The Wounded Kings - The Shadow Over Atlantis

This is easily one of the most grim Doom Metal releases I've ever had the morbid pleasure of experiencing. Hailing from Dartmoor, The Wounded Kings arrive from the black fog with tales of horror, suicide and occult headspace. Comparisons to Electric Wizard would not be too far off...nor to Witchcraft or early Cathedral. This is some dreary, oppressive stuff here.

Atmospherically, it is like like a witches' sabbat, occultist and ritualistic. You don't know what's coming around the corner, and you don't think you really want to...but you proceed anyway. In your explorations, you'll find sinister melodies and frightfully heavy guitars. The reverb-soaked vocals serve more to haunt the music, and subsequently the listener, like a weary, tortured soul as they swirl in and out of the riffs.

Overall, this is a highly recommended release. With better production, better songwriting and a heavier release, I find this better than the debut. If you like your Doom splattered with Lovecraft-esque spirit, night terrors and mind-bending ambience, you can't go wrong with The Wounded Kings. This one will leave a mark.

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The Wounded Kings - Embrace Of The Narrow House

This is a 100 per cent Euro-metal record with the emphasis being on covering the entire history of English doom from lack Sabbath to Cathedral. The Wounded Kings are an excellent stoner doom band from the UK. Their style is comprised of equal parts oldschool Sabbath and freaked out 60s psych. To this tasty brew of influences, they add epic sludge, eerie clean vocals heavy on the echo effects, and more demons, witches and bad vibes than you can shake a broom at. The band oozes with primordial doom and sinister, 70s occult horror vibes. It has the clanging gothic overtones of Paradise Lost as well as the heavy, heavy monster riffs of Electric Wizard and indulges in some leisurely soloing that would go down well with the readers of Classic Rock. A grimly impressive debut.

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Children Of Doom - Ride Over The Green Valley

(Tape limited to 250 copies)

Children Of Doom sound a little inexperienced on this demo but that also means that have room to grow, that points to a really exciting future in the world of Doom because this is a great demo. It has a couple of flaws, the sound is not great as i had to really crank up the stereo to get a good fix on the music. The first thing you will noticed is the guitar work which has a St.Vitus meets The Obsessed vibe about it and then its the vocals. Is this dude Glenn Danzig or what, that is not a complaint by the way but he is the first singer you will think of when you hear this dude. The band has a distinctly 80's feel to them and the songs are extremely well played, the lyrics are also really good. Songs about alcohol and chicks has always worked for me but there is more to them than just that. Musically they play for the most part "text book doom" with no real surprises but they have a obvious love for Traditional Doom Metal and that comes out in the songs. Sometimes you can just tell when a band is genuine about what they do and Children Of Doom are one of those bands.Pay special attention to "Hell's On Wheels" and "Hangover" which are both fine tracks of Doom. Worth keeping a eye on this band when a full length album finally surfaces. ~ Doom Mantia

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Fehler - Adharma

"Adharma" is the debut five-song EP from Dutch trio Fehler (released by Black Death Records), and I have to say, these guys are delivering one of the most literal and unique combination of hardcore/punk and sludgy metal I've ever heard. Dark, discordant textures and winding bass-lines with a mid paced doom/sludge type of vibe are contrasted by frantic, chunky power chords and subtly rocked out riffing delivered in hammering, fast-paced bursts of hardcore/punk energy – while fronted by ultra gruff snarls that work well over any and all approaches alluded to by the instrumentation. On top of that you'll find bits and pieces of searing feedback, a well-integrated sample or two, the occasional spout of ringing post-hardcore dissonance, and even a few more chaotic riffs that almost have a weird black metal feel!? Seriously, there's a lot going on, but what's great is that the band pulls it off perfectly. The songs don't feel disjointed in any way, and the entire 17-minute listen is a shockingly cohesive experience given the breadth of influences they're drawing from.

Awesome.

Rituals Of The Oak - Hour Of Judgement

Rituals of the Oak may be young (they were only formed in 2008 and Hour of Judgement is their first and only album) and they come from Australia, but the band plays very old school traditional epic doom deeply steeped in the European tradition. Candlemass, but even more so Reverend Bizarre, immediately come to mind when the opening title track starts to plod.

Heavy, but rather stripped down, with guitars not overdistorted. The release, entitled Hour Of Judgement features 5 tracks, with some ranging in 5 mins to length and a couple being more than 12 minutes long, the band offers a challenging experience to the listener. On some occasions Rituals of the Oak display a sort of atonal divergence, where guitars and vocals tend to drift along the edges of non-parallel harmonies. If one aims to go up, the other is pointing downward. While unusual at first, this subtle dissonance does not divert attention as much upon multiple listens. The title track does not cause the female lead singer Sabine Hamad to take high notes or stretch herself, but in the drony Childhoods End, where “deadlight seems so far away” her voice inflections and modulations are the main attraction point.

Rituals of the Oak are not only about the molasses-slow monster chords and depressive melancholy. Drown the Wood in Blood showcases much steadier tempo, melody flowing through weaving riffs, hooky chorus and interesting percussion. The course of the song almost forces Sabine to elevate herself and assume leadership. At the same time, the band is also adept at space-rock, almost lullaby feeling with wirebrush on cymbals and jingly guitar in Standing in the House of Suffering. A pair of evident bass lines on this track also can’t be missed.

The closer The Spell of Doom at first embarks in the direction of the title track, but the half-way beginning outro uncorks a melody nobody will be able to soon forget. Rituals of the Oak has an uncanny ability to latch on to this captivating mind-penetrating piece of music and milk it for all its worth, slowly killing the song away, as they are doing it on The Spell of Doom and Drown the Wood in Blood.

An easy pickup for Reverend Bizarre and Solitude Aeturnus fans, being fronted by a female vocalist, Rituals of the Oak present another, more rare, interesting point in doom metal. ~ Metal reviews

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Skeletal Spectre - Tomb Coven

From Sweden, comes SKELETAL SPECTRE…3 ghastly apparitions from the voids of eternal darkness. Their goal is a simple one…to play crushing horror DOOM METAL mixed with the classic Razorback influences, putrid death metal and early low budget gory slasher flicks coupled with eerie sounds to come up with something they feel is their own. Prepare to be haunted as the band has just released their debut CD on Razorback Recordings which is titled “Tomb Coven”. Do you hear the sound of the spectre?



It’s coming for you…

Black Manta - Black Manta

This one here is a HEAVY fucker of a demo: "Demo 2001" CD-R by Black Manta from the Maryland abyss (Pentagram, Unorthodox/Asylum and tons of others should be known from that area!). Totally crushing Heavy Rock / Doom that is so thick and heavy (thanx to the production: recorded in the famous Hit&Run studios), I seldom heard similar power!!

The band call themselves BOMB ROCK. Not surprised.

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Black Manta - Fuck Them All But Six

Fucking heavy Maryland doom band influenced by Sabbath and Washington D.C.-area doom legends such as Pentagram and Internal Void. Released a series of self-financed demos, follow by the 2004 album “Fuck them all but six” on psycheDOOMelic records. The track “Days of Yore” was featured in the “Doom Capital.

This is basically a very enjoyable stoner doom EP, and is infact laced with gruff vocals, amazingly catchy riffs and a very very very very downtuned guitar coupled with amps turned to max volume. You'll love it.

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Pale Divine - Cemetary Earth

Again Pale Divine delivers us a fine work of art. For all those who thought the 70s psychedelic rock and the proto doom had vanished, you were wrong. Pale Divine is back and shows us how it really has to be done.

This is Pale Divines third release, and the band has really progressed from their first album, where some of the songwriting was lacking. Though with this new album the singing, riffs, and writing all mesh together to create a warm uplifting doom album. It has the timeless doom riffing in the vein of Sabbath, Pentagram, and Vitus, but they keep their own sound by mixing in their own ideas on how the songs should be put together. The songs range lengths range from 5 minutes to about 10 on their epic title track.

All the aspects that make a perfect proto-doom album are present here, heartfelt and well executed. The most important factor here is that it's doomy. It trudges along at a melancholic pace with a booming bottom end and almost tangible fuzz. Sorrowful riffs and mournful leads carry you through on a funeral march of Sabbathian quality. The trademark guitar work of Klein and Diener is out in full force with '(I Alone) The Traveller' serving as the perfect example. Floating in via harmonious distortion it twists and turns through seamless solos, all supported by the gruff tones of Diener. 'Soul Searching' showcases the duo's groovier sensibilities and the typical lengthy title track is Doom 101.

Another Pale Divine album, another slab of doomy perfection. Next time you're about to spin Pentagram's self titled or stick on Holy Mountain for the 1000th time, given Cemetery Earth a try (and track down Thunder Perfect Mind while you're at it).

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Pale Divine - Eternity Revealed

Incorporating throwback, seventies-style production (for that primo Sabbath vibe), well-thought out songwriting and a propensity for making the most of upfront, blues-rock thunder, Pale Divine conjures up a noteworthy display of doom on “Eternity Revealed.”

Frontman Greg Diener handles both the guitar and vocal duties for this trio, spitting out bluesy metal licks that a particularly foreboding atmosphere. As a vocalist, Diener has a nice range and puts a bit of balls into his talented, melodic vocalizations, especially during the bridge “Sins Of The Fallen” which turns from shimmering chords and rolling polyrhythms to a dirty black death march that will satisfy fans of Danzig and Trouble alike. When the band really throws it down during the track’s solo section, present-day Corrosion Of Conformity springs to mind as a point of reference. The loose, wah-fueled jam that ensues shows that above all, Pale Divine knows how to get deeply into a bottom-heavy jam without becoming stuck in the mud.

A similar doom grunge is distinctive during the track ‘Martyrdom’, as bassist Jim Corl and drummer Darin McCloskey team up for a Zeppelin-inspired backbeat and Diener lets a fretboard-torching solo loose. During other standouts like ‘Crimson Tears’ and ‘Serpents Path’, Pale Divine strives toward an apocalyptic sort of rock that is unpolished and unforgiving. A gloomy, quite competent rendition of Candlemass’ ‘Solitude’ shows this band is not afraid to wear its influences on its sleeve. As a bluesy jam with an almost Hendrix-like solo leads to a flurry of arpeggios over top the famous dirge on the track’s main riff, Diener truly shines as a guitarist. As the verse reprises, the roots of this group’s influence grows to be even more apparent.

Although this band may just get lumped in with the sea of so-called “stoner” acts on the scene today, such a tag might be a disservice as the majority of the music made by Pale Divine is decidedly more metal than most who wear that mark. The band redirects Sabbath sounds into a new realm focused on shredding jam sequences (at times, Diener’s axework is not far removed from that of Ted Nugent in his glory days) and roaring, fuzzy melodies that are choice enough to satisfy any fan of Cathedral, St. Vitus, Kinghorse, and any of the bands mentioned above.

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Pale Divine - Thunder Perfect Mind

PsycheDOOMelic is probably the best current label for doom metal, and Pale Divine is a great example of the quality of their output. Pale Divine play a style of doom metal firmly rooted in the 70s and 80s, although they don't necessarily mimick one band in particular so it's difficult to compare them to anybody. Vocalist Greg Diener sounds quite a bit like Scott Reagers or Bobby Liebling or one of those others 80s doomy vocalists that did a good job of imitating Ozzy whilst disregardeing the Birmingham accent. He has a very powerful voice and is crucial to the band's sound, and songs like Dark Knight wouldn't be the same with Diener's lungs.

As for the actual songwriting, I'm reminded of different bands at different points of the album, yet the whole disc still flows consistantly and doesn't really sound mixed up, the band combines their influences well into a sort of doom pot pourri. Opener 'Amplified' is pure, unadultered rock and roll and reminds me more of Bishop than any gloomy doom metal band, even though it still has that deep, low sound to it. However, 'Gods Monsters and Men' actually has a Kyuss (BftRS-era) feel to it, whilst 'Dark Knight' has a strong epic vibe that reminds me of Manilla Road more than anybody else (especially in the fantastic vocal arrangements). Then we have the short, string-picked instrumental 'Dream Flower' that would sound right at home on Sabbath's Masters of Reality in place of Embryo or Orchid, and then John Klein's lead guitar reminds me of some really early bluesy metal, like Pentagram or even Blue Cheer (in tone and delivery).

You might expect the band to sound all over the place, but that isn't the case. This album flows nicely, one superbly well-written song after the other, and the influences are all sewn in well. The PsycheDOOMelic rerelease has two live bonus tracks, and they're both played so perfectly that you can tell this band has rehearsed their asses off. A very tight performance, which tells me two things. One, this band must be excellent live, so if you live in or around Pennsylvania then you should definitely be sure to go to a Pale Divine show, I can guarantee an excellent performance. And two, this being Pale Divine's first album, I'm sure they could have only improved on their later releases, so along with 'Thunder Perfect Mind' I would also recommend checking out their subsequent albums, any real doomheads should not be missing any Pale Divine in their collection.

Oh, and did I mention that Bobby Liebling appears on the last 2 tracks ? :)

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Veni Domine - MEGAPOST

The music created by Veni Domine can be called "christian progressive doom metal". "Christian" because all lyrics are about christianity, God, and are based on the Bible. Also band members are practicing Catholics. "Progressive" because their music surely isn't easy to comprehend, songs are quite long and complicated. All musicians are technically great instrumentalists. And "doom" because Veni Domine's music is heavy, extremely slow (slower than Candlemass' for sure), and overwhelming. I would also say that the word "psychodelic" could be used to describe at least some songs of Veni Domine.

For those of you who still don’t know the band in the booklet the guys thank Leif Edling who is no more no less than mr. Candlemass himself. That tells a lot about the band’s main influence. As it was stated in Veni Domine can be considered the Christian version for Candlemass and Solitude Aeternus as well.

The band includes synthesizer and progressive elements on their brand of music. lives in. That being said, in regards to the music this is a difficult band to describe. There are, basically, no fast tracks or even mid tempo. Most tracks by this band are very slow and rather long.

* Veni Domine - Tongues



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* Veni Domine - Fall Babylon Fall



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* Veni Domine - Material Sanctuary



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The Misanthrope Project - Your World Is Sickening

TMP harness an off putting and unfriendly vibe over the course of these five epics of fucked up doom and gloom. Part Mugwart/Beaten back to Pure southern scum, part Grief/early Buzzov*en slug trail terror and part Yobian, psychedelic glory, the quintet rounded out by Justin (guitar), Ahmasi (bass) and Joey (drums) are one of the most unique entities going in the American sludge/doom underworld right now. The instruments are laden with effects and cosmic ambience, but the riffs, low-end and general groove clamp down on a number of scathing, world decimating moments that will keep your head nodding and your whiskey bottle empty, as this is music perfectly accompanied by a big, plentiful fifth of Wild Turkey.

Beasley is as pissed off as ever; whispering and screaming like a demon beneath a blanket of blown out distortion and suffocation. Drummer Joey is a particularly key component to the mix, locking down the band’s sound with a requisite doomified crunch, but also getting wild and fill crazy in the vein of John Stanier’s tightest Helmet performances.

TMP wraps a threatening aura around your head from the very first note. Beasley’s haggard scream thunders in the distance, before the volume kicks in full bore with twin guitars blazing through plundering riffs and psychedelic leads alike, as the effects swirl around your ears from a seemingly inexplicable number of amps and directions. This is a cyclone of endless noise and drugged out vocal shouts, with a grasp on overdriven Beaten Back to Pure metal as played by Kirk Fisher with Mike Scheidt coordinating the affair and offering musical mysticism. There’s a moment of sampling, with cleaner dissonant guitars that frighteningly feels as if the song’s going to come out of your speakers and beat the living fuck out of you, as you sit there knowing damn well the band is holding back for one last outburst at the end, to create a proper emotional catharsis.

Lush bass lines provide the perfect foundation for Vince and Justin to weave their shimmering, doom influenced chord progressions around. Less than a minute slowly wanders by in this glorious, almost Hawkwind meets Yob passage.



You want a sick scream you go to Charlie. You want a sick riff/groove and production job, you go to Vince. You get them both here, and with three other giants backing them up…well the sky is the limit. The groove in this part of the song is one that can be effortlessly lumped into the legendary realm, with Joey’s pounding emphasis on fills and complexity adding even more life to the unholy din.

Fans of that whole psyched out doom/sludge movement such as Yob, Soulpreacher, Sleep and Warhorse will eat this tune up for their three daily squares from here to eternity. Sludge fans…you need this, so pick up their releases and see if you can wrangle this record off of one of the band members. Shit this good, cannot be doomed to obscurity! ~ Slightly edited Hellride review

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Dopethrone - Demonsmoke

The Throne was established in March 2008 as a completely D.I.Y. project created in the very core of Hochelaga. After only 3 weeks of legendary drunkenness and sacred bong worship, Dopethrone already composed 4 songs and was talking about an album concept... A year later, the new album: "DEMONSMOKE" was materialized. In the spirit of "Do-It-Yourself", The Logo and concept was created by Vincent (guitar - vocals), the recording by Thomas (drummer) and the CD was produced by Vyk (bassist)...

The band with a name like that, in unsurprisingly a blend of stoner and demonic sludge along with a tinge of traditional doom. With a look to back to old school sludge with the hatred and filth dripping out of the bands' amplifiers along with a certain influence of modern sludge (no, not bands like Cult Of Luna and The Ocean), this band will be loved by fans of bands such as Bongzilla and Weedeater.


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Eggnogg - III

EGGNOGG is a hard rock/sludge band from the upstate New York area. Having gone through several names/stages of music already, Eggnogg has matured into a heavy-hitting sludge-rock group of epic proportions. This year, they recorded the first album: simply titled "The Three". The album was officially released on October 31, 2009. With the heavy drumming, back-breaking riffs recognizable deep, growling vocals, Eggnogg has created a heaviness no band from the stoner scene has truly achieved since Electric Wizard's "Dopethrone."

As already mentioned the band's primary influence is Electric Wizard, but the other influences lie as a cross between 70's hard rock, Kyuss, Alice In Chains, Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd.

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Eternal Elysium - Within The Triad

Finally, finally, finally it's here !

For those who don't know, this band (kill yourself), this is a Japanese (surprise, surprise) trio that plays a mixed of spaced out, psychedelic stoner doom metal.

With this release, their 5th full length, and the first after an agonizing 4 years, they are back at doing what they do best. Right from the very beginning, you are sucked into their vacuum as the sound on this album is very very heavy but also so trippy in a Hawkwind - ish kind of way. This band have a uncanny ability to mix up sounds and influences from Sabbath,King Crimson,Black Widow,Hendrix to modern day exponents of everything from straight out Metal to Doom to Stoner to even grunge and make it work.

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Abdullah - Cut The Artery

Taken from the band's MySpace -

"Lost album and ep available for free download. This material was written in a transitional phase of the band between the years of 2005-2007. it is pretty much a complete departure from the stoner/alternative/doom metal we were theretofore known for. the quality of some of the tracks is dubious as a few were emailed back and forth between band members and different continents. the line-up at this point was:

Jeff Shirilla: drums, vocals, some guitars, synth
Alan Seibert: lead guitars
Aaron Dallison: guitars
Ed Stephens: bass

Josh Adkins and John Stepp played drums and guitars respectively on "dead babies" and Queenie contributed vocals and lyrics to "lost."

This material was just taking up space on a hard drive doing no one any good so i decided to share it. enjoy/hate/ignore!"

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Goatlord - Distorted Birth: The Demos

Cd 1
· "Sodomize the Goat" '88 demo.

CD 2
· Demo '87 (Tracks 1-4)
· Promo '91 (Tracks 5-6)

"'Distorted Birth: The Demos' collects the early history of a band that would mark their grounds with a different approach than some other groups. Most people I would imagine would like their heart to constantly be jerked and blood to flow at an accelerated rate from their extreme metal material. Goatlord slows things down on their demos, but still delivers an atmosphere that is hard to rival even with the lacking sound quality here. With this collection Goatlord's evolution shows, coming out with the best material being 'Sodomize the Goat' and the promo from '91. And the '87 demo being a trial run of what was to come from the band. What's impressive is that the amount of music put on their '88 demo is 12 tracks and clocked at over an hour, considering most demos are 3 to 5 tracks and only typically deliver enough to get a glimpse of the band. I would definitely recommend this to someone who doesn't mind harsher production and has an appetite for some atmospheric blackened death and doom." ~ MA

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Green & Wood - Green & Wood

Green And Wood, a band that came out of nowhere for me but are actually from LA have their self titled album out on Cyclopean Records.This power trio plays a heavy blend of Sabbath, Sleep, Blue Cheer and Pentagram influenced Doom with traces of hard rock and stoner doom too. The plus side though is they are so good at doing it that its also a very enjoyable romp through everything from early 70's Heavy Prog, Blues Rock to modern day Stoner doom. The band is capable of writing great songs with cool arrangements and if they continue to find their own niche in songwriting. If you love Stoner Doom with a 70's edge and you are a fan of Witchcraft you will eat this one up.

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Count Raven - Demo 89

First Demo Of The Band.

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