This is the debut album from Italian death/doom band Assumption.
Get ready to explore the cosmos once more with Assumption. Debut EP The Three Appearances laid out the initial path, but now Absconditus takes us on the full journey. Continue reading
Monolithe are a doom band from France and this is their seventh album.
I’m a big fan of Monolithe’s increasingly forward-thinking doom metal, (see here, here, here, and here), so I was excited to hear their newest opus. Continue reading
Ufomammut are an Italian doom metal band and this is their latest album.
Following on from the extremely enjoyable Ecate, 8 is another 45 minutes or so of prime doom metal, delivered in Ufomammut’s own inimitable style. Continue reading
Poseidon are a UK doom band and this is their debut album.
This is 45 minutes of progressive doom/sludge brought to us by ex-members of the phenomenal Light Bearer. Continue reading
Endname are a Russian progressive doom band and this is their fourth album.
Triatom is a long, involved, and weighty release that spreads out to cover doom, atmospheric, progressive, sludge, and post-metal territories across its playing time of 72 minutes. Continue reading
Obscure Sphinx are a post-metal/progressive doom band from Poland. This is their third album.
2013’s Void Mother was one of my favourite albums of that year. Fast forward 3 years and my anticipation for Epitaphs is at fever pitch.
Obscure Sphinx are one of those oh-so-rare bands that are very definitely leaders and not followers. How they haven’t been Continue reading
Monolithe are a French doom band, and this is their sixth album.
Monolithe are no stranger to this site, having been covered previously here, here and here. This latest album is the second part, a companion release, as it were, to their last one, Epsilon Aurigae, and continues their evolution away from their original funeral doom style into uncharted territories.
Like Epsilon Aurigae, Zeta Reticuli sees the band keeping aspects of funeral doom, but adding increasingly progressive influences to their sound. It also sees them keeping the same format – three songs, 15:00 minutes each, exactly. Continue reading
Monolithe are a French Doom band. This is their fifth album.
This is somewhat of a departure from the normal Monolithe style in more ways than one. Previously specialising in hugely-long forays into cosmic Funeral Doom, (such as Interlude Second and Zero/II), here we have three songs, (each exactly 15 minutes long), more muted, subtly-mysterious artwork and music that has undergone a slight change in direction too.
Although Epsilon Aurigae is musically not a complete change, it is markedly less Funeral Doom and instead travels down a more Progressive Doom Metal pathway. Elements of their Funeral Doom past are still apparent in the songs of course, with emotive content and subtle, (and not), keyboards still a mainstay of their sound. On this release though, this is added to and enhanced by other influences that give the band an even more well-rounded sound than they had previously.
The deep, dark, growled vocals punctuate the music like storm clouds over a choppy, violent ocean. The music moves with a sure inevitability underneath the aggressively overcast skies like an unstoppable force. The music does sound like a force of nature, albeit one that’s manufactured and artificial rather than being entirely natural; a force of unnature, if you will.
This is an impressive development in Monolithe’s sound and Epsilon Aurigae is quite possibly some of their best work to date.
Highly recommended.
He Whose Ox Is Gored are a Progressive Doom band from the US. This is their début album.
The band have in interesting and individual take on music, fusing elements of Doom, Progressive Rock, Shoegaze and Psychedelia, into a tight ball of Progressive Atmospheric Doom, (for lack of a better term).
This is music that uses Doom as a base and adds Progressive Rock and Shoegaze elements to it to create something a bit different and a lot special.
The music has multiple vocal styles, delivered by both male and female singers. These are diverse in delivery and used sparingly as necessary to complement the needs of the songs. Frequently understated, but always relevant, the vocals act as additional instruments used to enrich the music further.
Synths are employed to enhance the already well-textured songs and allow the eclectic music to have a firm, emotive foundation on which to build their diverse music.
This is highly textured music that plays with mood and emotions freely and easily. There’s a resplendent Post-Metal quality to the music that rubs shoulders with the grittier nature of the Doom influences and harsh male screaming, as well as the in-the-background-but-essential-anyway nature of the synths.
The Camel, the Lion, the Child is an exemplar of individualistic music done right and a shining example of a band ploughing their own path through the overburdened musical scenery. If you like music with a lot of character that isn’t afraid to be itself then I heartily recommend this album.
This is the second album by US Atmospheric Doom band Secrets of the Sky.
We’ve encountered this impressive band twice before – their début album and their split with Godhunter.
Due to this, Pathway has been somewhat eagerly awaited by yours truly.
The band’s brand of Doom is one that mixes Atmospheric/Progressive Doom and Post-Metal to create an interesting soundscape for the listener to drown in.
On Pathway they have continued to progress their sound. The heavy parts sound bigger and more imposing while the lighter parts sound more nuanced and well-rounded.
The album boasts a particularly vibrant and organic production where all of the instruments sound completely clear and very strong. The drum sound in particular is an impressive one, although in a way it’s unfair to single out any one instrument as they all have a very satisfying finish.
Vocally we continue to get an impressive array of voices, from cleans to screams to shouts to growls. Pretty much all bases are covered and all styles are used according to how they best convey the band’s message.
These songs are gorgeous Post-Metal/Progressive Doom essays that take in multiple textures and rich imagery in their running times. The songs, overall, are slightly shorter in length than Secrets of the Sky’s previous work, but this is not to their detriment; they’re exactly the length they need to be to achieve what they want to do.
Secrets of the Sky have enough talent to dominate at whatever they try, it seems. Whether this be the heavier, the lighter, the progressive, the aggressive, the angelic clean melodies or the Blackened screaming…it’s all an aural treat for jaded ears.
I always like music that seems to take you on a journey and in this regard the album is aptly named. These are superior compositions that should see Secrets of the Sky propelled to the upper echelons of the Progressive/Doom/Post-Whatever pantheon.
Like a canvas painted in sound, this is destined to be a masterpiece.
I can’t think of a single reason you shouldn’t have this in your music collection. Can you?
