“In the words of Rob Halford during Judas Priest’s two-hour headline slot: “Britain’s premier heavy metal festival is back.” Yes, cranky Covid’s delta wave dangerously hovered over the pit like clouded sweat but after a few strong ciders and a crunching riff – experienced live for the first time in over 18 months – the external world became a distant memory.” Metal never dies.
“Finland’s Hooded Menace are lords of death-doom. Their back-catalog is a veritable boneyard of fatal furors that crawl at a corpse pace and exist on the edge of an undead pulse. Indeed, their last album, Ossuarium Silhouettes Unhallowed, made a grave impression on many an end-of-year list, mine included. Now, sixth album The Tritonus Bell prepares to resound, and one thing is certain; Hooded Menace are masters of their craft. But this record’s new stylistic choice excludes heft in favor of history and the implication is almost unrecognizable.” Bells to the wall.
“Back in 2017, I was introduced to Swiss post-metallers Impure Wilhelmina via their sixth album, Radiation, having had absolutely no prior knowledge or experience with their brand of gloomy post-metal. If Katatonia was the metal equivalent of The Cure, Impure Wilhelmina is basically The Smiths, with guitarist/vocalist/main man Michael Schindl offering up his best velvet-smooth Morrissey-level crooning. I ended up loving Radiation… a lot. Not only did it grab the top spot in my 2017 year-end list, it’s held up ridiculously well over the years, with me pulling it out to give a spin when the mood strikes, which has been a lot lately. So when word dropped that their seventh, Antidote, was on the horizon, I honestly just wanted to like the album about as much as Radiation, tempering my expectations that topping Radiation would be a herculean task.” Purity is overrated.
Doom_et_Al and Dear Hollow have their big boy lists. Did they use that great power responsibly?
![Catalepsia – Inheritance [Things You Might Have Missed 2020]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Catalepsia_Inheritance-01-768x768.jpg)
“2020 felt like a year in which a lot of quality albums escaped our reviewing grasp. In some cases we simply didn’t get promo and in others we just missed the boat altogether because we’re fallible human beings. Count Inheritance, the sophomore album from Latvia’s Catalepsia, in the former category, and it was our loss for not getting our hands on this freaky beast way back in January.” Sleep studies.
“Just a few weeks ago, I was wondering whatever happened to Italian doomsters Shores of Null, as it’s been a hot minute since I’ve heard a single note from these gents. Their 2014 debut Quiescence blew me away with their creative take on doom metal, especially the incredible vocals of Davide Straccione. Their 2017 follow-up, Black Drapes for Tomorrow, felt like a bit of a let-down in comparison. So imagine my surprise when resident promo-gifter Madam X put me in for their third album, Beyond the Shores (On Death and Dying), out of the clear blue!” Null is not void.
“Darkness and light, good and evil, heavy and soft. Dichotomy has long played a key role in metal music, and following in the long, dark shadow of Theater of Tragedy, many bands have attempted the whole “beauty and the beast” thing, pairing death metal croaks with soaring, sometimes operatic female vocals. When it works the style can be very enthralling, and over their nearly 25 year career Draconian has been at the forefront of this movement, crafting albums of gothic doom death full of weepy romance and crushing grief. 2015s Sovran opus was one of their best and it left a rather large impression in my skull. It would be a tough act to follow, and it’s taken Draconian nearly five years to make the effort.” Dragon, why do you cry?
“Talk about unexpectedly bumping into a long lost friend! Back in the 90s when the doom death movement was new and being driven by the “Peaceville Three,” there was a lesser known Dutch group called Celestial Season trying to horn in on the grimly emo fun. I first encountered them when I bought their 1995 sophomore album Solar Lovers and ended up quite taken with their gloomy yet accessible style. There were some great moments and I even loved their rendition of Ultravox’s classic 80s hit “Vienna.” After that I never heard from Celestial Season again.” Surprise homework assignment!
“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.
“With all the tech-death, funeral doom, and post-whateverthefuck being hurled our way over the last couple of years, it’s paradoxically refreshing when certain sounds of yesteryear make an unexpected, yet somewhat welcome, return. In today’s case, it’s in the form of mid-90s-flavored gothic metal that would have Century Media doing a violent double-take as to what decade it is.” Blame it on the rain.
