Doom – Wonderbox Metal

Eremit – Wearer of Numerous Forms (Review)

This is the third album from German doom metal band Eremit.

More Eremit! More hulking great huge tracks of monstrous sludge doom! Yeah! Despite how massive 2019’s Carrier of Weight and 2021’s Bearer of Many Names were, (not forgetting the relatively brief EP Desert of Ghouls from 2020), Wearer of Numerous Forms finds Eremit bigger and bolder than ever before. Featuring just three tracks, but clocking in at a colossal 133 minutes, (!), Eremit have unleashed a doom odyssey. Continue reading “Eremit – Wearer of Numerous Forms (Review)”

Khanate – To Be Cruel (Review)

Khanate are a doom/drone band from the US and this is their fifth album.

The unthinkable has happened. Utterly impossible. After 14 years, a new Khanate album has arisen from the depths of untold bottomless horror to grace an undeserving planet with its unique form of grim darkness. How and why it has appeared now is anyone’s guess, but surely it must be a sign of the end times? Continue reading “Khanate – To Be Cruel (Review)”

Bell Witch – Future’s Shadow Part 1: The Clandestine Gate (Review)

Bell Witch are a funeral doom band from the US and this is their fourth album.

Following on from 2017’s now-classic Mirror Reaper, (by way of 2020’s collaboration with Aerial Ruin Stygian Bough: Volume I), Bell Witch have unleashed another giant work of funeral doom art. Continue reading “Bell Witch – Future’s Shadow Part 1: The Clandestine Gate (Review)”

Usnea – Bathed in Light (Review)

This is the fourth album from US doom band Usnea.

After loving 2014’s Random Cosmic Violence and 2017’s Portals into Futility, I am so completely ready for a new Usnea album. Bathed in Light brings us not only their shortest album yet at 43 minutes, but also many of their shortest songs. What does this mean for the Usnea we know and adore? Continue reading “Usnea – Bathed in Light (Review)”

Yakuza – Sutra (Review)

This is the seventh album from US avant-garde/experimental doom band Yakuza.

Sutra is a 54-minute journey into the unexpected and the atypical. Few genre tags will do this justice, so I’ve settled on avant-garde doom, which is vague enough to be relevant, so why not. Whatever you call them, Yakuza have provided a multifaceted metal album that’s diverse and enjoyable. Continue reading “Yakuza – Sutra (Review)”

Radien – Unissa Palaneet (Review)

This is the second album from Radien, a sludge metal band from Finland.

Unissa Palaneet is a 46-minute album containing five tracks, where the a full 21 minutes of the total duration is made up of just the final song. Radien are not without ambition, and they have the skills to back up their vision for doom-heavy sludge music. Continue reading “Radien – Unissa Palaneet (Review)”

Mnajdra – Mnajdra (Review)

This is the debut album from US black metal band Mnajdra.

From out of nowhere comes Mnajdra, a 44-minute slice of underworld darkness. This is thick, unfriendly black metal that has subsumed elements of doom and sludge into itself to better portray the utter bleakness and horror of existence. Continue reading “Mnajdra – Mnajdra (Review)”

They Watch Us from the Moon – Cosmic Chronicles, Act I: The Ascension (Review)

They Watch Us from the Moon are a doom/stoner metal band from the US and this is their debut album.

Cosmic Chronicles, Act I: The Ascension provides us with a feast of progressive stoner doom. Across 45 minutes – five meaty songs – They Watch Us from the Moon impress with their charismatic take on a notoriously bland style. Spoiler alert: bland, this is not. Continue reading “They Watch Us from the Moon – Cosmic Chronicles, Act I: The Ascension (Review)”

Hellish Form – Deathless (Review)

Hellish Form are a doom/sludge band from the US and this is their second album.

Embrace the atmospheric nightmare sludge of Hellish Form. If you do, you won’t regret it. Featuring members of Body Void, Elder Devil, and Keeper, Deathless contains 48 minutes of the good stuff. If by good stuff you mean a compelling mood-focused mix of funeral doom, sludge, and drone, of course. Continue reading “Hellish Form – Deathless (Review)”

Nightmarer – Deformity Adrift (Review)

Nightmarer are an international death metal band and this is their second album.

Featuring current and ex-members of Alluvial, Convulsing, Gigan, The Ocean, and War from a Harlots Mouth, you know that Nightmarer have a lot of diverse experience to offer. In this instance, they collectively offer us 32 minutes of discordant death metal in the warped and disjointed shape of Deformity Adrift. Continue reading “Nightmarer – Deformity Adrift (Review)”