Death Doom

Chalice of Suffering – Lost Eternally Review

By Cherd on April 24, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Reviews, Transcending Obscurity, Death Doom, Doom Metal, Funeral Doom, 44 comments

“Grief can seemingly last forever. Whether you’re actively working through it or just passively experiencing its various stages, grief is a marathon, not a sprint. Excitement, on the other hand, is always fleeting. Moments of joy, fright or rage flare up and burn out quickly. Excitement is not a state that can be sustained for long. Grief, sorrow, despondency, these can last indefinitely. There’s a reason grindcore albums never break 30 minutes while funeral doom albums stretch well past an hour. If it takes time to experience, it will take time to express. But listening to the genre at its best isn’t about being patient, as if there’s some reward at the end. It’s more about allowing yourself to be borne along by the slow process. Minneapolis, Minnesota’s Chalice of Suffering—612, represent—is here to take you on a long journey through the deepest despair.” Playing the long winter game.

Inter Arma – Sulphur English Review

By Cherd on April 9, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Post-metal, Progressive Metal, Relapse, Reviews, Sludge, Death Doom, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Post-Metal, Progressive Metal, Sludge, 95 comments

“Inter Arma will not be pigeonholed. They’ve repeated this statement with each subsequent release, evolving subtly across a range of styles, but always sounding unmistakably like themselves. When a new album was announced for 2019, I quickly contacted resident man cat Grymm, who glowingly reviewed 2016’s Paradise Gallows, and pathetically begged confidently informed him that I would be handling this one. He pitied me respected my assertiveness and relinquished review duties.” Burning expectations.

Black Therapy – Echoes of Dying Memories Review

By Diabolus in Muzaka on March 19, 2019 in 2019, Black Lion Records, Italian Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Reviews, Death Doom, Melodic Death Metal, 137 comments

“Nobody sane wishes to be sad, but at some points in our lives we all have been, and it’s beyond dispute that emotional pain will be a part of our future. This begs the question of why we metalheads tend to seek out and enjoy music that evokes feelings of sorrow and listen for our own enjoyment. I’ve always found melancholy set to music a beautiful thing but have never considered why I’ve found it so. Perhaps it’s because to mourn a loss, a man must care deeply about that which has departed. Perhaps it’s the ubiquity of sorrow, and the sad song’s reminder that we’re not alone in our perils. Perhaps it’s the confronting of melancholy through music which gives us courage and makes us feel like we’ve faced down that which we feared. Perhaps it’s none or all these things, or perhaps more.” Therapeutic suffering.

Abyssic – High the Memory Review

By Cherd on February 28, 2019 in 2019, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Norwegian Metal, Osmose Productions, Death Doom, Doom Metal, Funeral Doom, 64 comments

“Metal, as a rule, is an exercise in excess. Of the ‘popular’ musical styles, it’s the loudest, the heaviest, the angriest, the most extreme. Thematically, topics of death and darkness are presented with superlative hyperbole. For non-fans, it’s all about as subtle as a volcanic explosion. We, of course, know better. Within each metal sub-genre, bands fall on a relative spectrum ranging from ‘tastefully restrained’ to ‘over-indulgent like, whoa.’ But what does the latter look like when the sub-genre is already known for being the -est? Say, funeral doom? It looks something like Norway-based Abyssic’s second full-length, High the Memory.” The duck confit of doom.

Maestus – Deliquesce Review

By Cherd on February 6, 2019 in 2019, American Metal, Code666 Records, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Death Doom, Doom Metal, Funeral Doom, 96 comments

“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.

Phlebotomized – Deformation of Humanity Review

By Eldritch Elitist on January 29, 2019 in 2019, Death Metal, Dutch Metal, Hammerheart Records, Reviews, Death Doom, Death Metal, 115 comments

“Following the spate of fantastic death metal records released in the twilight months of 2018, my new year’s resolution was thusly engraved: listen to more death metal. Admittedly, last year was absolutely bananas when it came down to average release quality across all varieties of death metal, rendering wishes for the streak to continue borderline pointless. I can at least continue to expand my horizons in a genre that I have always somewhat neglected, and what better way to start than with—Jesus fuck, what is that?” Ugly to be bone.

Convocation – Scars Across [Things You Might Have Missed 2018]

By Ferrous Beuller on December 18, 2018 in 2018, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Everlasting Spew Records, Finnish Metal, Reviews, Things You Might Have Missed 2018, Death Doom, Death Metal, 28 comments

“In November of 2017, Finland’s Desolate Shrine released Deliverance From the Godless Void, an album so full of death and depth it would have been my AotY had it not released so late. While this year has furnished us with a selection of stirring doom albums, it still falls to Desolate Shrine mastermind L.L to concoct the most immersive and crushing of them all. Convocation is a project that balances L.L’s multi-instrumental talents with the vocals of M. Neuman of fellow Finns Dark Buddha Rising. The resulting debut, Scars Across, is a remorseless trek through tortured terrain that never departs from its impending pace.” Doom to the world.

Obsolete Theory – Mudness Review

By Eldritch Elitist on July 2, 2018 in 2018, Black Metal, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Italian Metal, My Kingdom Music, Reviews, Death Doom, 49 comments

“While exploring Mudness, the curiously titled debut LP from Italian genre-benders Obsolete Theory, I thought of a lot of bands — and we’ll get to those comparisons in a moment — but more than sonic neighbors, I kept thinking about Alex Garland’s recent sci-fi/horror masterpiece, Annihilation. I found similarities not in terms of its soundtrack (although Annihilation does have a great fucking soundtrack), but rather in atmosphere and theme. Garland’s film is a grim, gorgeous examination of evolution at its most alien and unhinged; similarly, Mudness’ unpredictable, effortless genre-hopping skills, paired with its downplayed aggression in favor of a creeping sense of dread, feels unique and otherworldly.” Theory and practice.

Ilsa – Corpse Fortress Review

By Diabolus in Muzaka on March 5, 2018 in 2018, American Metal, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Relapse, Reviews, Death Doom, Death Metal, Doom Metal, 55 comments

“If pressed, I would have a hard time describing what “heavy” means in terms of music. I can contrast it with what it is not, but that only gets us a partial answer; essence cannot be defined by privations. In this young year, Washington’s Ilsa have me wondering now about what that definition contains and excludes more than any other band. Their fifth full-length Corpse Fortress sports a great title and the laudable accolade of being released by Relapse Records. The cover and the title hint at Ilsa releasing some truly heavy stuff, as did the appealing death-doom tag attached to it. Yet still I wonder: is this heavy?” Heavy is as heavy does.

Hamferð – Támsins likam Review

By Angry Metal Guy on January 11, 2018 in 2018, Doom Metal, Metal Blade, Reviews, Death Doom, Doom Metal, Funeral Doom, 81 comments

“Hamferð plays a style of doom that is thankfully impervious to serious trendiness. Truly excellent funeral doom is pretty rare, and I have developed a bit of an aversion to the doom genre because my promo inbox is populated by a glut of stoned, raw-water-drinking hipsters trying to play Black Sabbath riffs as though they were interesting and/or novel nearly 50 years after they were first written. But when done well, doom metal can be an intense, beautiful, and crushing genre. And Hamferð does it well.” Welcome the end.