Novembers Doom

Aphonic Threnody – The Great Hatred Review

Aphonic Threnody – The Great Hatred Review

“Dark, moody doom death with gothic touches is a dish best served in an isolated, wintery cabin where only faint hints of sunlight can penetrate the deep freeze. Aphonic Threnody attempt to deliver exactly this kind of dour dish on their third album The Great Hatred. Following in the downtrodden footsteps of My Dying Bride and Saturnus, the duo making up this project are determined to turn your mellow into blubbering Jello™ with titanic doom riffs, booming death roars, and all the heart-tugging sadboi embellishments you’ve come to expect.” Haterade.

Poema Arcanvs – Stardust Solitude Review

Poema Arcanvs – Stardust Solitude Review

“For reasons unknown, Chile is a hot bed for doom metal. When I saw Poema Arcanvs hailed from Chile, played a brand of gothic doom death, and was signed to top-notch label Transcending Obscurity, I had to seize the day and the promo. Sadly, Father Time got the better of me and I missed getting a review done before Poema’s 6th album, Stardust Solitude hit the streets, and for that I feel eternal shame. Better late than never though, right?” Stardust and shame.

The Glorious Dead – Into Lifeless Shrines Review

The Glorious Dead – Into Lifeless Shrines Review

“Old school death metal never gets olde at the House of Steel. I’m a sucker for the stuff and I’m willing to give any such act a chance to show off their gnarly, aged wares. Michigan’s The Glorious Dead rolled their dead cart into town recently with the promo for full-length debut Into Lifeless Shrines, and I was there to greet them.” The Shrining.

Bewailer – Where My Demise Dwells Review

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.

Hanging Garden – Into That Good Night Review

Hanging Garden – Into That Good Night Review

“Evermore difficult to believe has been my luck in the ongoing war against the promo bin. Despite multiple attempts to lower my less than angry rating average, including seeking out non-atmoblack/Muppetcore albums or else surrendering my fate to Steel like a damn N00b, I somehow just keep wading out from the promo sump smelling like roses. This brings us nicely to my main point, being that I can’t believe that Dr. Fisting turned down the opportunity to drop everything and craft an unpaid review for Into That Good Night, the sixth album by Finland’s Hanging Garden.” Shaking fists at gardens in the sky.

Novembers Doom – Nephilim Grove Review

Novembers Doom – Nephilim Grove Review

Novembers Doom has admirably avoided becoming a static recording act over its quarter of a century knocking around the metal scene. They started life as morose doom death but mutated into various permutations of doom and/or death over time. I don’t even think of them as a true doom death act these days, and lately they’ve been drifting toward the mellower side of Opeth and the glum mope rock territories trod by modern Katatonia. On their 10th album Nephilim Grove, they continue to carefully straddle several genres, doing their best to consolidate their influences.” Ennui for you and me.

October Tide – In Splendor Below Review

October Tide – In Splendor Below Review

“Summer is coming slowly to New York, and it seems to rain every day lately, keeping a grey, overcast shroud over the Empire State. That means the time is as right as it will be until October for a new October Tide opus of melancholy melodeath. Album number six In Splendor Below sees Katatonia expats Fredrik and Mattias Norrman sporting a new, more illegible logo, and a bit more of a blackened edge at times, but otherwise it’s business as usual for theses purveyors of gloom. Their output still sounds like a mix of early Katatonia and Rapture, and aims to hit that downcast sadboy sweet spot.” Splendor in the sad grass.

Black Sites – Exile Review

Black Sites – Exile Review

“Chicago’s Black Sites is the brainchild of guitarist and singer Mark Sugar, formerly of underrated modern thrashers Trials. It could be that Sugar and I are roughly the same age, both grew up on shitty post-glory-days ’90s thrash metal and/or are both from the Midwest, but whatever it is he seems to speak my language. Trials’ final album ended up on my Top 10(ish) in 2015 and Black Sites’ debut found similar acclaim in 2017. A songwriter with two albums that placed at #2 in my Top 10(ish) lists in the year they were released is about as close to a direct highway to “elevated expectations” as it gets. And when Mark sent me Exile, I can say that I was very excited.” Makin’ bacon (and metal).

Cold Colours – Northernmost Review

Cold Colours – Northernmost Review

“It’s at times like these—wherein I pick up something from the promo bin of a genre which I haven’t visited in a while—that I am reminded of my indiscriminate taste in metal. In this instance I have selected Northernmost, the fifth installment of atmospheric death-doom from Minneapolis quintet Cold Colours. This will be my first foray into Cold Colours’ music, and my hope was that Northernmost could light a fire within me to check out everything the band released over their over-20-year span.” Terminal ennui.