Tag: trad-doom
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Monolith Cult – Gospel of Despair
This mid-November doom record nearly passed me by—I hadn’t previously heard of this U.K. outfit, and it’s just their second release. But when I finally got a chance to listen to the music, it grabbed me right away. If you like your traditional-style epic doom served with a side of power metal, complete with a…
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Wretch – self-titled
The Gates of Slumber’s ultimate album, Wretch, was definitely their most downtrodden affair, a slight departure from their early days of ice worms and dragons. In the five years since its release, two-thirds of that lineup has passed away, leaving frontman Karl Simon fronting a new band, fittingly titled Wretch. Suffice to say, this debut…
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Void King – There is Nothing
In recent years, Indianapolis, Indiana has earned a bit of a reputation as a Midwest doom-metal hub, due to quality outfits like Devil to Pay, Apostle of Solitude and the late, great Gates of Slumber. Void King also hails from Indy, and while I wasn’t too familiar with them beforehand (this is their first album),…
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Dream Death – Dissemination
Dream Death’s 1987 debut Journey Into Mystery is one of the great lost metal classics of all time. On their debut album, this Pittsburgh outfit combined the nascent sub-genres of thrash and doom into a self-styled concoction called sludge metal—that’s right, they were the Possessed of all things tuned low and played slow. Problem is,…
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Black Shape of Nexus – Carrier
This German sludge sextet returns with Carrier, their first full-length since 2012’s oppressive 80-minute effort Negative Black. This one’s considerably less lengthy, but equally punishing, with six tracks clocking in just shy of 50 minutes. “I Can’t Play It” opens the album on an ominous note with tortured screams and squealing feedback. This one’s a…
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Bevar Sea – Invoke the Bizarre
When Reverend Bizarre penned their tongue-in-cheek anthem “Doom Over the World” back in ’05, I’m not sure they could have foreseen a doom outfit from India invoking them 10 years later. This is actually album number two from the Bangalore-based Bevar Sea, whose Billy Anderson engin-eared debut landed them a slot at MDF in 2012.…
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King Heavy – self-titled
OK, so it’s certainly not the most original moniker (to be fair, they are from Chile), but hey, King Heavy kinda has a nice ring to it. Don’t know much about these guys, being that this is their debut album, but they are signed to Cruz del Sur, home of Argus, Apostle of Solitude and…