Zaraza are a doom/sludge band from Ecuador. This is their third album.
Zaraza play experimental industrial-tinged doom/sludge metal. Slow, dreary, and utterly without hope. Continue reading “Zaraza – Spasms of Rebirth (Review)”
Tag: Earth
Canyon of the Skull – The Desert Winter (Review)
Canyon of the Skull are an instrumental doom band from the US and this is their second album.
The Desert Winter contains one single track that lasts a whopping 37 minutes. Continue reading “Canyon of the Skull – The Desert Winter (Review)”
Chrome Ghost – Reflection Pool (Review)
Chrome Ghost are a doom metal band from the US and this is their latest EP.
This is sludgy doom metal that has heart. It’s heavy music that doesn’t skimp on the emotive qualities that make sludge so compelling. Continue reading “Chrome Ghost – Reflection Pool (Review)”
Idre – Unforgiving Landscapes (Review)
Idre are a doom band from the US and this is their second album.
This is the follow up to 2014’s self titled debut, which was an impressive release that provided two tracks of heavily atmospheric and layered music. Continue reading “Idre – Unforgiving Landscapes (Review)”
Dormansland – After Humanity (Review)
This is the debut album from Dormansland, a solo act from the UK.
Mixing doom, drone, shoegaze and industrial elements into its near-hour long playing time, After Humanity is a reflective and atmospheric work that’s not afraid to put the boot in when it needs to.
The songs on this release gain traction in the mind of the listener the more they are experienced, and are a combination of emotive, subtle affairs, with harsher industrial-edged themes. Continue reading “Dormansland – After Humanity (Review)”
Nonsun – Black Snow Desert (Review)
This is the debut album by Ukrainian doom band Nonsun.
Here we have somewhat of a colossal album. This is 84 minutes of slow, weighty music designed to physically and mentally crush, while transporting the listener to other, bleaker realms. Continue reading “Nonsun – Black Snow Desert (Review)”
Messa – Belfry (Review)
This is the début album from Messa, a doom/drone metal band from Italy.
Messa provide the listener with almost an hour of occult retro doom and dark ambience.
This is akin to a strange-yet-effective mix of Sunn O))) and Pentagram, with deliciously seductive female vocals included. Some tracks are dark ambient/drone, full of mysterious atmospheres and distorted malice, while others take Continue reading “Messa – Belfry (Review)”
Druids – Cycles of Mobeum (Review)
Druids are a doom/sludge metal band from the US and this is their latest album.
Druids take elements of modern bands like Mastodon and Behold! The Monolith and infuse them with an earlier style of doom and blues, as produced by bands like Earth and Black Sabbath.
There’s a quality level of musicianship on Cycles of Mobeum, and this Continue reading “Druids – Cycles of Mobeum (Review)”
Funeral Moth – Transience (Review)
This is the second album from Japanese Funeral Doom band Funeral Moth.
Funeral Moth’s music is comprised of sparse, slow riffs that create atmosphere through space and elongated emotion rather than outright heaviness or pure distortion. It’s a slightly different approach than most artists of this ilk adopt, but one that sees the two long tracks on Transience work a, (miserable), treat.
The band this reminds me of most is Earth, if Earth played Funeral Doom and had growled vocals.
The music is introspective and gloriously woeful. It tempts you to lie back and trance out, while the sombre, mournful melodies carry your consciousness off and your body slowly settles into its place in the cold, wet, uncaring soil…
Throughout this slow decline of sentience we get the aforementioned deep growls churning in line with the music. These are both quite traditional in delivery and also subtly different, having a roughness to them that seems sparse and minimalistic, also in line with the music.
A dreamy, seductively calming way to spend 40 minutes. Enjoy.
Sunwølf – Eve (Review)
Sunwølf are a Scottish Post-Metal band and this is their fourth album.
Sunwølf play Post-Metal that takes elements of Doom, Stoner and Post-Hardcore into the mix.
This reminds me of UK Doomsters Palehorse if they were mixed in with Earth and wrapped up in the Post-Metal trappings of someone like Red Sparowes.
Slow, mournful guitar parts crawl along the frost-battered ruins of long-dead mountains while Post-Metal melodies effortlessly gleam resplendently under the uncaring sun.
These tracks paint pictures of dangerous-yet-beautiful landscapes that form a rich and textured release, laced with sorrow and despondency. The songs have a raw, emotive edge to them that’s hard to deny and even on just the first listen you find yourself getting drawn into them. Subsequent spins reveal additional features to catch the attention and the heart.
Vocals are sparse and uncommon; when they do appear they are used well, as required by the song. This includes screams that are tinged with anguish and pain, occasionally taking on a cleaner hue to give vent to a more plaintive side, as well as spoken word sections and chants that are almost buried under the music.
This is a very engaging release that has a lot of content to enjoy over the 51 minute playing time. This is an album that deserves a lot of exposure, although I doubt it will get it, which is criminal.
Highly recommended. Check this out immediately.
Wonderbox Metal 