Doom Metal

[karljant]

Great track! Like I said before I believe no one can even start talking about Doom Metal without mentioning Saint Vitus, Pentagram or Witchfinder General. Yeah, I think it's true they pretty much emulated the doomier, heavier and darker side of 70's Sabbath. But if it wasn't for them rehashing people's interest in this kind of vibe (at a time when it was by far the last thing that was going on in Metal) and thus paving the way to the next wave, who knows how Doom would ever sound like today. Funny enough Die Healing is my favorite album (in exequo with their debut).

 

[karljant]

Still during the 90's and early 2000's some bands started to do all kind of crazy mixes involving Doom Metal:

I remember how confused yet amazed I felt when I listened to this vinyl in 1993. Confessor takes Doom and throws it in a complex time signature labyrinth with guitar riffs not too far from what slow Pantera or Meshuggah would do. On top of it all there's a Power Metal like falsetto vocal delivery. Their debut may not be the easiest listening thing out there, but after a handful of spins it may turn you into a fan like it did to me.

Another weird as hell Doom band is Harvey Milk. With lashes of Noise Rock and experimentalism, these dudes even incorporated a sledge hammer during their early releases that the vocalist used to wield in Intervals with his guitar playing. To me it somewhat sounds like if Henry Rollins wanted to make a funeral doom band with southern influences, while adding tons of noise to the mix. I picked this track from their fifth album since a) IMO it's pretty cool and b) something tells me the record's cover may be somewhat familiar to most members on this forum.

I must admit Drone is a subgenre in Doom Metal I don't have patience for. Even so, there are some compositions by Boris that I find truly immersive and well thought, going way beyond the somewhat boring experience I go through when listening to Drone bands. This song in particular is really beautiful and powerful.

Messa is pretty much the Doom Metal equivalent to what Zeal & Ardor was to Black Metal. The Gospel and Spiritual Chants influences gives these guys a pretty much unique vibe within the genre.

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

Apparently this band is “epic doom”? IDK. Just sounds like good trad metal to me.

 

[karljant]

Apparently this band is “epic doom”? IDK. Just sounds like good trad metal to me.

Taking into account that there's lot of Candlemass here, yup... it's kinda fair to say they are. Not that I care too much, but it seems the second wave of Doom Metal spearheaded by Candlemass (and then continued by Solitude Aeturnus, Solstice and many others) got the moniker of Epic Doom, while the "traditional doom" was associated with the first revamp (Witchfinder General, Trouble, Saint Vitus and Pentagram). At the end of the day, if you ask me, it is just a label. Normally I myself also don't use the "Epic" term when describing Candlemass or SA... It's simply Doom Metal in my book. IMO both genres sound quite traditional, but what I believe generated the separation was mainly the fact that the first wave was way closer to the slower and darker sound of 70's Black Sabbath while Epic Doom Metal adds up way more traditional early 80's Heavy Metal to it.

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

Taking into account that there's lot of Candlemass here, yup... it's kinda fair to say they are. Not that I care too much, but it seems the second wave of Doom Metal spearheaded by Candlemass (and then continued by Solitude Aeturnus, Solstice and many others) got the moniker of Epic Doom, while the "traditional doom" was associated with the first revamp (Witchfinder General, Trouble, Saint Vitus and Pentagram). At the end of the day, if you ask me, it is just a label. Normally I myself also don't use the "Epic" term when describing Candlemass or SA... It's simply Doom Metal in my book. IMO both genres sound quite traditional, but what I believe generated the separation was mainly the fact that the first wave was way closer to the slower and darker sound of 70's Black Sabbath while Epic Doom Metal adds up way more traditional early 80's Heavy Metal to it.

This may explain why I enjoy a lot of what is classified as epic doom while finding most traditional doom a bit boring.