Lord Doom

Sheidim – Shrines of the Void Review

By Lord Doom on June 26, 2016 in 2016, Black Metal, Dark Descent Records, Death Metal, Reviews, Spanish Metal, Black Metal, Death Metal, 7 comments

“One of the little rituals this modern world has created around music is the five-second Google “research” for whatever relevant info we can find on a new or unknown act. Doing this for Spanish black/death metallers Sheidim pointed me to a wiki-page about the shedim, demons from Jewish tradition that follow death and fly around graves. It also gave me a bunch of names that were as unknown to me as this young group. But there were two repeatedly referenced names that I knew. The first was Watain.” That’s funny, I never knew Watain was Jewish.

Nightfell – Darkness Evermore Review

By Lord Doom on November 17, 2015 in 20 Buck Spin, 2015, American Metal, Black Metal, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, Death Metal, Doom Metal, 27 comments

“One release that got badly overlooked in 2014 was the debut of Portland’s Nightfell. Buried below the avalanche of notable productions that got out after its release on early February, few dug it out at the end of the year to give it a place on their lists. As a brooding piece of lightly D-beat infused Doom/Death, it’s a cunning mix of the lengthy musical background of both members. Back after little more than a year, they switched labels going from Southern Lord to 20 Buck Spin and just unloaded another crushing shipping container filled with engaging riffs and melodies named Darkness Evermore. Better late than never.

Draugurinn – Ísavetur Review

By Lord Doom on August 25, 2015 in 2015, Nordvis Produktion, Not Metal, Reviews, Swedish Metal, Not Metal, 16 comments

“Sweden’s Draugurinn is the dark ambient personification of one-woman-band, Dísa Á. Even though she didn’t make a blip on my metal detector until recently, that hasn’t been for a lack of effort on her part. With both Draugurinn and her black metal persona, Turdus Merula, she’s been releasing quite the number of full-lengths since 2010.” Well, this is certainly dark and unhappy!

Atavismo – Desintergracion EP Review

By Lord Doom on June 24, 2015 in 2015, Heavy Metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Spanish Metal, Temple of Tortorous Records, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Progressive Metal, Psychedelic Rock, 25 comments

“Truth is, I envy the good people of Spain. Even if they didn’t host those big metal festivals and benefit from constant visits by artists who would never think of coming to my native México, their concert-goer logistical advantages are undeniably desirable. For example, they can jump on a train for a few hours for the chance to, say, attend one of the Altar of Plagues farewell tour dates (fuck, that hurt more than it should’ve), whereas, if I want to catch a train to the US, it would have to be “La Bestia.” Yes that’s Spanish for “The Beast,” also un-ironically known as, “The Death Train.”” And don’t try to use that as excuse to work from home either, son!

Ebonillumini – Arktos Review

By Lord Doom on May 30, 2015 in 2015, Avante Garde, Black Metal, English Metal, Reviews, Wickerman Recordings, Black Metal, 22 comments

“Rather than a true sub-genre, “avant-garde” seems more a default category for bands who can’t be pigeonholed with a nice, tidy tag. With a name like Ebonillumini it’s almost a given this is a band worthy of the avant-garde label. Less obvious is that they’re far removed from anything like an Arcturus style of forward-thinking, unconventional metal.” Icebergs ahead!

Vanir – The Glorious Dead Review

By Lord Doom on October 5, 2014 in 2014, Danish Metal, Death Metal, Folk Metal, Mighty Music, Reviews, Viking Metal, Death Metal, Folk Metal, Viking Metal, 5 comments

“Before I even started listening to metal, I was fascinated with mythology from all over the world. Looking back, it doesn’t surprise me that I got so into metal, since Norwegian and Finnish mythology were always the kinds I enjoyed most. And when it came to exploring Viking, folk, and black metal, the pagan themes were practically calling my name. (So were the Lord of the Rings aspects, but that’s another story).” Can this Viking act live up to the myths they so shamelessly steal from? Not with that cover!

As Light Dies – The Love Album – Volume I Review

By Lord Doom on September 26, 2014 in 2014, Avante Garde, Black Metal, Gothic Metal, MAA Productions, Reviews, Spanish Metal, Black Metal, Gothic Metal, 5 comments

“I’m gonna cut the crap: The Love Album – Volume I will rip off all your skin and plunge everything else you’ve got into a vacuous void of nothingness. And you’re gonna like it. Madrid’s As Light Dies successfully takes the atmosphere of gothic metal bands and the ferocity of black metal, only to add a controlled, yet savage and intelligent portioning of avant-garde, resulting in something entirely unique and all their own.” Love songs in the medium of black metal, eh? Well, that’s probably not getting anyone laid.

Malpractice – Turning Tides Review

By Lord Doom on September 25, 2014 in 2014, Finnish Metal, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Sensory Records, Progressive Metal, 3 comments

“These days, prog metal seems to be coming down to how many strings your guitar has, if you’re a virtuoso or not, and what presets you have on your Axe-FX. Seriously, it seems like all the prog metal bands in the scene today have been obsessing over effect processors and compression during production, that it just drains the enjoyment out of it. Even then, they’re too busy wanking on their guitars, trying to constantly outperform everyone else who crosses their path. Essentially, to quote Devin Townsend, it’s a “dick swinging competition.”” When the dicks are a swinging, don’t come a dinging. Anywho, here’s some prog metal.

Beak – Let Time Begin Review

By Lord Doom on September 23, 2014 in Reviews, Post-Metal, 2 comments

“Post-metal has had a lot going for it in the past year. If you count it, The Ocean’s Pelagial was a remarkable work of art, as beautiful as it was heavy. Cult of Luna returned with the monstrous Vertikal last year and even gave fans more music with Vertikal II, the companion EP. And to add to it, Rosetta gave The Anaesthete to the world via Bandcamp, essentially for free. It’s a great time for post-metal…” Can Beak keep the post-metal golden age rolling or are the good times all over?

Northern Oak – Of Roots and Flesh Review

By Lord Doom on September 20, 2014 in 2014, Black Metal, English Metal, Folk Metal, Reviews, Black Metal, Folk Metal, 3 comments

“Oh no, not another folk metal album! Time to sit through tales of drinking, paganistic pride, the majestic Scandinavian forests, and- Oh wait, that’s not the case here? Okay, false alarm. Jokes aside, I do enjoy a healthy dose of folk metal. Sure you’ve got your standards like Ensiferum and Korpiklaani that are among the bigger folk metal names, but deep down inside there’s some really well-hidden gems in the scene. Unfortunately, it seems that with every decent folk metal band you find, there’s at least five mediocre ones. South Yorkshire’s Northern Oak falls in the middle of the greats and the wannabes, and it leaves them in an interesting place, considering how small of a band they are judging by the Facebook likes.” We like judging musical talent by Facebook likes. It’s what we do.