Doom – Page 88 – Wonderbox Metal

Palinopsia – Murmurs From the Well Nothing More (Review)

This is the début EP from US Sludge Metal band Palinopsia.

This is dirty great Sludge with a Blackened Doom component and a Hardcore backbone.

The scathing, acidic vocals sound utterly inhuman and are frequently layered upon each other, screaming and shouting for all they’re worth.

The recording is extremely heavy, making the most of Palinopsia’s ugly, downtuned sound. It’s unpolished and teeming with viral life, seemingly writhing with diseased lustre.

Southern Sludge riffs mix with a Blackened influence to result in venomous songs that don’t have any pure intentions at all. The Hardcore backbone of the band gives them an upbeat edge that is as sharp as any blade.

The Black Metal influence works as an undercurrent to each song, spreading darkness as it works deep into the marrow of the guitars. The Hardcore elements allow the band to speed up on occasion, as if the attack hounds are being unleashed once more. All of this is tethered by a swampy Sludge presence that’s as big as it is bold.

They’re not without subtlety or introspection though. It’s not an obvious part of their sound and it doesn’t happen very often, but occasionally the distortion fades and they offer some light along with the shade. It’s a welcome enhancement to their music and when the guitars roar up again it sounds heavier than ever.

This kind of nasty Sludge is always an enjoyable hate-fest. Turn up the volume and tear down the house.

Angakok – Angakok (Review)

Angakok are a Sludge band from Belgium, and this is their début album.

Angakok play Sludge/Doom mixed with moments of Drone/Ambient respite.

This is Neurosis-inspired Doom that’s nicely heavy when it needs to be. Mix the Neurosis influence with that of, say, Zatokrev and you have an album that, (slowly), stomps over everything around it.

The Ambient and lighter moments give the album some shading, but the heavier side of the band is the main event; these asides are essentially delaying the heaviness so that when it returns it sounds even more immense.

The music really takes Doom to its black heart; the heavy guitars are slow and crushing, although they do pick up the pace when necessary. There are some good, winding melodies used on these songs and the mood of despondency and bleakness never ends.

The songs are darkly enjoyable, and it’s a collection of tracks that make for a engaging journey with the band.

The vocals are anguished, drawn-out screams, not dissimilar to those used in Neurosis. The style sounds a natural fit with the Sludgy guitars and the performance is not one to find fault with.

The album is well-recorded and seems to be able to be both murky and clear at the same time. It suits the band’s style and the music benefits from it.

I enjoy music like this, especially from a band like Angakok as they clearly know the genre inside out.

Check them out.

Demon Lung – A Dracula (Review)

This is the second album from US Doom Metal band Demon Lung.

Having really enjoyed The Hundredth Name, this new release promised much.

Demon Lung’s Metal is the Traditional Doom Metal variety. Taking the occult route, the band have produced 45 minutes of material that sparkles with an evil majesty.

The songs speak of midnight heresies and sacrificial rites. The music has dark atmospheres and melodies that seep into the brain and stay there, unwilling to move.

The singer’s voice is drenched in occult blasphemies and reaches new heights, (or depths), of worship. Her voice already sounded great on their début album and here she sounds even fuller and more emphatic than ever.

They pepper the songs with some upbeat moments of course, but ultimately this is all about the DOOOOM. The band know this, and that’s where the true power of this album lies.

Like their first album album, A Dracula features a strong production that gives the band’s music a very satisfying sheen. Coupled with the songs themselves, it cements Demon Lung as a particular favourite of mine in the sea of bands that play Traditional Doom.

After their enjoyable first release, Demon Lung return with an album that does them justice. A Dracula is a very enjoyable listen and is firmly recommended for all Doom Metal fans.

Right. Now, where did I put that goat…?

Mekigah – Litost (Review)

This is the third album from Australia’s Mekigah. They play Industrial/Classical Doom.

This is a tortuous combination of Doom, Noise, Industrial, Ambient and Classical that somehow ends up pulling you into its embrace before you even really know what’s going on. I’m not a huge fan of Noise and a lot of Ambient leaves me cold, usually because there’s nothing to draw you in. Litost is different.

Here we have elements of Noise and Ambient but they’re joined by the usually far more spirited Classical style. Orchestral sounds and emotive synths provide these minimalistic elements with a vibrancy, albeit a dark, malevolent one.

On top of this we have the Industrial aspect to their sound, and, of course, the Doom. This is not a guitar-oriented project though. It’s there, but used just as one instrument of many. Guest musicians aplenty feature on this release, providing everything from vocals, to mellotron, to taishgoto.

Vocals are few and far between. When they appear they’re quite varied and performed by multiple singers across the album. They’re usually quite low-key and are frequently employed as just another method of delivery; another instrument in this disturbing symphony.

This album is surprisingly emotive and engaging. The layers of synths and orchestral sounds work perfectly with the harsher Industrial base to fashion songs that work their way into your subconscious like hooks into flesh.

There’s a Gothic element to this music, but it’s one that has been killed and buried so that its influence is felt through the remainder of the thing that’s growing in its place. Almost as if the remains of a Gothic ancestry were feeding the music we hear here, so that the influence seeps into the cellos and Industrial sounds almost without anyone noticing at first.

If you’re into music that fuses the Industrial and the emotive with a dark atmosphere then this is definitely one to track down. Whether you’re a fan of Ævangelist, Axis of Perdition, Cloak of Altering, Ulver or Indian, Litost has something to offer you.

A very impressive release; I wasn’t expecting something to merge darkness and light so completely. Litost is a thing of grim beauty.

Ilsa – The Felon’s Claw (Review)

Ilsa are a Sludge Metal band from the US, and this is their fourth album.

I’m a huge fan of Ilsa’s last album Intoxicantations. It’s such an excellent album with an immense sound that it’s been a firm favourite of mine since I first reviewed it. To say I was excited when this new release popped into my inbox was an understatement.

This is filthy, unpleasant music that only true Metal fans could like. It’s horrendously ugly and disgustingly depraved and we fucking love it that way. Ilsa are masters of their formidable blend of Sludge, Doom, Crust and Punk.

They retain their heavier-than-Hell sound and it’s great to hear them just crash into the first track Oubliette without any preamble.

The vocals are still snarling, vicious beasts that seem to rend and tear their way through the playing time. This attitude is apparent from the very first rabid bark and the intensity is kept up throughout all 48 minutes.

Once more, each song has its own identity and character. This is a complete album, holistically, but like Intoxicantations, The Felon’s Claw is made up of individually identifiable songs. So many bands are incapable of this, for some reason, so it’s great when you can put an album on randomly and it’s easy to identify what song is playing and where it sits in the running order. After a few spins, of course.

On this new release Ilsa sound a bit slower and groovier than their last outing. They still step up the speed on occasion, but overall the Doom/Sludge side of their sound is more prevalent. With riffs that could capsize ocean liners, Ilsa populate their disgusting landscape with ugly landmarks that you can’t help but stare at in wonder.

Well, I’m extremely pleased with what the band have produced here. Ilsa have not disappointed.

There’s no reason, none whatsoever, for you to not get this.

Ashtar – Ilmasaari (Review)

Ashtar are from Switzerland and play Blackened Doom. This is their début album.

Ashtar play music that incorporates elements of Black Metal, Doom and Sludge. I do love a bit of Blackened Doom, and if you’ve been keeping up with the likes of Usnea, Mourning Pyre, Atriarch and Upyr then Ashtar should be your cup of tea too.

Even though the album cover screams Classic Doom, Ashtar’s musical aesthetic is more on the Black Metal side of things. Aspects of Classic Doom do make it into their sound, but these have been Blackened and corrupted into the sickening Sludge mass that they are now.

The vocals are mainly Blackened shrieks that seem to scratch at the back of your eyes like something unclean that wants to come into our world. The singer seems to have a knack for this kind of malevolent rasp, although she does occasionally use her voice in a few other ways throughout these six tracks.

The songs are bleak and sobering glimpses into the mindset of their creators. There are enough riffs and quality guitar lines here to keep anyone satisfied, but Ashtar are primarily about the mood and atmosphere that they create with their chosen medium.

The band are a duo and as such the music is relatively minimalistic, however it rapidly seems to expand to fill a large amount of space with its gloominess and it never seems like you’re listening to anything other than a full band. This is especially true when they incorporate additional sounds and instrumentation into their songs to further deepen the atmosphere.

There’s something extremely satisfying about this release. From the occult feelings to the Blackened bile; from the Doom aura to the impressive riffs; Ashtar have crafted a release that will appeal to the darkness inside.

Highly recommended.

Nightslug – Loathe (Review)

Nightslug are a German Sludge band and this is their second album.

Nightslug sound as their name suggests – ponderous and heavy. This is discordant, ugly Sludge that grips you by their hair and forces your face into the vomit. This, of course, is something you like. So eat it all up. Eat it now.

The songs have a good groovy swagger and the guitars steal the show with their cocky bravado and murky heaviness. The vocals shouldn’t be discounted, however, as they sound like the aural equivalent of an acid splash to the face.

The bass makes its presence felt like a steel girder that props everything up and works with the guitars to create a solid and crushing foundation for the songs to destroy everything around them.

Feedback, distortion and an overall dirty, grim aesthetic is par for the course with Sludge but Nightslug do it with style. They have a slightly unusual sound in their guitar tone and the way the vocals are mixed. It works exceedingly well though, and gives them a distinctive flavour. It reminds me of, (although sounds different from), the production of Rabies Caste’s début album Let the Soul Out and Cut the Vein, which also had an atypical sound. Like Rabies Caste though, they have taken the Sludge template as handed down by Eyehategod and made it firmly their own.

Also like Rabies Caste, Nightslug specialise in songs that are incredibly catchy and memorable. Certainly not in a radio-friendly way, of course, but these are riffs and tunes that stick in the head like an infected nail. It’s painful, but a twisted stroke of master workmen and the Sludge Gods should be proud of them.

I love a good Sludge band and Loathe will be firmly a part of my playlists for some time to come.

This is one you must check out.

Favourite Track: Vile Pigs. With a main riff that just won’t quit, this song is as catchy as Hell.

Abjvration – The Unquenchable Pyre (Review)

Abjvration are from France and this is their début EP. They play Death/Doom Metal.

Imagine the most hideously disgusting type of Doom that’s congealed around some sickening Death Metal to form an unholy mass of evil…this is The Unquenchable Pyre.

Huge, heavy-as-Hell riffs populate this release like disaster sites, almost relentless in their assault. Colossally slow guitars crush all before them and faster, more-Death Metal riffs punctuate the blackness like knife wounds.

The vocals are a thing of beauty, albeit a very warped and disturbing type of beauty, of course; utterly deep and pitch-black in their delivery of rolling, growling terror. They sound immense and ancient, just like the music.

The music oozes and seeps along, like some sort of infectious disease. There’s a real rank feeling of a wet, unhealthy underworld to this release and that’s an entirely complimentary comment. Abjvration have created something disturbingly special here.

The Doom riffs keep flowing and it’s only when the Blackened Death Metal parts break out that you remember they’re not just a pure Doom band.

What little melody there is on this EP is aimed at increasing the listener’s unease and the entire 27 minute playing time is a masterclass in creating rotting, noxious, heavy music.

This isn’t Black Metal but it shares a lot in common with the more foetid styles of the same. A deep, dark, miasma of Blackened pestilence hangs over this release like a funeral shroud and Abjvration milk this for every last drop of feeling that they can.

This is unapologetically Old-School Death/Doom that’s flawlessly delivered and expertly realised.

France continues to keep its reputation for producing high quality Extreme Metal intact. Abjvration are a dark revelation.

Tyranny is Tyranny – The Rise of Disaster Capitalism (Review)

Tyranny is Tyranny are a US band and this is their latest album. They play Post-Hardcore.

As soon as the first song, Or Does it Explode?, starts it’s immediately clear that Tyranny is Tyranny are a band that are emotive and expressive. This is apparent from both the music and the vocals.

This is a kind of Hardcore-based music that’s moved beyond its original parameters, (hence the term Post-Hardcore), without losing the vibrant nature of the style. It’s been expanded though to include more introspective and Shoegaze-esque elements and the band have embraced this direction.

The vocals have a lot of personality and have a kind of fragility to their delivery that allows them to convey greater feeling than if this was absent.

The closest band I can think of to compare them to would be Australia’s No Anchor. Both bands share a similar style of music that’s exploratory, expressive and heavy without becoming too heavy. They also share singing styles in the sense that their vocalists have a lot of personality and gravitas while remaining highly emotive and engaging.

There’s a lot of moods and feelings on this album and each song takes part in the overall theme of the release but still manages to cover a lot of different ground.

The political nature of the tracks and the highly-emotive, reflective music results in songs that resonate in the mind long after the last chord has died.

This is an impressive album that holds the interest throughout. The emotional delivery and richly evocative musical choices mean it stands out from the crowd and its longevity is assured.

Very highly recommended.

Secrets of the Sky – Pathway (Review)

This is the second album by US Atmospheric Doom band Secrets of the Sky.

We’ve encountered this impressive band twice before – their début album and their split with Godhunter.

Due to this, Pathway has been somewhat eagerly awaited by yours truly.

The band’s brand of Doom is one that mixes Atmospheric/Progressive Doom and Post-Metal to create an interesting soundscape for the listener to drown in.

On Pathway they have continued to progress their sound. The heavy parts sound bigger and more imposing while the lighter parts sound more nuanced and well-rounded.

The album boasts a particularly vibrant and organic production where all of the instruments sound completely clear and very strong. The drum sound in particular is an impressive one, although in a way it’s unfair to single out any one instrument as they all have a very satisfying finish.

Vocally we continue to get an impressive array of voices, from cleans to screams to shouts to growls. Pretty much all bases are covered and all styles are used according to how they best convey the band’s message.

These songs are gorgeous Post-Metal/Progressive Doom essays that take in multiple textures and rich imagery in their running times. The songs, overall, are slightly shorter in length than Secrets of the Sky’s previous work, but this is not to their detriment; they’re exactly the length they need to be to achieve what they want to do.

Secrets of the Sky have enough talent to dominate at whatever they try, it seems. Whether this be the heavier, the lighter, the progressive, the aggressive, the angelic clean melodies or the Blackened screaming…it’s all an aural treat for jaded ears.

I always like music that seems to take you on a journey and in this regard the album is aptly named. These are superior compositions that should see Secrets of the Sky propelled to the upper echelons of the Progressive/Doom/Post-Whatever pantheon.

Like a canvas painted in sound, this is destined to be a masterpiece.

I can’t think of a single reason you shouldn’t have this in your music collection. Can you?