almost like a backdrop at times as the cleaner guitar textures are given near equal priority and the vocals are at their most prominent. Fortunately, it feels like more of a culmination of a gradual trajectory rather than a radical shift in direction; after all, these elements started gaining traction on 2019’s No Comfort and it’s easy to imagine guitarist/vocalist Thomas V. Jager’s 2020 solo album rubbing off on the process.
ALBUM REVIEW: The Flight of Sleipnir – Eventide
Colorado’s The Flight of Sleipnir has maintained a consistent but eclectic sound for nearly fifteen years, mixing Doom and Atmospheric Black Metal with elements of Folk and Prog Rock in a way that should sit well with fans of Agalloch. Their seventh album mostly adheres to this genre blend and boasts the fuller production that was last seen on 2017’s Skadi. However, Eventide (Eisenwald) manages to tweak the formula as those Blackened elements seem to be upfront than before.
ALBUM REVIEW: Churchburn – Genocidal Rite
When it comes to tortured, pained vocals, few do it quite like Dave Suzuki. The Churchburn front man led a cacophony of grimy, cavernous chaos on Genocidal Rite (Translation Loss) , a Death-Doom doozy from the Rhode Island-based foursome. With live musical performances on their minds (and who could blame them?), the group opens with ‘Toll Of Annihilation,’ a staticky and distorted affair that builds up before coming down via creepy bells sounding.