Doom – Page 91 – Wonderbox Metal

Doomlord – Black Testament (Review)

Doomlord are from Puerto Rico and play Doom Metal. This is their début album.

After enjoying their first release – Almas Malditas – I was eager to check out Black Testament to see if the band had made good on the promise displayed in that first split. The answer is yes.

Doomlord specialise in Classic Doom Metal inspired by the likes of Black Sabbath, Saint Vitus, etc. The personality of the singer and the added organs also speak of a Jon Oliva influence, which adds another level to the band.

The singer has a great set of lungs and the elements of Jon Oliva’s style add a layer of theatricality to the band that is more pronounced on this album than it was on Almas Malditas.

The band have an array of good riffs and the solos are very enjoyable. It’s the whole package here though, as everything works together to create impressive songs that are catchy and full of hooks.

Each of these tracks is a very enjoyable demonstration of just how good Doom Metal can be.

The songs are aided by a strong sound that allows the band the space to show off their skills. It’s a lengthy album at 68 minutes, but it manages to hold interest throughout.

A recommended listen.

Fleshworld/Gazers/Viscera/// – Split (Review)

This split is between Polish band Fleshworld, French band Gazers and Italian band Viscera///. All three bands play variations on Post-Metal/Doom.

Fleshworld kick off the split with 18 minutes of music spread across three tracks. We’ve met Fleshworld before with their début album Like We’re All Equal Again. They play Post-Metal with very harsh vocals that act as a counterpoint to the emotive music. Continue reading “Fleshworld/Gazers/Viscera/// – Split (Review)”

Amniac – Infinite (Review)

Amniac are from Greece and this is their début album. They play Post-Metal.

This is Post-Metal that’s largely moulded after the trinity of Isis/Neurosis/Cult of Luna, although they also have a more Metal quality to their sound akin to Gojira; both bands share a love of emotive, winding leads as well.

The singer has a clear and powerful voice. It’s legible and deep at the same time. It’s a very strong focal point for the band to have and he puts in a commanding performance.

The music is equally strong and commanding though and ultimately this is the real star on Infinite. The build/release nature of Post-Metal is present and correct, although Amniac are probably a bit heavier than some who play this style, with chuggy Metal riffs and Sludge influences thrown into the melting pot.

Amniac seem to have a firm grasp of good songwriting skills and of what makes a good riff. The guitars are very emotive and manage to carry the emotional content well whilst retaining that strong and forceful side.

This is a very accomplished album, especially for a début; lots of thought and skill has clearly gone into its composition.

Give Amniac a listen. Highly recommended.

Nojia – Gheist (Review)

This is the début album of Nojia who are from France. They play Post-Rock.

Nojia feature the talents of the bassist from Eryn Non Dae, which is notable simply because of just how damn good Eryn Non Dae are.

Nojia however, are calmer and more restrained. This is instrumental Post-Rock with long songs and a deep Progressive Rock edge.

For musical reference points, think Red Sparowes, Pelican and Russian Circles.

Nojia’s songs are impassioned and emotive beasts. Featuring the trademark rise and fall, build and release nature of Post-Rock; their tracks are further imbued with vitality and life by the Progressive nature of the music.

Memorable riffs and melodies gel together to create music that has impact. These are stories written in sound and each track is like an act in a play. When all three are done you’re left spent; emotionally exhausted but very, very happy.

A great deal of musicianship has gone into Gheist and the investment has paid real dividends.

My favourite track is probably Sama, which creates a tense, expectant atmosphere before diffusing itself in glorious crescendos and Progressive Rock beauty.

Nojia are a success in my book and well worth a listen.

Mudbath – Corrado Zeller (Review)

This is the début album from France’s Sludge/Doom behemoths Mudbath.

The first song opens slow and heavy, just the way we like it. Then the vocals kick in and I’m floored by their harshness. These are screams that sound so ragged that they can’t be human, surely?

It’s like serrated liquid glass has been made into diamond-sharp nails and scraped down the world’s largest blackboard. Couple this with the lumbering, crawling music and I’m in Doom heaven.

The first track keeps up the slow assault for over 10 minutes before introducing a bit of melody at the end and then finally collapsing under the sheer weight of itself. Class.

The second song starts off more upbeat but no less harrowing. It soon descends into apocalyptic Doom territory though and all memories of warmth, light and happiness simply evaporate. It picks up the pace once more near the end and the throat-shredding nature of the vocals goes into overdrive.

The final song is almost 18 minutes of nihilistic venom and heavy Sludge evil.

This is a crushing début. If you love all things slow, Heavy and Doom then Mudbath are not to be missed.

Corecom – Crawling Under The Heavy Foot Of Addiction (Review)

Corecom are a Sludge Metal band from Bulgaria and this is their début album.

Lazy, lost, despondent…the woe and rejection…the struggles of life and everything within…Corecom are here to remind you that negativity can be a physical force.

But there’s more to just Corecom than mere misery and Sludgy Eyehategod worship; they’re also in touch with their inner Hardcore band and their brand of Sludge is infested with semi-upbeat Hardcore-esque sections that seem to be fashioned from the murk of the deepest Sludge. This is more No Anchor than Eyehategod.

Corecom also have groove. I mean big groove. The kind of groove that got people bouncing all over the shop before Nu-Metal made it distinctly uncool. Corecom are reclaiming it and drenching it in Sludge so that no-one else wants to touch it.

Southern riffs, Hardcore-vibes, Doom-workouts and Stoner sections abound, as well as some pseudo-Grunge and Pantera/Crowbar influences. Corecom sound stuck in a timewarp in some ways, as Crawling Under The Heavy Foot Of Addiction sounds like it should have been released around 1999. This is not a bad thing at all, as this was a time when there were lots of innovative and interesting bands rearing their bruised, ugly heads.

Varied and catchy songs are Corecom’s speciality and this release is a very complete one; songs are just that, and each track has a part to play holistically in the overall makeup of the album.

Pain-inflicted vocals with no small amount of variety and character run through the songs like rodents infesting the ruins. The singer has a distinctly non-standard voice and this goes for the music too; it might take a song or two to acclimbatize but once you do Corecom have a lot of character and personality to offer.

This album makes me feel both impressed and nostalgic. It’s definitely one you should have a listen to.

In the Company of Serpents – Merging in Light (Review)

In the Company of Serpents are from the US and this is their latest EP. They play Doom/Sludge.

Just three tracks and over 21 minutes of heavy, heavy music; In the Company of Serpents play tar-black Doom with an emphasis on riffs and a crushing delivery.

The vocals sound anguished and tormented, like some damned soul released from Hell just long enough to tell everyone how bad it is. Rough and mournful.

The fuzzy guitars propel the tracks forward and the band know a good riff when they hear one. The colossal weight of the guitars drowns everything else out; the rest sound like a mere afterthought.

The songs sound like demented Black Sabbath tracks that have been left to fester and then, when they’re at their most ripe, covered in a layer of Sludge so thick that only the guitars are recognisable.

In the Company of Serpents are always an enjoyable band whenever I encounter them and this EP is no different. Like a car crash of Black Sabbath, High on Fire, Generation of Vipers and filthy Sludge Metal in general; they deliver the goods, although they may be a bit reeking and despoiled by the time they get to you.

Recommended.

Assumption – The Three Appearances (Review)

Assumption are a Doom/Death Metal band from Italy. This is their début EP.

Assumption sound grim, dark and evil. Featuring members of the gruesome Haemophagus it should come as no surprise that The Three Appearances is full of mouldy and decomposing delights.

Cavernous, echoing Death Metal growls seem to be generated through an abyssal fog of misery and pain. Surely something like this can’t be good for you?

The music is murky and ancient, lumbering around like a forgotten, decaying god that’s slowly transformed over the millennia into some form of shambling horror.

Reminding of recent albums from the likes of Encoffination, Ævangelist and Sempiternal Dusk, this is the latest album to blend both Death and Doom into an absolute terror of an album that’s designed to loosen the bowels and scar the soul.

As rotten as what’s left in the sewer and as black as the void, Assumption do a great job of describing the essential futility of life; decay always sets in, entropy will get everything in the end and ultimately there’s very little point. So why bother? Why bother at all?

Well, paradoxically Assumption themselves have given us a reason to continue; their music. This is worth taking the time to listen to.

What a glorious, rancid, noxious find this has been. All hail Assumption!

Old Thunder – Slings & Arrows (Review)

This is Atmospheric Doom/Sludge from the US. It’s the début release from this solo project.

The intro track Our Fields Are Burning is slow and meandering, and reminds me of Abandon. The singer barks over the first part of it and I like his voice; aggressive, legible and passionate.

June 2, 1910 is the first song proper and also the longest at just under 10 minutes. I’m once again reminded of Abandon, and their combination of Doom and Sludge with a dose of Crust is a path that Old Thunder also adhere to.

Having said that, Old Thunder also have faster sections that put me more in mind of a band like Rorcal with their Blackened Sludge delivery.

The first half of Sinking sounds like it’s stalking prey through a dark wilderness and once more I feel the need to comment on his barking voice; it’s very expressive and sounds really, really good. Nice work that man.

Rainroom has a strong despondent melodic streak running through it that focuses more on the Atmospheric Doom side of the equation, as well as some My Dying Bride/Katatonia influences.

The final track Serpent Sovereign is all about the dirrrggggeeeee.

My favourite parts of this release are the bits where the music slows, the guitars lock into a Doomy repetitive riff and the down-beat melodics come into play.

There’s also the odd moment of Post-Metal thrown into the mix, and even some clean vocals added in to spice things up.

This is a surprisingly diverse mix of Doom-esque sub-genres. All performed well and all, for the most part, sounding naturally mixed and not just cut and pasted together.

Slings & Arrows falls short of being absolutely phenomenal only very marginally. The first reason is the recording; there’s nothing wrong with it as such but I can’t help but feel the songs would benefit from a slightly fuller, warmer sound. The second is the songwriting; although very accomplished, especially for a first release, I feel it could be tightened up a little bit here and there.

Really though, these are very minor quibbles as this is a top quality début. On the basis of Slings & Arrows I fully expect that the next release from Old Thunder will be totally jaw-dropping.

Be sure to check this out.

Fortress – Unto the Nothing (Review)

Fortress are from the US and play Doom Metal. This is their début album.

This is Doom Metal with plenty of heaviness and bite.

Slow, colossal riffs ring out from the speakers, slowly trying to drag you into oblivion. I do like a band that knows how to play at a glacial pace.

The growled vocals sound like a howling daemon rising from the pit to swallow you whole, whilst the marginally less-deep vocals remind of the singer of Cathedral with a rougher voice mixed with the singer of The Meads of Asphodel.

This is Doom with an undercurrent of Sludge running through the waste pipes. There’s a wildness to Fortress that doesn’t need taming; it’s part of their innate appeal.

Feedback-laden, dirty and unkempt; Fortress remind of Grief, only with longer songs, mixed with a band like Conan.

Chunky, heavy riffs power the songs and some of the guitar parts have a Stoner Metal vibe to them. Everything is played at a snail’s pace though, so both Stoner and Sludge influences ultimately get poured into the same drain that’s filled to the brim with DOOOOM!

For quality Doom that’s crushingly heavy and a vibe of total despair and loss, look no further than Fortess.

Favourite Track: Either Lies & Fears; Slow. Heavy. Miserable. Compelling; or The Nothing, with subtle, ethereal female cleans in the background. Haunting.