“Post-black and blackened post metal. The same thing, surely? I would argue no. Post-black metal tends to rely on lengthy, brooding atmospheric passages, interspersed with blasts of black metal fury. Blackened post metal, on the other hand, should be towering, mesmerizing riffs with that vicious black metal edge to proceedings. Sheffield, UK’s Ba’al have been knocking around since 2016, putting out EPs in their first year and then in 2019 also, but the absolute shitshow that is 2020 sees this four piece dropping their debut full-length, Ellipsism.” Post-Post.
Ahab
Horn – Mohngang Review
“It’s neat seeing a progression of an artist across a project’s discography. From Anathema’s death/doom to prog-rock stylings, Ahab’s crushing funeral doom to, like, pretty funeral doom, to the deathcore to symphonic black metal to straight-up black metal of Abigail Williams, it shows true growth and maturity to acknowledge the past while stepping into the future. Today’s is German act Horn, comprised of sole member Nerrath, a prolific pagan black metal act with two demos, eight full-lengths, and an EP since 2002.” Change is in the air.
Grim Ravine – It’s a Long Way Down, to Where You Are Review
“Information on Grim Ravine is minimal, but so is their discography. One EP, one full-length that’s as long as your average doom EP, and this sophomore outing. All firmly entrench themselves in doom defined by waves of blackened froth across a sea of subaqueous riffs.” Trench waterfare.
Saltas – Mors Salis: Opus I Review
“In spite of listening to this stuff for the better part of my life now, I still realize how much I don’t know about so many sub-sub-subgenres, such as doom’s vast array. While I delved into the melodic death flavors of Saturnus, Swallow the Sun, and Novembers Doom, I let the cavernous stuff pass me by. It all comes full circle, when Swedish duo Saltas punishes me with a lethal dose of suffocatingly dense doom to whom comparisons are sparse.” Saltas the earth.
Treurwilg – An End to Rumination Review
“Treurwilg draws from different doom metal traditions, particularly the strange bedfellows of post-metal and funeral doom. If Isis and Ahab were shipmates on an Oceanic journey, they’d make something like An End to Rumination.” Rumination with a view.
Bewailer – Where My Demise Dwells Review
“Do you remember the first time you heard Swallow the Sun’s The Morning Never Came? How those crushing tones and shattering gutturals hit you like the saddest ton of cement ever and you thought that, indeed, the light would never grace your world again? How the subtle, folky elements added a sense of longing, while the sound of waves crashing made you feel lost in a sea of hopelessness and never being found? And above all, how fucking evocative that feeling was? And how you had to go bask in the sunlight to recover from it? That’s the feeling I had when I popped in Bewailer’s debut album Where My Demise Dwells.” Swallowing more sadness.
Pinewalker – Migration Review
“Five years in the making, the Salt Lake City five-piece describe the recording of their self-released debut as a “form of catharsis for all of us … [following] painful realities and losing loved ones to cancer, we poured [out] every ounce of hurt, sorrow, mourning, remembrance, joy, and clarity…” And make no mistake, you can feel that emotion in the many moods of this record.” Riding the pine.
Maestus – Deliquesce Review
“Funeral doom is the cilantro of the metal world. Those who like it tend to love it. Others wonder why anyone would want to eat a little leaf that tastes like soap listen to a twenty-minute song with four beats per minute. On the occasions it’s reviewed here, there are usually a few predictable cries from the peanut gallery of “Only listened to 30 seconds! Why this boring? Me want fast!” That’s right. I made you sound like Cookie Monster.” C is for Cookie and it’s better than you deserve.
Jupiterian – Terraforming Review
“Atmospheric doom/sludge. Ponder that tag and allow the words and your imagination to create a world, a special place of their design. Personally, there’s no light where those words take me. I see the genre before me and am transported somewhere dark, cold; visions of Errata convulse under Clouds which Swallow the Sun, and I begin to dream of a place that I could call home. Norway, Finland, Russia, Canada… the lands of ice and snow dance behind my eyes.” Weather forecast: Grim.
Allochiria – Throes Review
“While I’ve enjoyed some Pelican, Isis, and Light Bearer in my day, often the genre’s huge soundscapes and slow-burning buildups are simply too demanding for me to enjoy on a regular basis. On 2014’s debut Omonoia, Greek quintet Allochiria seemed to fit largely in this same mold. Drawing comparisons to the sludgy expanse of Year of No Light, a cursory listen revealed a layered, cerebral album whose dystopian atmosphere was delivered via a measured, methodical pace. Throes, however, is a much different beast — and one I think I’ll be spinning far more often.” Post beast is the new game in town.