Camel of Doom – Terrestrial (Review)

This is the fourth album from UK Doom Metal band Camel of Doom.

This unusually named band play experimental Doom Metal that contains elements of Progressive Rock, psychedelia and a bit of Sludge Metal alongside the usual genre trappings.

This reminds me of a curious cross of Humanfly, Neurosis and Candlemass, mixed with a bit of a 70s prog space-vibe. Groove, heaviness and atmosphere mix with some traditional Doom Metal to produce lengthy and substantial songs that allow the listener to develop an expanded consciousness and journey through the unexpected and unexplored places on the album cover.

These songs are layered and nuanced, featuring all manner of ideas that you don’t normally find in a pure Doom Metal band. One example is just how good the band are at including the kind of build/release atmospheric workouts that most Post-Metal bands would kill for.

The keyboards are a constant source of atmosphere, but even though they’re ubiquitous, they’re not overpowering or out of place. For the most part they sound like a truly integral part of the band’s sound and are as fully integrated into the songs as everything else here.

Terrestrial is very impressive and I look forward to getting to know it even better as time goes by.