Tag: doom
-
Troll – self-titled
Now, “The Troll” is not my favourite Saint Vitus song. Not even on Mournful Cries. (“Dragon Time” FTW!) But when you’ve got a trad doom band from Portland ostensibly named after a Vitus track, I’m pretty much guaranteed to give it a listen. This album was actually self-released on cassette in 2016, before Shadow Kingdom…
-
Bölzer in Toronto, 29 May 2018
Easily one of the fastest rising stars in black metal’s subterranean, it’s surprising that it has taken Switzerland’s Bölzer this long to indent Toronto. Bölzer’s rapid escalation to the nearest thing that can be considered black metal rock star-ism before the duo even released an album is an astonishing rarity. Without any gimmicks or tangible…
-
King Heavy – Guardian Demons
Understandably, when you’re trying to form a classic doom metal band in Chile, you might have some trouble finding a singer. In the case of King Heavy, that meant enlisting Luther Veldmark, a native of Belgium. And while their debut album was recorded without him setting foot in the country, they flew Veldmark over to…
-
Witchsorrow – Hexenhammer
Out of all the doom bands with “Witch” in their name, Witchsorrow is right up there with Witch Mountain in my books. Album number four from this U.K. power trio sees them continuing in the classic doom vein, with enough references to demons and devils to keep their “Occult Doom Club” membership active. And yet,…
-
BlackLab – Under The Strawberry Moon
On the surface of it, BlackLab are a doom metal band, and yet not completely so. Hailing from Japan, BlackLab are two Japanese women: Chia Shiraishi on drums, and Yuko Morino on guitar and vocals. A bass-less two piece, but they are (dark) light years removed from the generic boredom of the likes of Royal…
-
Khemmis – Desolation
It’s not uncommon for a more traditional doom band to take a turn toward power metal—Argus first made strides in this direction with Boldly Strides the Doomed, while Age of Taurus is leaning much more towards the swords ‘n sorcery set on their outstanding second album, The Colony Slain. We can also now include Khemmis…
-
ASG – Survive Sunrise
Now, I don’t think that “sludge pop” is actually a thing, although I might have seen that term used in a Torche review or two. It could also possibly apply to ASG, a Carolina outfit that often mixes catchy hooks with heavy, distorted riffs. It’s been five years since their last album, Blood Drive, which…
-
Yob – Our Raw Heart
You could call Yob’s eighth studio album a labour of love. Certainly, from reading Mike Scheidt’s heartfelt Facebook updates over the past couple years, it’s clear the frontman has a new lease on life after an intestinal disease left him hospitalized in 2017. While doom is definitely no stranger to pain and suffering, whether physical…
-
Angel Witch live in Toronto, May 2018
Angel Witch / Blood Ceremony @ Lee’s Palace, Toronto on Wednesday 16th May 2018 Calling all heavy metal maniacs! Here’s a very rare sight – New Wave of British Heavy Metal boys Angel Witch are in town for their Toronto debut and an exclusive Canadian date (take that, Montreal!). Toronto is definitely a heavy metal…
-
Lesser Glow – Ruined
This Boston post-sludge outfit allegedly tackles the perils of clickbait and social media on their debut, 25-minute EP. If Unsane and Neurosis came of age in the internet era, and subsequently joined forces, it might sound a little something like Lesser Glow. The title track kicks things off, six minutes of swirling feedback, slow, crunchy…