Doom – Page 140 – Wonderbox Metal

Bastard of the Skies/Grimpen Mire – Split (Review)

Bastard of the Skies are from the UK and play Sludge, and they have teamed up with fellow UK Doomsters Grimpen Mire for this split.

And what a very nice cover they have for this split.

Bastard of the Skies are the first up, and they contribute 4 tracks to this release.

Their half of the split consists of Earthy sounding Sludge with a distinct inhuman quality to the vocals. Some good melodies make appearances and add depth.

The tracks are heavy lumps of solid matter and rumble along nicely. The band display some really good songwriting and this small collection of tracks are top notch.

Taking their cues from the usual suspects of Sludge; Bastard of the Skies entertain with their half of the split and obviously have a good ear for what fans of this kind of music want to hear.

Following on from that, the second half of the release is by Grimpen Mire who offer us 3 tracks.

They’re not wildly dissimilar from Bastard of the Skies, although whereas Bastard of the Skies sound quite coherent and solid, Grimpen Mire have more of a loose, dangerous feel to them.

Their contribution has more of an Eyehategod influence and successfully manages to sound scuzzed up, dirty and raging. The inclusion of some cleaner vocals is unexpected, however, but these work well.

At 40 minutes in length this is a longer-than-average split and one worth taking the time to explore.

Senior Fellows – Ecclesiastical Servitude (Review)

Senior Fellows are from the US and play Sludge Metal.

Slow, heavy and very, very nasty; Senior Fellows impress from the outset with their crushing nature.

Like the vast majority of Sludge bands in existence you can hear some Eyehategod in their sound, but thankfully Senior Fellows are no mere tribute/copycat band and more than stand on their own merits. The riffs do deviate from the usual Eyehategod template, for example, to create their own atmospheres of hopelessness and societal judgement and condemnation.

The songs are short but devastatingly heavy. They crawl along slowly and inevitably, destroying everything in their path. Some of the riffs are good enough that they could easily be stretched out into songs twice the length of what we are given here, but it seems that Senior fellows are all for economy of action and are keen to avoid ever outstaying their welcome. Well there’s no danger of that.

The vocals are tortured and inhumane; I really feel for the poor sap they’ve demoralised and broken enough to produce the sounds their singer emits. What foul deprecations and torment has he suffered and gone through in order to be reduced to this savage wreck of humanity we find here? It’s impressively brutal.

A thoroughly enjoyable début that could easily be longer to my mind. A tar-covered trip through filthied up Doom that showcases the best of what Sludge Metal is all about.

A recommended listen.

Silence the Father – Memories of Dying (Review)

Next up we have Silence the Father, who are form the US and play Doom.

I do like a bit of drum-and-bass Doom, especially when done well. A lot of bands who play this style tend to be instrumental, but Silence the Father not only have vocals but very good ones too. High-pitched cleans that are as sharp as the dangerous-sounding bass. They sail over the music and provide colour to its relentless grey shadings.

The drums are organic and have a very free feeling as they explore rolls, fills and slow-beatings under the watchful eyes of the omnipresent and oppressive bass.

The bass is the star of the show in many ways. Even though the vocals are usually the central focus and even here have the talent to pull this off, for me the bass is where it’s at on Memories of Dying. It’s a constant presence, a familiar and oppressively bleak aura of heaviness and lurking threat. It runs through the centre of the songs while the drums do their thing underneath the thick strumming and the vocals soar high above everything.

This is stripped down, lean Doom that’s ready for action. It just so happens that the action is slow, but that doesn’t dull the adrenaline rush from hearing such a great collection of Doom tracks. Well written, played and executed; for a début release this is especially notable.

This is Grade A DOOOOM! It’s as impressive as it is enjoyable and there’s absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t get your grimy paws on this.

Fans of everything slow and heavy – here is your new favourite band.

Wolvhammer – Clawing Into Black Sun (Review)

This is the third album from US Sludgy Black Metal group Wolvhammer.

This is music that’s covered in filth and reeks of the underground; Black Metal that’s so impure it’s slowly mutating into a hideous Sludge Metal behemoth that threatens to corrupt and taint everything around it.

The band are absolutely focused on their misanthropic mission and are honed and coiled to a lethal point.

The great thing about this album is the songs themselves; there is a great sense of Doom’n’roll to these tracks that are propelled forwards with a Punk/Crust swagger that builds on their Black Metal roots and persists through the Sludgy mire they have created for themselves.

Put simply; the songs bleed negative emotion through every sickened pore.

The poisonous, bile streaked vocal shrieks are representative of dire inner struggles. They seem to reach out of the songs and force you to pay attention, all the while though you’re distracted by the grim musical bonanza that is spreading around you.

The guitars ply their Blackened trade with consummate ease and the entire album is just flowing with feelings artfully plucked, brutalised and abused by these purveyors of filth.

Does this sound good to you? Does it? Well it should. Wolvhammer have created a wonderfully dank album that I heartily recommend to all.

This is a stunning album.

Favourite Track: Death Division. It’s just so damn good.

Doom:VS – Earthless (Review)

This is the third album from Doom:VS. Coming from Sweden this is a one-man project featuring a guest vocalist.

This is bleak and sombre Death/Doom Metal that’s haunting and beautiful despite, or perhaps because of, the misery and anguish it portrays.

The album slowly unveils under a cloud of desolation and heartbreak. Mournful riffs seem to slide out of hidden openings and colossal growls give a solid and forceful outlet for the emotive music.

The guitars are rich and textured, as one would expect from a release such as this. The music works well to evoke the necessary feelings of woe and despair required from this style of Metal and yet also manages to find beauty in the negativity.

There are no weaknesses with the recording and the songwriting is top notch. In fact, unless you just don’t care for this style of music you’ll be hard pressed to find any real flaws here.

Taking cues from My Dying Bride, as it’s pretty impossible not to do for this type of Metal, they also pay attention to other areas of the Metal globe and have hints of bands like Agalloch in the mix.

One of the best things about this album is that it never gets boring, stale, dull or repetitive, which is no mean feat for a genre that’s essentially slow and melodic. This is a testament to the talent of Doom:VS and the album sails by in a blur of emotive dirges.

Along with bands like Eye of Solitude and Decembre Noir, Doom:VS are one of the very best bands in the Doom/Death genre now.

Immerse yourself in their despair.

Wo Fat – The Conjuring (Review)

Wo Fat are from the US and this is their fifth album of Doom Metal.

They have a warm sound that’s very welcoming and makes the listener immediately feel at ease; familiar but not overly so. This is Stoner/Psychedelic Doom in the traditional and spaced out way.

The singer has a good voice that seeps like honey over the rolling drums and infectious riffs. Speaking of, there are some glorious riffs to be had on The Conjuring.

And this is heavy. Joyously heavy. The guitars revel in themselves. Occasional solos snake their way in a lazily serpentine fashion across mountainous riffs that should get even the most jaded Metal fan moving.

The band seem to play these songs without any apparent effort, as if it is the easiest thing in the world to peel off colossal riffs with a beat that won’t quit. They give the feeling of being involved in one big jam, but one that’s coherent and focused enough to not sound a mess at all.

A real exploratory album full of trips to the heavy, fuzzy, scuzzy world of Wo Fat; the songs entice and captivate, culminating in the 17:00 monster that is Dreamwalker.

On the whole, very impressive and very enjoyable; a great listen.

Venowl – Patterns of Failure (Review)

Venowl are from the US and play DOOOOOOOOOOM!

Patterns of Failure is like that rickety, shambling, deathless corpse that follows you in your dreams; slowly and surely crawling closer and closer with horror in its eyes. You know the one.

There is a supreme haunting terror at the core of Venowl and I’m not sure I want to know what they do to get it all riled up like this. The howling vocalisations in particular are terrifying in their abandon and make the average “scary band” sound tame and lovable by comparison.

The songs themselves are slow and covered in rust and grime. They give the impression of something being left out in the rain and exposed to the elements for far too long.

The simplest reference point is Khanate, although whereas Khanate made a corrupted virtue of minimalism Venowl have more meat on their bones; Khanate worked with the spaces between the sounds they created whilst Venowl fill every space with a dire sense of dread and ill.

This is the kind of epically dismal and barren Doom that blackens the heart and freezes the veins. There’s no light here just differing shades of darkness and unrelenting negativity.

Venowl have produced a marathon of filth. It’s time to start running, the deathless corpse approaches once more.

Sól – Black Mountain (Review)

Coming from the US, Sól play Post-Metal and this is their début.

The first thing to grab my attention is the bold and striking album art. I like a good cover.

As for the music, this is dynamic Post-Metal and the band appear to have fully mastered the build/release nature of the genre very early on in their career.

Lighter, relaxed, softer sections wind their way upwards; inevitably building to something darker and heavier than what they might seem to suggest at first.

Initial reference points are the standard triumvirate for this genre – Neurosis/Isis/Cult of Luna – but those are a given really, almost not worth mentioning. More interesting is an additional feeling of atmospheric Metal in places, such as the like that Agalloch produce. Indeed, helped along by the album artwork and title there is a strong feeling of nature and the natural environment throughout these songs that is not commonly felt in the Post-Metal genre as a whole.

The heavier sections can really let loose when they need to as well. The band don’t feel restricted to limiting their style to the perceived limitations of the genre, (as wide as they may be anyway), and when they’re not creating apocalyptic atmospheres reminiscent of horrendous natural disasters, they simply rage.

The feelings created by this release are immense and powerful. Whether soft or heavy, light or dark, this is an exemplary release that shows a multidimensional grasp of what makes exploratory and inventive music such as this as compelling and involving as it is.

Bands like Maeth, Monachus and Sól are truly exciting forces in heavy music these days; pushing the envelope and developing songs that are as addictive and satisfying as the best stories.

Amazingly, this is the first and only thing that Sól have done so far. I already want more.

Interview with Servants of the Mist

Servants of the Mist are about to release their latest EP Gross Knowledge of Genital Mutilation, and in its wake a creeping misery and despair does follow. It left such a deep impression that I felt compelled to probe deeper…

Give us a bit of history to Servants of the Mist

Servants of the Mist have existed in some form since 2010. We are from west central Florida. We are keen observers and travelers to dark dimensions. We are in touch with demons who work through and love us. We have opened for Danzig, Jucifer, Obituary and Eyehategod. We create sounds of suffering.

Where did your name come from?

The name came from a lyric in one of our earliest demos. The lyric was based on the 1992 Dracula movie directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Gary Oldman.

What are your influences?

GG Allin, Melvins, Cough, Electric Wizard and Burning Witch. The greatest influence has been life itself. All the questions that can’t be answered. The hunger of the beast. The things we are forced to live with.

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

…I am always listening to the sound of my own voice telling my head things. I don’t hate anyone enough to recommend they know my brain or have my secrets.

What did you want to achieve with your new release

I want to promote thought and conversation. I want people who listen to realize their own hell. I want them to indulge their physical pleasures because the master won’t allow you love. People like us are ruled by their demons. I predict that right and wrong will be much harder to interpret. I believe we have a choice.

Most bands of this particular style of Sludge have a distinct Southern tinge to the riffs, yet this is largely absent from your sound. Was this a conscious decision to differentiate yourselves or was it a more natural occurrence?

The songs come from the soul. I am in an emotional prison. Where I exist there is very little color or life. This is what influences the sound. I don’t make a conscious choice to live here in exile. I don’t make a conscious effort to exclude a southern tinge.

How do your songs take shape?

I write most all the songs. I then take them to the band. We bring all the pieces together.

In your songs is it important to you to push a heavily negative vibe or is this a feeling that just happens regardless?

I have had hope and believed in love. I have been crushed by the need to be human. It is in the need for happiness that hope will blatantly betray you. The music speaks of the consequences of betrayal. It speaks of the evolution. The transformation from human to monster.

Would you change anything if you had to do the recording over again?

I am very critical of my own work. I would say that there is always something I think I could have done better. I also like that we don’t take much time or over produce our music in the studio. We plug in, play and what comes out is as real as it gets.

How do you see your songs/direction developing in the future?

That depends completely where I’m at emotionally. I hope to write ballads that celebrate romance and love. I fear though that I will always exist in the world of shadows. I have found a home in the chaos.

What does the future hold for Servants of the Mist?

The future is futile. We will continue to celebrate madness. We will dream of you. We will hate you. We will continue on until death takes us to oblivion.

Ed Tobar…guitars, founder and father of Servants.

Servantsofthemist.bandcamp

Servants of the Mist – Gross Knowledge of Genital Mutilation (Review)

This is the latest EP from US Sludge/Doom Metal band Servants of the Mist.

The EP is 25 minutesin length and after the perfunctory intro we’re into the feedback-drenched first song Undeserving, which at just under 12 minutes serves as the centrepiece of the release.

The music is crushing, monolithic Doom with a corrupted, rotten Sludge veneer and a core of pure hatred.

We get bowel-loosening deep vocals and piercing high-pitched ones, both sound great and complement the music perfectly.

A deep aura of misery pervades these tracks and the band do all they can to punish and obliterate the listener with their steady, slow assault.

This is a really enjoyable form of dank Doom that just won’t give up; the strongly oppressive feeling of the tracks makes for a compelling release that sticks in the mind long after the last foetid chord has faded.

The band have enough talent that whether they are playing agonisingly slow Doom or slightly-more-upbeat Sludge they do it with obvious passion and with riffs to die for.

Negatively emotive and bleakly enticing; Servants of the Mist really know how to write a good Doom tune.

I mean, honestly; if you’re at all into this kind of music what’s not to like here?