Doom Metal

Bolt Gun – The Tower Revew

By Dear Hollow on October 9, 2023 in Reviews, Ambient Metal, Black Metal, Doom Metal, Experimental Metal, Noise, Post-Metal, Sludge Metal, 24 comments

“The Tower feels like ascent. You’ll feel light as air, floating upon the ether in warm sunlight, only to crash to earth in plummeting gravity. While journeys are not uncommon across metal’s many weathered and storied expanses, Australia’s Bolt Gun offers a vertical trek. Its experimental fervor, blackened climaxes, and monolithic weight, and above all, the emphasis on atmosphere, offer scenic vistas and groveling earth alike, hurtling towards the summit and the zenith. Always majestic, as if in reverence to the colossal structure always in view, The Tower feels like a chronicle: a breathing, organic, but dense legend.” Climbing creativity.

Rorcal – Silence Review

By Dear Hollow on October 1, 2023 in Reviews, Black Metal, Doom Metal, Industrial Metal, Post-Hardcore, Post-Metal, Sludge Metal, 25 comments

“Rorcal’s approach to auditory darkness is nonetheless unmistakable, post-hardcore and post-metal coursing through every vein. Dissonant and ominous, tar-thick slogs of drone/sludge contrast mightily with raw wounds of blackened shreds with impeccable balance.” Silent but deadly.

Thorn – Evergloom Review

By Dear Hollow on September 27, 2023 in Reviews, Death Metal, Doom Metal, 19 comments

“Phoenix, Arizona’s Thorn, in spite of having a ridiculously generic name, has its trademark sound down to a science. Featuring a blasting and impenetrable wall of death metal, as cavernous as Cruciamentum and as sticky as Chthe’ilist, the sound has transferred neatly across the act’s three full-lengths – the only issue is just how fast to play it.” Thorn in the ears.

Tideless – Eye of Water Review

By Grymm on September 20, 2023 in Reviews, Doom Metal, 33 comments

“We have an incredibly hungry, ambitious doom/death quintet in San Diego’s Tideless. Many of its members served time in other bands, so experience really isn’t the issue here. What is the issue lies in the fact that Tideless, on their second full-length, is punching well above their weight class. And nothing screams “punching up” quite like a 75-minute double album of Deafheavenly delights.” Low tide, high ambition.

Damnation’s Hammer – Into the Silent Nebula Review

By Kenstrosity on September 15, 2023 in Reviews, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Groove Metal, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, 18 comments

“Hard to categorize, the UK troupe’s unique concoction of Temple of Void / Bolt Thrower death metal, Triptykon doom, and Clutch-y hard rock groove presents an inimitable character that no other band on Earth boasts. It is this unique flavor that earned predecessor Unseen Planets, Deadly Spheres a high rating from yours truly.” Spare the Hammer, spoil the spheres.

Shining – Shining Review

By GardensTale on September 14, 2023 in Reviews, Black Metal, Doom Metal, 35 comments

“Shining have a carefully calibrated reputation as one of the saddest bands in history. A single spin of the renowned V: Halmstad is enough to know that it’s a reputation well earned. Oppressive, dark and full of despair— it’s rightfully considered a seminal depressive suicidal black metal record. The band’s record since then has been spotty, however. Incorporating more acoustics and clean vocals brought variety but did not increase the gut punch the band was known for. Attempts at re-aligning the band’s direction were made and unmade, naming traditions were dropped and picked up again, and the misanthropic flame started to sputter.” The definitive Shining?

Slomatics – Strontium Fields Review

By Carcharodon on September 14, 2023 in Reviews, Doom Metal, Sludge, Sludge Metal, Stoner Metal, 22 comments

“Belfast, Northern Ireland sludge trio Slomatics have been plying their trade for almost two decades now. Their seven previous full-lengths have been released in fits and starts, with their most consistently productive period being 2012 to 2016, during which window they released a trilogy of records, culminating in Future Echo Returns, the first of their records to grace these pages.” Low and slo(matic).

Medicine Horse – Medicine Horse Review

By Dolphin Whisperer on September 11, 2023 in Reviews, Doom Metal, Sludge, Sludge Metal, 40 comments

“There’s no right way to honor your own ancestry, especially when so much of what you could know about the ‘right way’ has eroded. Such is the plight of many Indigenous or other disprivileged peoples in North America, even in areas like Oklahoma where the concentration of descendants of many Tribal Nations remains high. Medicine Horse hails from these lands choosing to honor themselves and their chosen traditions the way that comes most naturally—heavy fuckin’ metal.” Take your Medicine!

Weird Tales – Second Coming, Second Crucifixion Review

By Doom_et_Al on September 6, 2023 in Reviews, Doom Metal, 19 comments

“It’s become a cliché around the halls of AMG that stoner doom is difficult to do badly, but even more difficult to do well. As a result, it tends to hang in the “difficult to review” window of 2.5-3.5. There’s also not a whole lot of energy from readers. Whether stoner-selection bias is responsible (munchies trump comments), or the genre itself fails to excite ordinary metal fans, the fact remains that anticipation around these releases is generally low.” Sleepytime tales.

Wooden Throne – Eternal Wanderer of the Night Sky Review

By El Cuervo on August 25, 2023 in Reviews, Black Metal, Doom Metal, 25 comments

“Some songwriters have ‘it.’ The ability to create meaningful, compelling music regardless of genre. Mikko Lehto is one such man. From folksy majesty and blackened ferocity to doomy potency, his work, especially October Falls, is well-loved in these parts. 2021 saw the release of more of his black metal in the form of Wooden Throne. Eternal Wanderer of the Night Sky represents his second endeavor under this project, promising something less earthly but more classical with a bigger piano presence in the soundscape.” Meandercore.