Doom the old doomy way by the unsinkable Phil Swanson.
Pentagram
Saint Vitus – Lillie: F-65 Review
As a life-long doom fan, you’re almost required to love long-suffering underdogs like Saint Vitus. They’ve toiled away for decades with the bare minimum of notoriety, despite the fact some of their music is so fucking good!
Steel Druhm’s Top 10(ish) of 2011
We made it through another year here in Angry Metal World. We overcame Terminal Reviewer Burnout Syndrome, careers and personal lives, just to bring you more of our self-righteous, ego-driven babbling and blathering. Why did we do it? Because we care so damn much! Now, as the year grinds us all towards inevitable doom, it falls to me to get the metal wheel a rollin and name my picks for the best albums of 2011. This was a pretty solid year, so it was tough to figure out which albums belonged where, but you demanded it, so I’m delivering the goods, Yeah!
Steel Druhm’s Top Ten Songs of 2011
It’s a week-long reflection on the year in metal music here at Angry Metal Guy and we’re getting all sorts of nostalgic and sentimental. We’ve already covered the worsts, so now let’s get to the firsts! For the very first time, we’ve decided (by that I mean AMG decided) to name our top ten best songs of the year. Though it sounded like an easy task, once I tried to create said list, it proved quite difficult. There were so many potential candidates, it became an arduous culling process to find the ten metal gems to rule them all. While the list seems final, I’m sure I forgot some amazing stuff and I’m also sure you bastards will point it out to me. Steel Druhm awaits your scorn, disapprobation and silent judgment.
Devil – Time to Repent Review
Ghost may have unintentionally triggered a little retro within retro trend with their well received Opus Eponymous debut. The similar acts are already starting to pop up like evil mushrooms and Norway’s Devil is one of the first. Their debut Time to Repent harkens back to all things 70’s and its melodic doom rock all day long. They wield a sound that falls somewhere between Black Sabbath’s Vol. 4 and the NWOBHM vibe of Witchfinder General with a few traces of old Pentagram mixed in. I’m sure that sounds like a heady brew to many loyal readers (not AMG though, he hates blues-based doom like I hate light beer). Time to Repent offers up eight tales of sorcery, evil women, open graves and all such good family fun. It’s stripped down, simplistic, melodic and not the kind of doom that crushes you or brings on bouts of crippling despair. Instead, its very rock-based and groovy. While some of the material is worthwhile and shows real potential, more of it is pure amateur hour, cringe-worthy garage rock and unlikely to make anyone forget about Ghost anytime soon.
Steel Druhm’s Best Heavy Metal Songs of All Time 20-11
OK boys and ghouls, we’ve officially reached the meaty epicenter of heavy metal excellence. After thirty warm ups (50-41, 40-31, 30-21 | And here’s AMG’s: 50-41, 40-31, 31-20), these are the brightest of gems, the most gleaming of chromes. Here begins the twenty songs that define all that is heavy, all that is metal. Bow down then get the hell up and HAIL as the True Masters enter the building. Steel Druhm roll please.
Pentagram – Last Rites Review
Pentagram has been around almost as long as actual pentagrams have. They’re seriously grizzled, wiley vets of the doom scene and the fact they’re still churning out material is amazing to me. This band has been together in one form or another since 1971 and now they’re back again in 2011. In case you somehow missed the boat on these doom titans, Pentagram plays 70’s styled doom metal similar to early Black Sabbath or old Saint Vitus and they’ve created some of the best moments in the style over their long life. For those already familiar with the Penta-brand, what makes this album a Big Fucking Deal (thank you, Joe Biden) is the return of founding guitarist and doom demigod Victor Griffin (Place of Skulls) who hasn’t graced a Pentagram platter since their last great effort, Be Forewarned way back in 1994. With one of the true masters of doom guitar reunited with one of the founding fathers of doom vocals Bobby Liebling, can things end up as anything other than unnaturally bad ass? No, no they can’t and Last Rites is the strongest and most consistently killer album since Be Forewarned and may even be better. From start to finish, this sounds like a fully recharged and hungry Pentagram and what makes it even better, it sounds WAY heavier and more battle ready than the recent string of releases with Joe Hasselvander playing all the instruments. This is Grade A doom with some serious attitude and it delivers a major kick to the arse. Not what you would expect from a bunch of old codgers eh?
Ghost – Opus Eponymous Review
How can this be? Yet another metal treasure nearly escaped the watchful eye of Steel Druhm and makes me feel shame for failing to include it in my Top Ten(ish) of 2010. Please forgive this epic oversight as I belatedly introduce you to Opus Eponymous, the debut by Sweden’s Ghost, which is a goldmine of expertly written and played mega-retro 70’s style satanic heavy metal. Taking inspiration from old Mercyful Fate, Witchfinder General, Pentagram and every horror film about satanic cults ever made, Ghost operate in a time warp where metal was as much about mood as sheer musical heaviness and where melody and accessibility were king. Opus Eponymous sometimes feels like the soundtrack to The Exorcist and at other times like Anton LaVey’s satanic mass set to music but it’s compelling, instantly likable and a lot of evil rocking fun for those among us in the left lane of the highway to hell.
Things You May Have Missed 2010: Briton Rites – For Mircalla
Briton Rites is a heavy doom metal act hailing from Atlanta Georgia and their debut album For Mircalla came out of nowhere and really blew me away. Released by Echoes of Crom Records and features Phil Swanson of Hour of 13 on vocals and one of the heaviest, most distorted guitar sounds out there courtesy of Howie Bentley of Cauldron Born. Together these gents serve up some truly ginormous Cathedral, Pentagram, Witchfinder General worship of the highest caliber but with a style all their own. With a thematic concept largely dealing with cult vampire movies like “Captain Cronos” or “Crypt of the Vampire,” there’s enough doomy and gloomy atmosphere here to scare the most rabid werewolf and enough raw, heavy ugliness to convince a metalcore band to go back to playing pop-punk.
