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
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Tag Archives: Yob
Bereft – Lands (Review)
Bereft are a blackened doom band from the US and this is their latest album.
Have you ever wanted to listen to a band like Yob or Pallbearer, but wished that they had a darker, blacker side? Enter Bereft.
So, imagine Continue reading
Swamp Witch – The Slithering Bog (Review)
Swamp Witch are a doom/sludge band from the US. This is their debut album.
Sludge heaviness mixes with psychedelic hypnotic grooves to create slow, torturous music that takes the listener on a tour through forgotten swamps, populated by hideous witches, (do you see what I did there?).
Deep growled vocals act as a guide on this foul journey, paving a path through the murk with sheer force of diseased will. Continue reading
Cough – Still They Pray (Review)
This is the third album from Cough, a doom metal band from the US.
Cough. It’s a funny name for a band. Still, I’ve heard worse, a lot worse.
If you’re a fan of bands like Yob, Electric Wizard, Sleep, Candlemass and the like, then you’ll probably already know that Cough create the kind of repetitive, hypnotic doomscapes that you’re gonna love. Continue reading
Organ – Tetro (Review)
Organ are an Italian Doom band. This is their début album.
Organ play a merging of Doom, Sludge and Psychedelic Metal.
A colossal, crushing sound heralds Tetro’s beginning, and this is a theme which is developed throughout. They’re not without their introspective moments, but the overall emphasis is on heavy atmospheres.
Speaking of atmosphere, Organ have it in buckets. Or rather, waves, as the onslaught of heaviness seems to internally generate its own ecosystem which bleeds out of the speakers like controlled tsunamis of density.
Relentless, repetitive rhythms drive the music forward, while dark vocals seem to lurk just beneath the surface. Harsh screams and cleaner vocals both have a place on this record, although the singer’s voice is used like an additional instrument to merely enhance the power and focus of the main musical maelstrom.
A roiling, churning beast of an album. It’s relatively short for this kind of release at ‘just’ over half an hour in length, but it packs a lot of punches into that time and Tetro is a very worthwhile listen for anyone into layered, atmospheric Doom.
For fans of Om, Electric Wizard, Sleep, Yob, In the Company of Serpents, Ufomammut, Generation of Vipers, etc.
Ufomammut – Ecate (Review)
Ufomammut are from Italy and play Doom Metal. This is their seventh album.
Ufomammut create confident, exploratory Doom that builds atmosphere in the best tradition of Neurosis, Yob and the like.
This is music that’s both heavy and nuanced, having the instant appeal to draw you in and the depth of longevity to last.
Ufomammut are undoubtedly heavy, but they also have their considered side. The songs are mature and well-written works of contemporary, otherworldly Doom that take you on a journey through waters uncharted.
I like that the band incorporate psychedelic influences into their sound without diluting the core nature of their Doom Metal aesthetic. Strange sounds and effects enhance the delivery of the tracks, giving the listener even more to bite into.
The vocals are low-key affairs in some ways, almost lost in the barrage of apocalyptic riffs and thundering, winding drumming. They’re used less as vocals in their own right and more as another weapon in their musical arsenal, merging with the music at a cellular level.
I’m always a fan of songs where the bass makes a noticeable difference to the performance and Ecate uses the bass wisely. It sounds good and works well across these tracks.
After this many releases Ufomammut clearly know what they’re doing and Ecate is yet another top album of quality Doom. If anything, this is a step forward for the band as Ecate really is pretty damn good.
Abstracter – Wound Empire (Review)
This is the second album from US Sludge/Doom band Abstracter.
After really enjoying their 2012 debut album Tomb of Feathers, this is a release that has been eagerly awaited in these parts.
The first track, Lightless, seems to slowly writhe up out of a dark pit of urban decay, attempting to smother the land with its malignant spread. It’s an insidious start to the album and before you realise what’s going on you’re trapped in a nightmare landscape of pitch-black smoke and evil.
But oh dear Lord is it good. Rarely has cloying, suffocating Sludge felt so visceral and nastily enticing.
Abstracter are heavy and grim in the best ways that Sludge and Doom can achieve. These songs are essays in crawling malevolence and destructive passion. The band emanate a very raw darkness that you can feel like a physical presence.
I like the combination of nuanced riffing, heavy guitars and brutally gorgeous delivery. Abstracter effortlessly combine the beauty of Post-Metal with the dirty horror of Sludge. Their songwriting skills are such that moments of ugliness and transcendence are merged together. When the shades of light and dark clash there’s only ever going to be one true winner, but even though the menacing and murky atmospheres encase everything, the light isn’t totally consumed; you can feel it pulsing, straining against its captivity by this Hellish beast. This tense undercurrent is what gives Wound Empire its hidden beauty.
There’s a Black Metal influence to their sound that fits flawlessly into what they do. It’s not overbearing and doesn’t detract from the Doom, it just adds a further layer of thickly encrusted grime to songs that are already intimately familiar with all things subterranean.
With each of these titanic monuments to apocalyptic dystopian futures, I think that Abstracter have outdone themselves and actually managed to top their début album. No mean feat.
With true depth of composition and a talent for wrapping the listener up in their vision of all things gloomy and heavy, Abstracter have produced an album that has blown me away.
Fans of Neurosis, Altar of Plagues, Indian, Inter Arma, Amenra, Yob, Wolvhammer, Thou, etc. should perk up and take notice now.
Essential listening.
Sorxe – Surrounded by Shadows (Review)
Sorxe are from the US and play Sludge/Doom.
Two bassists? Layered vocals? Textured soundscapes? Heavy as fuck Doom? Yes please!
Sorxe have a crushing sound that’s befitting of a band who have double the normal number of bass guitars. This is as monolithic and colossal as you might imagine. The music is expansive with Progressive Doom tendencies and has a warm and heavy sound. Surrounded by Shadows has strong ambitions and the talent to see them through.
Special note should be made of the vocals, as they are diverse and wide ranging in their style. The singer shouts and bellows his voice raw, uses powerful semi-cleans and even manages soft crooning. It’s extremely impressive.
The songs on this album combine the unbearably heavy with the richly evocative and highly emotive. The band seem adept at switching from crushing passages to sections of energetic feeling seamlessly. Each song is highly accomplished and the band have truly unleashed something special.
The instruments are all used creatively and the synth effects add a further layer to their already involved sound.
Surrounded by Shadows combines elements of bands like Neurosis, Ufomammut, Electric Wizard, Yob, Isis and Mastodon to create an album that spends as much time destroying the listener via harsh sounds as it does through emotional weight.
These songs are diverse and well-written. They resonate with feeling and are richly textured and layered. This album has the complete package and offers a holistic, cohesive listening experience.
A stunning début that I’ll be playing for a long time to come. Essential listening.
Yob – Clearing The Path To Ascend (Review)
Yob are from the US and this is their seventh album. They play Doom Metal.
Yob create riff-laden sonic soundscapes that are as massive as they are compelling. Heavy riffs and emotive melodics combine to create an enduring collection of long songs that work wonders whether they are breathtakingly heavy or powerfully soft.
High pitched vocals call out from behind the veil while deeper shouts punctuate proceedings with their harshness. The singer has a great voice with great range and never ceases to impress with his visceral performance.
A perfectly judged Sludgy sound encapsulates everything and the songs breathe darkness and light with every second. The band have truly mastered both, whether it’s a heavier, darker section or a lighter, more restrained part.
The sprawling, monolithic songs that make up Clearing The Path To Ascend are as ambitious as they are epic in scope. This is crushing Doom Metal that takes the listener on a journey and teaches them the power of the riff.
This album contains as much gigantic Doom Metal as Yob fans will have come to expect, but as well as this the churning Sludge elements and Progressive Rock influences are clearly seen and incorporated fully into their sound to create some exceptional tracks.
Each song has its own identity and place in the framework of the album. Each has its own story to tell and tells it in its own inimitable style. Each song is expertly crafted and flawlessly delivered. Each song is great.
Yob have once again shown why they are at the forefront of Doom Metal. This is a highly accomplished album and one that people should be listening to for many a year to come. I know I will.
