Doom Metal

[Mosh]

https://bellwitch.bandcamp.com/album/mirror-reaper

Just listened to this, one 80 minute track. Not sure what I think of it. Good background music, some really great dynamics, but I can't see myself coming back to something like this. I suppose I can see how dedicated Doom Metal fans would really enjoy it though.

 

[Forostar]

Without guitars! Haven't heard it yet but great artwork:

 

[Mosh]

Definitely some of the best artwork of the year.

Didn't really notice the absence of guitars. Lots of upper register bass stuff, kinda assumed it was a downtuned guitar honestly.

 

[Forostar]

The credits say there is no guitar, but I surely heard something that sounded like a guitar. Perhaps that was possible with bass with some effects.

 

[Forostar]

A competitor for the best album artwork, ever.

From the artist's facebook page (10 November):
Mariusz Lewandowski:
"I want to show you painting which is art cover for "MIRROR REAPER" - the latest album of Bell Witch. This painting is my pride and soul."

 

[Diesel 11]

So I'm just posting this here so I have it down somewhere. Enjoy a list, folks.

Spoiler: Ahab Albums: Ranked

So I finally finished listening to Ahab's discography, and this is how I'd rank the albums.

#4: The Divinity of Oceans
I really wish I could like this album more, because the subject matter, the artwork, and the music are all awesome. That said, this one really drags along for the most part, more than the other albums. The vocals are a big step down from the debut, too, and the first time I heard it I couldn't get through two tracks. It also has too many soft moments - I like that Ahab have these, but they just didn't work well enough on this album. I do still like it, however, but it's just not as good as the rest of their work. Maybe with some relistens I'll learn to love it.
Rating: 7.9/10

#3: The Giant
This album was a rather cheerier if more frigid album than the rest. It's not perfect, but it's a step in the right direction after The Divinity of Oceans. Many memorable moments, and the peaceful ones are really great. I don't have much to say on this one all-told... I just know I liked it.
Rating: 9/10

#2: The Boats of the Glen Carrig
The Giant was a step in the right direction; this album is the right direction. The Boats of the Glen Carrig is a horror novel (that I really wanna read sometime in the future) and Ahab have taken that and truly crafted a masterpiece out of it. It boasts their longest song, "The Weedmen", and it's just as great as their shortest song (not counting "Outro" and "Of the Monstrous Pictures of Whales") "Like Red Foam (The Great Storm)". The whole thing flows together excellently, and their calm moments are some of the best in their discography. The album cover reflects the direction the band has taken now - it's more refined, sophisticated, polished, and beautiful than ever - but maintains an aura of mystery. I brought up that TBOTGC is a horror novel - horror novels (and movies) need calm moments in between the "not so calm" ones, making the latter even more impactful. Ahab have really managed to achieve that here, too. You know it's a horror... but it's such a beauty at the same time. Plus, it's got the first song I heard by the band on it - "The Isle". What more can I say? This is a masterpiece.
Rating: 10/10

#1: The Call of the Wretched Sea
But for all that, Ahab really didn't have to do anything after their debut to prove they were masters. The Call of the Wretched Sea takes Moby Dick and completely takes away any adventure one might have expected of the book - instead, it gives you over an hour's worth of dark, crushing, overpowering funeral doom, sorry, nautic funeral doom that is both terrifying and beautiful and awesome in its own way. It brings out something that not everyone who reads Moby Dick might catch on to - being out at sea means there's no escape if something goes wrong. And Ahab understand that the sea is a terrible place. But they also realize that it's a thing of beauty at the same token, and put together they really bring out the sea and all its glory better than any other band I have ever heard. I can't honestly decide what my favorite song is on this - because Ahab truly makes "songs" unimportant. These aren't songs in the true sense. What constitutes a song here is actually a bunch of different things put together tightly; they're just a bunch of amazing movements put together to make a "song". For instance, "The Hunt" has probably my least favorite moment on the album (not that it's bad, just not up to the rest of it), but then also has one of my favorite parts on it too. How can anyone choose? My favorite album changes from time to time, but right now, honestly, I'm going for The Call of the Wretched Sea. There is nothing wrong with this album. There is no bad moment on this album. This album is perfect. Simply, honestly, perfect. God, what an album.
Rating: 11/10

Overall: This post probably is kinda weird for some more into the doom genre, but these are my honest thoughts right now. Ahab remains the only doom band I really, really like - I have yet to find another to rival them. One of my favorite bands, and I'm genuinely excited to see what they'll bring to the table in future.

Oh, you didn't want a list? Shit.

 

[Magnus]

So I'm just posting this here so I have it down somewhere. Enjoy a list, folks.

Spoiler: Ahab Albums: Ranked

So I finally finished listening to Ahab's discography, and this is how I'd rank the albums.

#4: The Divinity of Oceans
I really wish I could like this album more, because the subject matter, the artwork, and the music are all awesome. That said, this one really drags along for the most part, more than the other albums. The vocals are a big step down from the debut, too, and the first time I heard it I couldn't get through two tracks. It also has too many soft moments - I like that Ahab have these, but they just didn't work well enough on this album. I do still like it, however, but it's just not as good as the rest of their work. Maybe with some relistens I'll learn to love it.
Rating: 7.9/10

#3: The Giant
This album was a rather cheerier if more frigid album than the rest. It's not perfect, but it's a step in the right direction after The Divinity of Oceans. Many memorable moments, and the peaceful ones are really great. I don't have much to say on this one all-told... I just know I liked it.
Rating: 9/10

#2: The Boats of the Glen Carrig
The Giant was a step in the right direction; this album is the right direction. The Boats of the Glen Carrig is a horror novel (that I really wanna read sometime in the future) and Ahab have taken that and truly crafted a masterpiece out of it. It boasts their longest song, "The Weedmen", and it's just as great as their shortest song (not counting "Outro" and "Of the Monstrous Pictures of Whales") "Like Red Foam (The Great Storm)". The whole thing flows together excellently, and their calm moments are some of the best in their discography. The album cover reflects the direction the band has taken now - it's more refined, sophisticated, polished, and beautiful than ever - but maintains an aura of mystery. I brought up that TBOTGC is a horror novel - horror novels (and movies) need calm moments in between the "not so calm" ones, making the latter even more impactful. Ahab have really managed to achieve that here, too. You know it's a horror... but it's such a beauty at the same time. Plus, it's got the first song I heard by the band on it - "The Isle". What more can I say? This is a masterpiece.
Rating: 10/10

#1: The Call of the Wretched Sea
But for all that, Ahab really didn't have to do anything after their debut to prove they were masters. The Call of the Wretched Sea takes Moby Dick and completely takes away any adventure one might have expected of the book - instead, it gives you over an hour's worth of dark, crushing, overpowering funeral doom, sorry, nautic funeral doom that is both terrifying and beautiful and awesome in its own way. It brings out something that not everyone who reads Moby Dick might catch on to - being out at sea means there's no escape if something goes wrong. And Ahab understand that the sea is a terrible place. But they also realize that it's a thing of beauty at the same token, and put together they really bring out the sea and all its glory better than any other band I have ever heard. I can't honestly decide what my favorite song is on this - because Ahab truly makes "songs" unimportant. These aren't songs in the true sense. What constitutes a song here is actually a bunch of different things put together tightly; they're just a bunch of amazing movements put together to make a "song". For instance, "The Hunt" has probably my least favorite moment on the album (not that it's bad, just not up to the rest of it), but then also has one of my favorite parts on it too. How can anyone choose? My favorite album changes from time to time, but right now, honestly, I'm going for The Call of the Wretched Sea. There is nothing wrong with this album. There is no bad moment on this album. This album is perfect. Simply, honestly, perfect. God, what an album.
Rating: 11/10

Overall: This post probably is kinda weird for some more into the doom genre, but these are my honest thoughts right now. Ahab remains the only doom band I really, really like - I have yet to find another to rival them. One of my favorite bands, and I'm genuinely excited to see what they'll bring to the table in future.

Oh, you didn't want a list? Shit.

Thanks @Diesel 11, interesting band. Kinda reminds me of Hamferð - or maybe Hamferð reminds of Ahab only I discovered them in the wrong order.

 

[Diesel 11]

Glad you enjoy.

 

[Diesel 11]

https://bellwitch.bandcamp.com/album/mirror-reaper

Just listened to this, one 80 minute track. Not sure what I think of it. Good background music, some really great dynamics, but I can't see myself coming back to something like this. I suppose I can see how dedicated Doom Metal fans would really enjoy it though.

Without guitars! Haven't heard it yet but great artwork:

So I first heard of this album via these two posts, and since I liked the artwork, I read up on it and found it had received a good deal of praise upon release. So after much putting off, I listened to it. This is an epic fucking album. It's slow, it's repetitive, it's massive... this is not something you want to listen to and do nothing else, this is the kind of thing where you do something that does take your mind off the music but keeps yourself from getting bored. And when you do that, this album is absolutely amazing. I'm really, really blown away... or carried away as it were by this mammoth. Just... wow. I dunno if I'll return to this album any time soon, because after one listen I need to reset myself in preparation. This album is... huge. 10/10

 

[Diesel 11]

Kinda reminds me of Hamferð - or maybe Hamferð reminds of Ahab only I discovered them in the wrong order.

I checked out their debut EP and now it's my turn to say: Thanks @Magnus , interesting band. I see some similarities to Ahab but overall, just really good. I'll definitely check out their other stuff.

 

[Night Prowler]

I saw Hamferdj live, they were pretty good. I remember they played the show wearing suits. Their vocalist is also in Barren Earth.

 

[Magnus]

I checked out their debut EP and now it's my turn to say: Thanks @Magnus , interesting band. I see some similarities to Ahab but overall, just really good. I'll definitely check out their other stuff.

Glad you liked it, Diesel.

 

[MrKnickerbocker]

I just discovered Hamferð and holy hell...this is so cool:

 

[Jer]

I’ve been experimenting with some doom and doom-adjacent stuff recently, and while doom doesn’t appear to be my thing in general, I am really enjoying Carnal Confessions by Fvneral Fvkk.

It also seems like I could probably get into Sorcerer’s The Crowning Of The Fire King, but I haven’t quite convinced myself of that yet.

Some of these melodic/epic doom bands have a lot of the musical elements that I like, but I keep finding myself wishing it was all a little bit faster.

 

[Jer]

This is a pretty cool symphonic doom album with some synthwave elements:

(full album)

 

[Night Prowler]

This is a pretty cool symphonic doom album with some synthwave elements:

(full album)

They had me within the first minute of the song, gonna check out the whole album.

Vocalist reminds me of Aleah and Chelsea Wolfe, and I like the synthwave parts a lot, great mix.

 

[Forostar]

Not sure where to put this, because I rather see everyone see this. But it certainly is a doomy cover!
Fans of My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost, Anneke, The Gathering, Ruud (Within Temptation), Type O Negative, Apocalyptica, Moonspell and/or of course Depeche Mode:

Check this out. Awesome guitar solos by the way imo.

In June of 2020, looking for a way to interact artistically during the COVID-19 lockdown, the producer-songwriter Libra invited a group of artists to record (each one from their homes) a version of the song “It Doesn’t Matter Two” by the legendary British band, Depeche Mode. This video was the result... ARTISTS (in order of appearance)

SHAUN MACGOWAN: Violin (My Dying Bride) Location: Halifax, England
EICCA TOPPINEN: Cello (Apocalyptica) Location: Helsinki, Finland
LIBRA: Vocals and Drums (Solo artist) Location: Hollywood, USA
ANNEKE VAN GIERSBERGEN: Vocals (Solo artist, Devin Townsend, VUUR, ex The Gathering) Location: Eindhoven, The Netherlands
AARON AEDY: Rhythm Guitar (Paradise Lost) Location: London, England
DON AIRES PEREIRA: Bass (Moonspell) Location: Viana do Castelo, Portugal
KENNY HICKEY: Rhythm Guitar (Type O Negative, Silvertomb) Location: New York, USA
CALEB BINGHAM: Lead Guitar (Athanasia) Location: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
AARON STAINTHORPE: Vocals (My Dying Bride) Location: Yorkshire, England
RUUD JOLIE: Lead Guitar (Within Temptation / For All We Know) Location: Tilburg, The Netherlands

 

[Diesel 11]

Diesel's Descent into Funeral Doom, Part I

As most of you know, Ahab is one of my favorite bands, and their album The Call of the Wretched Sea is probably my second favorite album ever released. As much as I love them, however, I've very rarely sought out funeral doom beyond them, and I figured it was about time I went spelunking in the caverns of the genre. I did some research and came up with twenty bands with one release each that I thought would be interested to spin. I have no idea if I'll do all of them, but we shall see what happens as time goes on. Twenty albums are much easier to consume than 365, that's for sure!

Alongside, I'll post some thoughts on the records as I listen to them for the first time. These won't be proper 'reviews' or 'analyses', just little notes for myself, and maybe they'll point some others towards bands they'd never heard before. With that in mind, I'm gonna start with the granddaddy of the genre, Thergothon.


Thergothon - Stream from the Heavens (1994)

Tracklist:
1. Everlasting 6:07
2. Yet the Watchers Guard 8:56
3. The Unknown Kadath in the Cold Waste 3:49
4. Elemental 9:18
5. Who Rides the Astral Wings 7:56
6. Crying Blood + Crimson Snow 4:42

It's the only full length album from the band who pretty much created funeral doom, and highly regarded by many fans of the subgenre. Let's see how it goes!

• To be honest, this wasn't really what I was expecting! I'm so used to the tightness of Ahab that this is a sort of shock to hear a rawer sound than theirs. There's a pretty cheap sounding keyboard playing behind the guitars, which is interesting. The guitars themselves are pretty good, but a bit less weighty in sound than I'd probably like. It's really not bad at all, it's 100% funeral doom for sure.
• The vocals are mostly guttural, that's the nature of the genre. I don't think the vocalist here is terribly great, but he's not bad either. He fits the music. He's just got a looser growl than I'd prefer. On occasion his accent sticks out, too.
• But it's not all growls. There are clean vocals that come up every now and then and they sound pretty good. Not much oomph, but they're sort of peaceful and calmer, yet still retaining the doomy, dirge-y vibes that they're trying to bring out.
• Given it was their first proper record, I can definitely see that the band could have pushed forward and become better songwriters. The first track, "Everlasting", ends kind of abruptly, like they didn't know where else to go with it.
• The second track, "Yet the Watchers Guard", is actually great. It opens with a heavy riff and includes some swipes of the guitar that sound like a coffin shutting. There's also some bits here that drone on in a really cool way, and the keyboard, as cheap as it may sound, is really adding to the ominous vibe. At intervals it also seems to speed up before succumbing to the trudge again. Interesting spoken word piece towards the end that's quite reminiscent of a funeral service. It's a pretty cool song overall.
• Another note on the vocals: if the term "cookie monster growls" is to apply to anyone, it definitely applies to this guy. Like I said, he's not bad, but he really feels amateurish, almost like a ten year old trying to sound scary. Just not tight enough as a vocalist to do the job he's striving for. Doesn't take away from the music, but it's almost funny at points.
• Okay, they're definitely Finnish. The accent shines through during some of the spoken word parts.
• Track three, "The Unknown Kadath in the Cold Waste", has an atmospheric acoustic section within it that really doesn't sound out of place on Angels Fall First (is this a typical Finnish thing?). The second half is electrical and feels like a slowed-down black metal piece. This is the shortest song on the album and feels more like an interlude between the two longest tracks.
• "Elemental" is the longest song on the album, at over nine minutes in length, but two minutes in and I'm already wondering if it deserves the runtime.
  • The riff isn't really that great, and the vocals are particularly bad in this one. Once the clean vocals pop up it becomes a bit more interesting. Around the halfway point it actually starts getting faster, and I can also make out acoustic guitars in the background. We also get a piece where only keys, drums, and a distortionless electric guitar allow themselves room for mulling about.
  • Once the heaviness returns, so do clean vocals, but this time they sound like the ramblings of a hermit, which isn't really my thing. Can't really make out the lyrics but it sounded like they just said "the demons call Adam Sandler"... huh.
  • The ending is also a bit... weird. The really don't seem to know how to properly end their songs. This was easily the weakest point so far.
• "Who Rides the Astral Wings" is better, but it doesn't really rip me up from my seat. Not that funeral doom should, per se, but you know what I mean. There were a couple sections here where I was hoping we could get a moment of reverie in more minimalistic instrumentation, but we went right back to the droning guitars.
  • Also can't tell if they're singing "glory" or "porridge", but whatever it is, they've repeated it a few times so it must be pretty important!
  • Another weak ending. Not a great trend.
• "Crying Blood + Crimson Snow" is a bit of a weak closer. Doesn't feel like it wraps up the album. One thing I've failed to mention with the way these songs all seem to end - there's a lot of fade-outs. I'd like a proper stop, please!
• One thing the album does succeed at is capturing the vibes of the album cover. It does feel like a bleak, deserted landscape in the setting sun, and conversely, also like roaming through the Finnish wildernesses.
• On that last note, the last band I thought I'd be bringing up here is Nightwish, but man, this album really gives me the same kind of impressions that some of the songs on AFF do, particularly "Lappi". Like they're a bit bare bones, yet have the building blocks that could be latched onto down the road for greater success. Unfortunately for Thergothon, they never got that chance.

Overall: I can definitely see why this one is held in such high regards, and the good stuff is pretty strong. But there's also a lot of room for improvement that could have made for a tighter funeral doom release. A very decent place to start in this genre, but there's better albums out there, I'm sure of it!
Highlights: "Yet the Watchers Guard", "The Unknown Kadath in the Cold Waste".

Next time: A tragedy of doomy proportions.

 

[Forostar]

I've never been so into this particular sub doom genre, but I gotta admit, this band.... man these vocals! So deep and low. Makes them unique. I also like the ethereal sound of the guitar. There's a weird vibration but it gives an edge to the music.

I do not see well how tightness is so important in this particular music (and age in which it was made) but maybe I do not understand what you exactly wish for.

The band feels different from Ahab. Thergothon is darker, more threatening.

This YouTube comment under Thergothon's album, haha:

"This is like speed metal if you ask Treebeard or another Ent."

Diesel, you may want to hear this one as well:

\

Into Darkness is the first and only full-length album of American doom metal band Winter, from 1990.

 

[Diesel 11]

I've never been so into this particular sub doom genre, but I gotta admit, this band.... man these vocals! So deep and low. Makes them unique. I also like the ethereal sound of the guitar. There's a weird vibration but it gives an edge to the music.

I do not see well how tightness is so important in this particular music (and age in which it was made) but maybe I do not understand what you exactly wish for.

The band feels different from Ahab. Thergothon is darker, more threatening.

Definitely. It’s just that when Ahab and Bell Witch are the only two bands you’ve heard full releases from, and their playing and production are tighter, hearing something looser makes sense, since this is where it all started, but still surprised me because of preconceived notions.

I actually ended up really like the feel of the album overall and my rating would probably be somewhere around 75%. The real issue for me was the fact that songs 4-6 weren’t as interesting as I’d have liked, but 1-3 were quite good.

I guess we’ll agree to disagree on the vocals, but on the first three tracks they’re actively a part of why I liked them. On the second three, part of why the songs didn’t work as well for me.

Diesel, you may want to hear this one as well:

\

Into Darkness is the first and only full-length album of American doom metal band Winter, from 1990.

Looks interesting! I don’t have it on my list, and Metal Archives has it under “death/doom”, but maybe I’ll give it a spin outside of this ‘deep dive’.