Tag: death-doom

  • Hellbound Interviews : CHAOTIAN – April 2023

    Hellbound Interviews : CHAOTIAN – April 2023

    Copenhagen, Denmark’s CHAOTIAN recently came through Toronto as part of their first Canadian tour, and absolutely laid waste to a full house of death metal aficianados.  Hellbound’s Danielle Griscti (hi!) was there and, keen to learn more about these fresh purveyors of fine riffs, reached out via email to pick their brains. “Suppuration of Obsolescence…

  • Fister – No Spirit Within

    Fister – No Spirit Within

    Anywhere there’s high levels of violence and poverty, sludge metal often isn’t far behind. Listed as the Number 4 Murder Capital of America, ahead of Baltimore, Detroit and Compton, St. Louis definitely fits the bill (the suburb of East St. Louis is actually Number 1), and its native sons Fister display plenty of downtrodden aggression…

  • My Silent Wake – There Was Death

    My Silent Wake – There Was Death

    My Silent Wake play the genre of metal known as death/doom, a genre I believe is slowly picking up in popularity. The music is slow, emotional, weighty, heavy as a dwarf star. Heavy not just in the sense of riffs, but in emotion and depth. Two bands that form a good touchstone for this album,…

  • Body Void – I Live Inside a Burning House

    Body Void – I Live Inside a Burning House

    Generally speaking, sludge metal is not about good times or made by happy people. While depression, divorce and drug addiction have previously inspired other sludge albums, Body Void is the first time I’ve seen a band tackle the topic of queer identity via heavy, crushing, knuckle-dragging doom. I kinda wish this promo came with a…

  • Hooded Menace – Ossuarium Silhouettes Unhallowed

    Hooded Menace – Ossuarium Silhouettes Unhallowed

    Death doom can often be hit or miss for me, but I was a big fan of Hooded Menace’s last album, Darkness Drips Forth, which seemed to be a little light on the “death”—except in the vocal department. I’d be perfectly happy if they followed a similar path on this one. An ossuarium is a…

  • Acid Witch / Vanik @ Hard Luck Bar, Toronto, 14 October 2017

    Acid Witch / Vanik @ Hard Luck Bar, Toronto, 14 October 2017

    When October comes around, horror aficionados salivate at the thought of Halloween – the creepy highlight of the month. And what better way would there be to honour this ghoulish time of year than to see the purveyors of hallucinogenic Halloween death metal, namely Acid Witch? Speed metal outlaws Vanik are notable for frontman Vanik’s…

  • Primitive Man – Caustic

    Primitive Man – Caustic

    Caustic is a fitting title for the second album from drawn-out Denver death doomsters Primitive Man, who push the patience with no less than 77 minutes of misery on this release. Having set the tone with their Scorn-ful debut and subsequent series of splits, you pretty much know what you’re getting into when you push…

  • Usnea – Portals Into Futility

    Usnea – Portals Into Futility

    Portland post-doomsters Usnea are getting all literary on us with their second album, with a suggested reading list that includes Dune, The Handmaid’s Tale and Demon Haunted World. You’d certainly be able to polish off a few chapters in the time it takes to listen to Portals Into Futility, a five-track, 55-minute effort. The album…

  • Unearthly Trace – Stalking the Ghost

    Unearthly Trace – Stalking the Ghost

    NYC doom dealers Unearthly Trance have returned from a seven-year recording hiatus—one that gave us a pair of Serpentine Path records, mind you, as they joined up with Tim Bagshaw of Electric Wizard fame. But now the original trio’s back in business, with their sixth album, out this month on Relapse Records. You can expect…

  • Sithter – Chaotic Fiend

    Sithter – Chaotic Fiend

    Now, Japan has produced some pretty solid stoner and death/doom bands over the years, from Coffins to Corrupted, Eternal Elysium to Chuch of Misery… not to mention Boris, who practically deserve their own category. But when it comes to straight-ahead Japanese sludge, I usually come up empty. So when I heard that Sithter, a band…