This is the second album from French doom metal band Deathbell.
Deathbell present us with 42 minutes of doom that’s based on the traditional style, but shot through with occult psychedelia and haunting atmosphere. The music is heavy and immersive, drawing you in with fuzzy riffs and keeping you close with hazy melodies and seductive singing. The band’s doom is very moreish and slips easily into the soul. Continue reading “Deathbell – A Nocturnal Crossing (Review)”
Cult of Luna are a Swedish post-metal band and this is their ninth album, (counting the flawless Mariner).
This is the highly anticipated follow up to 2019’s immense A Dawn to Fear, and gives us 69 minutes of new material from this always-impressive band.
Cult of Luna once again drown us with an ocean of emotion. The Long Road North is a broad soundscape of Continue reading “Cult of Luna – The Long Road North (Review)”
This is a split between two blackened doom bands – Nathr, who are from Norway, and Ordo Cultum Serpentis, who are from Mexico/South Korea.
Nathr open the split with the 19-minute track The Burial. Continue reading “Nathr/Ordo Cultum Serpentis – Shadows Crawl – Split (Review)”
Obsidian Sea are a Bulgarian doom/heavy metal band and this is their fourth album.
I last caught up with Obsidian Sea on 2015’s Dreams, Illusions, Obsessions. Seven years, a lineup change, and another album in between later, and we now have Pathos, which caught my eye and encouraged me to get back in touch with what the band are doing. And what are they doing? Unleashing 40 minutes of fun material, that’s what. Continue reading “Obsidian Sea – Pathos (Review)”
This is the debut album from Kurokuma, a doom/sludge band from the UK.
Both times that I’ve encountered Kurokuma, (2016’s Advorsus and 2019’s Sheffield’s Best Metal Bands Vol. 1), I’ve liked what I’ve heard, and now it’s finally time for their long-awaited debut album to see the light of day. The band have been slowly gathering Continue reading “Kurokuma – Born of Obsidian (Review)”
This is the fourth album from one-man blackened doom act Mur.
Cut the Rivers Vein spends 51 minutes mixing together doom, post-metal, and black metal, with elements of folk, ambient, and drone, to great effect. Continue reading “Mur – Cut the Rivers Vein (Review)”
Druid Lord are a death/doom metal band from the US and this is their third album.
Following on from 2018’s Grotesque Offerings, Relics of the Dead contains 41 minutes of new material. These new songs pick up where Grotesque Offerings left off. They’re heavy slabs of death/doom, dripping with macabre atmosphere and slow terror. Continue reading “Druid Lord – Relics of the Dead (Review)”
This is the latest EP from US solo blackened doom band Mizmor, or מזמור.
This new 29-minute EP contains just two big tracks. The release combines blackened doom with drone and ambient, resulting in tortured dark landscapes that are paradoxically not without beauty or light. Continue reading “Mizmor (מזמור) – Wit’s End (Review)”
This is the latest EP from Akelei, a doom metal band from The Netherlands.
Although billed as an EP, and despite the fact that there’s only three tracks here, this is actually a 37-minute release – longer than some albums. This is the the band’s first release in 11 years, and I really hope they don’t leave it as long as that until the next one comes out, as this is exceptional. Continue reading “Akelei – Een Van Ons (Review)”
This is the second album from Mütterlein, a one-woman experimental band from France.
After being really struck by the quality of Mütterlein’s split with Limbes from earlier in the year, I was looking forward to getting to grips with what Bring Down the Flags had to offer. Continue reading “Mütterlein – Bring Down the Flags (Review)”
Wonderbox Metal 