Tag: doom metal

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NO COFFIN – All Life Must End – REVIEW

No Coffin waste no time getting their point across in this short but brutal 4 song EP.  “.45” starts out the EP like a shot from a …well… It’s fast and ferocious but also slows the tempo a bit and adds some nice Doom elements as well “Fire is the Cleanser” is a killer thrash fest that instantly grabs you by the throat and doesn’t loosen its grip with a pummeling chorus, fast and dirty guitars and destructive drumming. “All Life Must End,” is a fitting selection for the title track with some great dual vocal work and throbbing guitars that smack you straight in the forehead. The last track gives you a moment to pick yourself off the floor. No Coffin slows things down to a crawl with a slow, sludgy cover of Portishead’s “Over.”

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CULTIC – High Command – Review

 

 

The production on Cultic’s, “High Command,” is as thick and murky as the material itself. The album starts out with “The Conqueror,” that plods along with raw riffs that perfectly blend in with the old school production on this album. This song sets the tone for the rest of your listen, so if you are looking for some sort of studio polished banger, you may want to skip this one. However, if you dig your doom raw and with all of the production values of an old school cassette recording from a friend’s basement, this one’s for you. The rawness of this recording, however works perfectly for the Doom and Sludge sound that Cultic are going for here. The primitive and early Celtic Frost vibe work both for and against what Cultic are trying to achieve here, as the album can tend to become a tad bit repetitive causing some of the songs to blend together. There still is plenty to enjoy here and is not a bad start for their first album.

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AUTOKRATOR – Persecution – REVIEW

Autokrator are  back and ready to rattle your eardrums with some intense dark, murky and plodding Doom Metal to get the new year started off on the right path. The vocals are low and inhuman matching perfectly with they muddled guitar tones present on this release. Tracks like “DCLXVI, ” and “The Great Persecution”pick up the pace and send the sound into more of Black/Death combo with punishing blast beats and haunting solos giving the album some more variety. “Caesar Nerva Traianus,” was the real stand out song for me. Starting out with an epically powerful march with some really cool battleground sound effects thrown in for good measure that sounds like it belongs on the score of a big budget movie. The droning guitar tones and eerie chanting vocals make a haunting and eerie listen. The album in full hits like a bulldozer thanks to how smooth the tracks blend into each other.  “Persecution,” is raw and punishing with enough mix of style to remain fresh and accessible to all fans of Extreme Metal.

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SIX OF SWORDS – Regime Decay – REVIEW

 

 

Ontario’s Six of Swords bring some heavy, groovy and brutal punishment with their latest beast, “Regime Decay – Polar Vortex.,” which is a pairing of their first two EPs. While playing old school Death Metal has become popular in the extreme metal scene in recent years, Six of Swords manages to retain the old school vibe while still managing to include plenty of modern Death Metal elements. Think Morbid Angel meets Gatecreeper and you’ll get a good idea of what Six of Swords is trying (and succeeding) to accomplish.

What makes this a great listen is the amount of variety with each track. With that being said, there is not anything fancy or over the top to be found here. No blast beats, no break downs and no overly complicated or technical guitar riffs. No. This is just some down and dirty Death Metal. Sometimes, simpler is better. Some songs are full of complete brutality, while others chug along with some fantastic grooves. This is where Six of Swords excels. When they slow things down, they lay down some incredibly heavy stuff with great riffs and sick vocals. Vocalist Josh Gordon kills it on this release.  If you dig on Doom Metal, you are gonna love some of this serious sick and sludgy material. If you aren’t a fan of Doo, there is still plenty of Thrashy and speed to keep you raging here and sending you straight into the pit.

 

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SHROUD OF VULTURE – Upon a Throne of Jackals – REVIEW

Indy’s Shroud of Vulture’s debut release, “Upon a Throne of Jackals,”  overflows with plenty of oozing, sludgy, thick monstrous Doom/Death Metal. Starting things off with the dark and plodding instrumental, “Final Spasms of the Drowned” The faint screams heard in the background of this song really give it a haunting pulse and perfectly set up the mood and feel for the rest of the album. “The Altar,” has an incredible groove that you’d have to be dead not to bang your head to. (even then, that’s not much of an excuse.)”Perverted Reflection,” starts of with a creeping crawl before changing things up and adding some Black Metal influenced blast beats. Clearly the guys in Shroud of Vultures are comfortable in experimenting by adding many different styles and elements to their Doom fueled rage. “Invert Every Throne,” includes some elements of Thrash with its sickened and nasty riffs. “Stone Coffin of Existence,” finds the band at their sickest and darkest. There are still plenty of heavy, plodding caveman riffs to found out throughout this release that keep the album thick heavy and nasty. The vocals are deep, haunting and full of unhuman anger that pair up perfectly with the songs on this album. Perfect listening to pair with a nice black cup of Trve Kvlt Coffee.

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FLOOD PEAK – Fixed Ritual – REVIEW

Fixed Ritual is an epically heavy EP. The songs contained in this release are full of crushing riffs that submerge the listener into their dark, depressive and gloomy world. While this release may not be for everyone, anyone who enjoys their metal drenched in sludge and dread, this makes for a satisfying listen. You want some Doom and Gloom to go along with your first up of Joe as you begin your work week? The boys in Flood Peak are are ready to take you for a ride in a sludgy sonic scape of misery in their sea of despair. The EP barley clocks in at 30 minutes but you’ll swear this musical journey you are taken on with this listen lasts even longer. The vocals have an impressive range going from haunted howl to mid range melodies. The guitars perfectly blend in a world both absolute bleakness and chaos. Just when you think a song is going to hammer a riff right through your skull, the music becomes calms down to a crawl.

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POISON WIND – Virus! – REVIEW

As we inch closer to shows opening back up and the year anniversary of Covid shutting everything thing down in the first place, we actually starting to see new  projects and albums come emerge from this rather bleak period of time. Poison Wind bills itself as a “Quarantine Band.” The group was formed in the earlier stages of the pandemic by Brian Magar (Cultic, The Owls ANWTS) who brought together some of his musician friends from other groups to remotely compose and record 8 tracks which would become “Virus!” Mager laid down the groundwork with the drum tracks then passed the recording off to the rest of the group who supplied the guitars, bass and vocals. The band did not know who or which members they were working with at any time

With such a unique method of recording it has captured an extreme metal album the encompasses many different elements ranging from Doom, Sludge, Black, Death, Grind and even some Thrash elements. The songs themselves riff of the chaos that has been the last year with such titles as, “Branch Covidians,” “Get me out,” and “Wear a Fucking Mask!”

All of this adds up to a satisfying listen full of diversity ,some killer experimentation and good ol’ fashioned cooped up quarantine fury. More than a novelty album, this is proof something good can come out of a lockdown.

 

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MOTHER OF GRAVES – In Somber Dreams – Review

Mother of Graves is an Indianapolis based band formed by of extreme metal veterans in 2019. This is the kind of output you get when you have a lifetime of experience between members….Metal Magic! This is Melodic Death/Doom at it’s finest. “In Somber Dreams,” is an incredibly powerful listen with some standout performances throughout. The production is slick with the occasional clean guitars and atmospheric piano and of course, some punishing doom loving riffs. “Nameless Death,” is the prefect track to listen to if you want to get a real feeling for this release. From the opening notes, it is crammed full of heavier than hell doom riffs, while keeping an extreme somber and melancholy feel, then the vocals and piano undertone drive the song home.

If this EP is any indication to where metal is heading in 2021, we are on the right path.
To get your little hands on this ep, head on over to WISE BLOOD RECORDS

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HANGING FORTRESS – Darkness Devours – REVIEW

If there is at least one great thing that has come out of Ohio (besides Trve Kvlt of course) is some damn fine quality Metal. Hanging Fortress formed in the city of Toledo in 2018. They play mostly traditional Death Metal for the most part with heavily Doom influenced guitar riffs and hardcore chuggs.

The band has been pretty busy during their relatively short existence already releasing two EPs before their first full length album here with “Darkness Devours.” While most of the musical output is in the slow to mid range with plenty of doom soaked guitars and coming across rather sludgy, this is not necessarily a Doom Metal album.  There is still plenty of rage and Death Metal influenced aggression here. The vocals are oozing, sick and guttural blending in perfectly with Hanging Fortress’ Overall sound. No high speeds here, but plenty of brutality. 

“Burned Alive,” serves as a great opening track as it starts things off slow and dark with pounding drums, a powerful rhythm section and ugly, unhuman vocals. “Blood Mountain,” does manage to bring the tempo up a bit into blast beat territory leading into a fantastic groove that was made to get heads banging. 

If you like your Death Metal well produced, heavy AS FUCK with plenty of Doom to spare, be sure to give this one a spin. 

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AWENDEN – Golden Hour – REVIEW

Awenden comes to you from Olympia, Washington with their second release, “Golden Hour.” This album is an incredibly atmospheric Black Metal experience from start to finish. Mostly a somber and reflective listen with bits of familiar Black Metal concepts of tremolo picking, blast beats and torchered vocals spread throughout the album. It’s enough to be relaxing and Metal as fuck at the same time. Metalheads can take some time to chill and reflect too. 

Awenden has often been described as Cascadian Black Metal which is noted for its lengthy atmospheric compositions, which are awesomely abundant on this release. Most tracks on “Golden Hour” extend the 10 minute mark, but the songs flow well and before you know it, you have listened to the album in its entirety. Even those of us who may have a shorter attention span by listening to entirely too much Grindcore will find this a thought provoking and intriguing listen.

The production on this album is incredible which is important to note as many Black Metal bands have the recording quality of a Casio keyboard in someone’s parents’ basement. The record sounds full from start finish and captures the fierce flows of chaotic guitars and vocals into melancholy synth and murky and sinister arrangements.