Phew. After the metallic overload of the past couple of months, June was a bit calmer. Having said that, I have a great selection of releases for you to salivate over, and I still had to cut a few for the sake of brevity that are definitely worthy of inclusion. Anyway, it’s on with the show! Continue reading
Wolf Blood are a US doom metal band and this is their second album.
2014’s Wolf Blood made a great impression on me, but it would be another four years before we heard from them again. Then, last year’s Tsunami/Home appeared. It may have been short, but it was mighty. Well, I’m very pleased to say that there’s no four-year Continue reading
Monolithe are a French doom metal band and this is a live recording of a private show on May 6th, 2018 at les Feux de Beltane in Brittany, France.
I’m not really one for live albums, (although I certainly do enjoy them from time to time), but I’m a big Monolithe fan, so decided this was one definitely worth checking out. Continue reading
Skullcave are a progressive doom band from Australia and this is their debut album.
I was drawn to this album by the enigmatic album cover, and then reeled in by the description of the music – “an ambitious, qualitative blend of thick doom, dreamy instrumentals and layered vocals.” Continue reading
This is the third album from Finnish sludge/doom band Lurk.
Now here’s an album that’s all about texture and atmosphere. Fringe is a cross between bands such as Neurosis, Inter Arma, Sea of Bones, and labelmates Jupiterian, to name but a few. However, on Fringe the band display their own dark personality, and are firmly convincing in their own right. Continue reading
Dvne are a progressive metal/doom/sludge band from the UK and this is their debut album.
Here we have a little over 60 minutes of music from a talented UK band that have only just properly come to my attention, despite a friend of mine telling me to check them out when this album was originally released in 2017. It’s definitely my loss, as Asheran is ambitious and huge in all of the best ways. Continue reading
Doomed is a one man death/doom metal band from Germany, and this is his sixth album.
I have to say I’m a huge fan of Doomed. Our Ruin Silhouettes, Wrath Monolith, and Anna are all stunning examples of how to write and play death/doom; in my experience it’s all too easy for death/doom bands to fall back on the staples of the style and take the easy route when it comes to their music. The artist behind Doomed, however, has a knack for producing music that takes all of the strengths of the style, while avoiding all of its lazy weaknesses, resulting in music that truly adds things that you just don’t really hear other bands do. Continue reading
This is the debut album from UK sludge/Post-Metal band Archelon.
Last year I came across Archelon’s I//II, which compiled their two previous EPs. This showed the band’s development and progression from their debut EP to the next, and promised very good things for the future. Well, the future is now, and Tribe of Suns is the 46-minute embodiment of the band’s previously seen promise. Continue reading
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
