Doom Metal – Page 66 – Wonderbox Metal

Nidra – Coma (Review)

Russian band Nidra play Depressive/Funeral Doom with a Blackened atmosphere thrown in for good measure.

Bleak, doleful melodies softly cover this album like a deathly blanket. Solemn musicality frames every note and the threat of melancholy is never far away.

Nidra conjure up this atmosphere through the standard Metal instruments as well as keyboards, effects and pianos. The overall effect is quite satisfying as this genre goes and Nidra peddle their woe well.

The vocals have good variety, alternating between growls and cleaner singing, all in keeping and time with the mid-paced sombre funeral marching of the songs.

As a bonus there is also a rather excellent Blut Aus Nord cover on the end of the album.

A good release that allows you to wallow in the darkness without being swallowed by it. It may paint a bleak portrait but it’s one worth looking at.

https://www.facebook.com/Nidraproject

Mammoth Salmon – Call of the Mammoth (Review)

This is the latest EP from US Stoner Doom band Mammoth Salmon.

The riffs are chunky and full of substance; you won’t go hungry for heaviness here as the band have a nice organic sound that shows off their Doom-laden platter and allows all-comers to gorge on their ample treats.

The first song Dark Descent is an instrumental slow burner of monolithic and classic Doom Metal that crushes the listener in grand riffs before devolving into almost space-age noise and bleeps, then suitably recovering itself for the end of the track.

It’s only on the second song In Constant Shadows that we get to hear the vocals; powerful dirty-cleans that are belted out with strength and passion and fit perfectly with the warm, living sound of the rest of the band.

Each of the songs has a vibrant central core, wrapped lovingly in an earthy embrace of colossal riffs and songwriting know-how. Each track sounds lived in and worked on by enthusiastic hands and wise minds. Laid-back and easy going, but heavy and relentless; not a million miles away from what I imagine Bongripper would song like if they had a singer and shorter songs.

At 27 minutes the band have well and truly captured my attention with their considerable skills. A recommended listen for sure, and here’s hopefully to an album in the future.

Cleanteeth – Pushing Rope (Review)

Hailing from the US, Cleanteeth specialise in Sludgy Post-Metal Doom.

The band play their music ultra-heavy and with added effects and noise to truly force their point home.

Sometimes the vocals are tortured and hoarse, screaming their angst at an uncaring world who are forced to pay attention by the sheer wall of distortion aimed in their general direction; other times they are cleaner and more melodic, but only relatively speaking as they are still chock full of a soul-searching uneasiness and feelings of malaise.

Amidst the walls of guitars though there is time for reflection and calmness; time to take stock of what’s been gained or lost before the next sound-tsunami roars forth.

The songs are shorter than is the norm for bands of this ilk. They do not end prematurely however, they are exactly the length they need to be to deliver their payload.

Cleanteeth write their songs catchy and memorable, even with the churning chaos and noise considered. This is what Mastodon would sound like if they went a heavier, Sludgier route from their inception. The band they most remind me of though in many ways is Will Haven, and not so much as they directly sound like them. Although they share various sonic parameters it’s more the fact that they write such crushingly heavy down-beat music while retaining an accessibility and hook-laden delivery that’s at odds with just how harsh they can be.

Bands like this don’t come along that often, and when they do you have to sit up and pay attention. So sit up and pay attention as Cleanteeth are something special.

Dea Marica – Curse of the Haunted (Review)

This is the second release from UK Doom merchants Dea Marica.

They play sorrow-filled down-beat Doom Metal with a maudlin pace and sombre melodies. If you use a band such as My Dying Bride as a starting point you’ll be in the right area stylistically, but Dea Marica don’t sound like cheap knock-offs as the melodies and structures of their songs are not the same.

Vocally they have extremely brutal growls that are deeper than the blackest pits of Hades, but they mainly use clean, almost operatic vocals that are impressively realised and contribute a lot to the depth of the songs.

The album sweeps you along in its emotional embrace and forces you to come face to face with all of those small, dark things you’ve been avoiding thinking about for years. The epic melodies and exquisite vocal harmonies rub shoulders with the guttural vocals and heavier riffs and the band switch between the two seamlessly; sometimes it’s a sudden change and sometimes it’s a gradual build up, but either way the general mood is retained and the song is a winner.

It should also be mentioned that this is also a very catchy album full of hooks to grab the listener, albeit in a down-tempo Doom Metal way. You’ll be wanting to play these epic songs again almost as soon as the last chord has faded.

This is a haunting, dark and memorable album. Highly recommended.

The Wounded Kings – Consolamentum (Review)

This is the fourth album of Doom Metal from UK band The Wounded Kings.

The Wounded Kings specialise in slow, meandering Traditional Doom Metal with towering guitars and backing sounds. The album cover sets the mood; blackness, smoke and obscure symbols. When the vocals kick in they sound like they are coming from somewhere behind this protective layer of fog, tempting the listener into the blackness beyond. But don’t go. Oh no. You don’t want to step into their world. Her vocals entice and chill, echo and fade. Drawing you in and leading you away.

The album has the feeling of the occult, and the music has a ritualistic, droning quality to it that’s entirely disarming. You could listen to the thick, weighty guitars for an age, until it’s entirely too late. For everything.

It’s with feelings of oppression, foreboding and mystical expectations that the songs develop. They do this naturally; unhurried and unforced. There is, after all, no rush. No rush at all. What else do you possibly have in your miserable, worthless life that’s worth doing? No-one is waiting for you, no-one wants anything from you; simply surrender to the siren calls and give in. You want to see what’s in the dark, behind the smoke, right?

Music to be afraid to, and to be afraid of.

Hear The Silence here.

Forlorn Path – Man’s Last Portrait (Review)

This is the début album from US Melodic Doom/Black/Death Metallers Forlorn Path.

For a début this is well-written, ambitious and implemented with a skill a lot of bands would envy.

Melodic and orchastrated, yet still having an intensity born of pure Metal this is more aggressive and outright better than I was expecting. From the name and album cover I thought I would be hearing a second-rate Gothic Death Metal Paradise Lost clone, but thankfully my hasty pre-judgement was incorrect, and instead we get epic, expansive, symphonic and melodic Blackened Doom of the highest quality.

At just over an hour in length a lot of passion and work has gone into this album to create a journey that you can get your teeth into.

The vocals alternate between a Black Metal rasp and an ultra-deep growl that is just a pure pleasure to experience.

The forlorn atmosphere and rich melodic melancholy combined with an more aggressive assault than a lot of bands of this genre attempt means that the album always entertains and for me is up there with recent melodic Metal greats like Amiensus.

A refreshing and surprising album; I’ve had my expectations completely surpassed and it’s an abject lesson to me that you can’t judge a band by their name or their artwork. What matters, all that matters, is what they sound like, and Forlorn Path sound very good indeed. Highly recommended.

Descend Into Despair – The Bearer Of All Storms (Review)

Romanian band Descend Into Despair have released an epic album in every sense of the word – there is 92 minutes of music here, all piled into 7 songs.

I love a good piece of album artwork, and this one is great. It’s not necessarily any reflection of the music of course, but it did make me excited to listen to this band.

The songs are long and based around slow, atmospheric funeral Doom; each track winding and rolling further down into misery. The singer espouses his existence of suffering and gloom through deep growls and haunted clean vocals.

The guitar-based melodies and riffs are slow and moving, but for me it’s the added keys and effects that are the real emotional drivers. They weave in and around the songs like ghostly dancers swaying to their own tune, adding depth and longevity to music already full of mood and feeling.

Feelings of fragile mortality and heartache infuse this album and every second is spent pulling at the heart-strings and introducing melancholy and sorrow.

This album can hold its head up high and rub shoulders with the best of them; with bands like Eye of Solitude and Descend Into Despair releasing high quality music like this the depressive funeral Doom scene will not want for leaders for some time.

Culted – Oblique To All Paths (Review)

Culted comprise of members in both Sweden and Canada, (who apparently have never met), and this is their second album of Blackened Doom Metal.

This is an hour of haunting depression and wandering desolation.

This album combines aspects of Doom, Black Metal and Sludge to create a bleak atmosphere and feeling of slow decay. An aural description akin to a gradual slipping away into who knows where; a place of fear to never return from.

You know a band means business when a 19 minute monolith of a song, (Brooding Hex), is their opener. It also works as an abstract for the album as a whole as it surmises all areas that the full album travels to within its forbidding boundaries.

There is no clinical, sterile recording on this release; instead we have a dark and foetid sound, full of shadows that hold spawning grounds for unspeakable strains of mutant bacteria and other unpleasantness.

The rasping vocals are rooted in Black Metal, and they sail the seas of Blackness on the good ship Doom. Continuing the nautical theme, (for no good reason really), this is music to drown to.

The wide range of sounds and instruments used on this album means that this is a diverse and experimental release. It’s an interesting path that the disparate band members have collectively chosen to tread, one which carries great risk but which promises great reward in turn. I heartily invite you to sample the dark delights on offer here. But be warned – there’s a danger you might not come back.

Demon Lung – The Hundredth Name (Review)

This is US Doom Metal band Demon Lung with their début album The Hundredth Name.

The band play Traditional Doom with good harmonies, inventive riffing and strong songs.

The first song Binding of the Witch eases us in slowly with gradually-building waves of towering guitars, while Hellish noises play in the background picking at your sanity with needle-like claws. Once the song starts to begin “properly” it’s with a monolithic winding, driving riff that instantly makes me like what’s happening. Indeed there are a plethora of quality Doom riffs on this album.

Showcasing good musicianship and recording; the backbone of the album is in place and then the emphasis is on the songs and the powerful vocals, both of which are no disappointment.

The singer has a generally deep, powerful voice that has both a dreamy and gritty quality, almost like she’s not quite here and instead exists in two worlds – the real and the unreal, where the monsters and witches roam. She shows good range across these songs though and doesn’t suffer from getting stuck in a vocal rut. Her vocals bring the songs to (un)life and add a flicker of unholy fire to the proceedings that elevate this album above a lot of their peers.

The album flows and caresses with its dark touches and is the Doom Metal equivalent of easy listening in some ways; tracks feel natural and unforced, all the while channelling that special black magic that lovers of this genre always want more of.

A very strong first release. If they can keep this up there is a bright future ahead of them. Purely looking at The Hundredth Name however, they have already put out a record to be proud of.

Interview with Upyr

Bulgarian Blackened Doom band Upyr have recently released their very impressive first offering Altars/Tunnels, which is gathering them positive reviews all over the place. I was privileged to be able to grill them on the subject…

For those who are unfamiliar with the band – introduce yourself!

Brodnik: We are five mates who share the same need for expressing ourselves in the most grotesque and depressing ways the music allows.

V.B.: We are what represents the blackest of doom metal in the Bulgarian underground.

What are your influences?

Brodnik: The landscapes of our musical influences are quite vast and the borders kind of fade. If we begin with the ugliest of primitive black metal howls of Hellhammer, Bathory and the first releases of Sodom for example, pass through the mournful mists of Evoken, My Dying Bride and Tiamat, explore the psychedelic dimensions of Sleep and Neurosis and then take it south for a swamp ride with a blast of sludge to break it’s bones – that’s Upyr. The hardest part is to have all that in the bag and still make it sound simple and clear in form.

V.B.: In the cauldron we have mixed the legacy of Black Sabbath and Saint Vitus with the dirtiness of Electric Wizard and Eyehategod. Outside of music we are inspired and provoked by life itself with all its philosophical and everyday aspects.

What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?

Brodnik: From the recently produced albums I really appreciate Alkerdeel, Cough and Windhand. The Autopsy new album is a must! That’s what metal should be for me. Also tons of neofolk and post punk.

V.B.: Watch out! A Bulgarian band – Obsidian Sea with their debut album. Venomous Maximous, early Danzig stuff and the everyday dose of Johnny Cash.

What is the Bulgarian Metal scene like? How do you feel you fit in?

Brodnik: To talk about a strong metal scene in Bulgaria is a bit harsh. There are acts of class and original ideas but they are rather sporadic and they don’t lead to one strong core. We were welcomed very well by now. All our shows were well attended and we found bands that we share the same ideas of creating music with. That’s more than we expected. We will continue with the same passion to try and built those foundations of a scene because the audience here is very well educated, demanding and most of all deserving.

V.B.: Ok, Bulgaria is a former “communist” country and the iron curtain was no shit. The metal and the whole rock scene as a whole were almost forbidden and rather marginal till the early 90’s. That has had it’s effects on the forming of any kind of scene unfortunately. There is enthusiasm but it’s still hard for a Bulgarian band to expand its fanbase outside of the country.

What were your motivations to create this release, and why this style of music?

Brodnik: I’ve dig in almost every extreme and provoking genre of music and I had my share of playing in different bands but since I was a kid I was looking for something specific and with each next album and knowledge I’ve got, it was becoming clearer what it holds. You know that feeling. When I found doom metal, and especially depressive doom metal I felt like home.

V.B.: That’s the genre that unites us in this band, no matter of our different backgrounds. The right moment had come and we recorded, mixed and released the demo in the most natural way.

Brodnik: We released our first songs quite early in our time as a band because we needed a kickstart. Also I believe that releasing music no matter on what format is the most important part of the life of a band. That’s what remains in time, that’s the evidence of what you felt together in a certain period of time.

Altars/Tunnels is an extremely strong first release – how did the songs come about?

Brodnik: They came out almost by themselves, just after a few sessions of playing together. There are no newbies in the band and that also helps to achieve exactly what’s inside you.

V.B.: We never start with the idea of creating a certain type of song. It all begins in the rehearsal room with a riff or idea, then it turns into a jam, till we get the right pulsation of the upcoming song. We let our souls do it instead of our brains.

What can you share about the meanings behind the songs?

V.B.: The lyrics are all written by Brodnik and they are deeply emotional. ”Hymn to Pan” is inspired by the original text of Crowley and I don’t think that’s a big surprise when you listen to our music.

Brodnik: They are profoundly emotional and true to my being. It’s an enormous amount of suffering implemented in the lyrics and the way I express myself through various vocal techniques. I try to create a world within the world, but the epicenter of it is the really messed up mind that I own. “Before the Altars of Necrotic Karma” is about the never-ending feeling that we’re doomed and we’re not meant to reach happiness, freedom or any kind of a conclusion or meaning for our existence. “The tunnels of my Sleep” is about my expanding problems with sleeping, I have insomnia that can last 4/5 days and cycle every second week, It’s really a different state of mind that you get into…

How did the recording process go?

Brodnik: The others recorded the first two songs live in a cheap studio for about a few hours, after that I recorded the vocals and we spent some time in the mixing room so we can get exactly what we wanted from the sound. The bonus song that’s only on the cassette release is a rehearsal jam of the dirtiest kind and sounds more like a demo.

V.B.: We should not forget that it’s a demo release. A friend of the band helped us with the mixing with great dedication and that brought the raw live material to another level without killing its punch.

Are you pleased with the end result of Altars/Tunnels? Would you do anything differently next time?

Brodnik: I’m pleased that we put out the songs in a release quite fast because that’s what matters. I believe that the magic of it is you can’t touch it when it’s out. I’m not a fan of reissues or remastered albums.

V.B.: I’m completely satisfied with the end product. There’s a lot of atmosphere. Nobody knows what it’s going to be next time but for sure the production will serve the music.

What does the future hold for Upyr?

V.B.: 2014 started more than well for us. The cassette release by Serpent Eve Recs. is already sold out in just a month and the guys from the label are working on a second edition due to the big interest. The reviews were really flattering for us and we will give our hearts to have a great 2014 year together.

Brodnik: We have two shows in February with KYLESA (USA) and TURBOCHARGED (SWEDEN), then we will take a short break and we will come back in April with a surprise. We plan some shows outside of the country too. Thank you for your interest!

Thanks!