I have been a fan of London's Morag Tong for a good decade now, since the release of this debut. four-track EP back in 2016. They are named for the fictional guild of assassins featured in The Elder Scrolls game Morrowind and their reverb-drenched doom metal is as influenced as much by stoner metal as you would expect from a band of RPG-ing nerds. My original one-line review for this went "stoner doom that's nice 'n' slow and as heavy as an anchor strapped to an anvil that's tied to a millstone" and you know what, that remains true, but there is actually a bit more to it than just sheer weight so I thought I had better elaborate.

The riffs have an in-built bluesiness that reaches back as far as Sabbath's debut but which are delivered with such heft and distortion that they sound mountainously and crushingly heavy. The soloing, such as it is, has a psychedelic, spacey tinge that is fed from the band's stoner roots and which is aided by some Hawkwind-ish electronics buried quite deeply in the mix. I hesitate to call it trippy, though, because the tempo is so lethargic and the riffs just so fucking heavy that I am unsure if anything with this amount of heft can ever be labelled as such, although the title track "Through Clouded Time" does feature some quieter, more trippy moments, such as the introductory couple of minutes or so which almost sounds like a very heavy version of Fleetwood Mac's "Albatross" and a quite funky bass breakdown just after the halfway point. The two tracks either side, "Godhead" and "The Eyes of Men" are a bit more straight forward but deliver such devastatingly heavy doom riffs that they are still worthy of attention in their own rights.

Drummer Adam Asquith also handles vocals which are perfectly functional for this style of stonerised doom, whereas his drumming is really good within the confines of the genre and he and bassist Sam Lewis both featuring prominently enough in the mix to lay down a super-solid foundation upon which dual guitarists Alex Clarke and Lewis Crane can lay down the towering monoliths of the riffs. The four are obviously deeply steeped in the world of stoner doom and they sound like solid technical musicians perfectly able to translate their intentions into music, so there is a definite authenticity about what they delivered here.

In summary, this is a very impressive twenty-three minutes that handed out an attention-grabbing calling card to the UK's doom metal afficianados. Unfortunately I felt 2018's full-length "Last Knell of Om" failed to live up to this promise and I have yet to hear 2023's Grieve, so this stands as the band's high water mark for me so far. Truth is though, even if they never bettered this, it would still stand as a worthy testament. I was then and remain still, mightily impressed.

If eating air was a metalcore album, it would probably sound like The New Flesh by Sylosis. It's not even that bad of an album from a technical perspective, but good lord is it boring! The vocals sound painfully generic and lacking in emotional dynamic, the guitar work can be interesting from time-to-time, but it most noticeable when it's playing one of those Machine Head type thrash grooves. The percussion is mostly tasteful, but can be a little bit overbearing at times during the metalcore style breakdowns. I don't even like Sylosis and I can tell that the songwriting has taken a massive step down over the years. Albums like Monolith with their dynamic swells and deep engrained melodies are a thing of the past as the Architects style melodic metalcore of the 2020s has taken full effect.

Meet the new flesh, same as the old flesh.

Best Songs: Beneath the Surface, Lacerations

For Fans Of: Bleed From Within, Machine Head, Architects 

I have followed spanish doom crew Hela since their earliest days and have found them to be consistent deliverers of understated female-fronted doom metal. They are one of those bands that don't push the boat out too far from familiar shores and are quite unlikely to be anyone's favourites doom metal band, but keep plugging away, refining their sound and carving out a niche for themselves.

"A Reign to Conquer" features half a dozen 7-8 minute tracks that follow a similar pattern. Taking their cues from post-metal, they generally begin softly and serenely and build in intensity as the track progresses. The intensity level never really rises above a mildly elevated pulse rate, though, and the band don't really seem to be ploughing the old atmospheric sludge furrow of catharsis through ferocity, but are content to merely shake their proverbial fists at the sky rather than tear it down. They remain melodic throughout with some doleful riffs and new vocalist, Raquel Navarro, has a plaintive, yearning style of vocal delivery that underpins the melancholy atmosphere so vital to decent doom metal.

What Hela do they do pretty well and both the songwriting and performances are proficient and point to a very professional outfit who know what they want to deliver and exactly how go about it. This all sounds like criticism through faint praise I know and I like the band, but the simple truth is that they are a decent doom metal outfit who produce albums that are enjoyable enough, but which will seldom stick with you for too long after they end.

There is a serious side note which needs addressing regarding the production which may negatively impact most people's enjoyment - it certainly did mine. This is the fact that the album features terrible sound compression which makes it feel like it is being rammed into your ears, rather than allowing the nuances of the music as written to be experienced. This is especially sad because this feels like an album that is written with subtlety and contrast in mind. For example, listen to the album's best track "Emerald Mirror", which is amped up to levels that cause actual sound distortion when it is evidently written as a far more subtle exploration of light and shade which I feel is seriously undermined by the production. Even Raquel's vocals are distorted by the mix and a more sympathetic production job would have seen my score elevated a good half-star or more I believe.

Metal Archives lists Usnea as “Blackened Funeral Doom Metal” which instantly coloured me interested. Having snapped up this album into my digital library after hearing the track ‘Eidolons and the Increate’ on the April Fallen playlist, I was eager to explore the whole record in some more critical detail. A backlog of albums to review that seems to only get longer, has meant that I am only just now getting around to dumping my thoughts into type. Thankfully though, this period has not seen any of my initial enthusiasm for Portals Into Futility dulled at all. When your band sounds like a cross between Bell Witch and Graves at Sea, you are guaranteed to drag a smile out of my otherwise grizzled expression. That’s right, music that explores the hopelessness of existence, the depravity of a dystopian world whilst also introducing themes of cosmic horror is a pleasing concept to me. A sort of much needed dose of reality being laid bare alongside some extra metaphors to really underline what a shitshow this planet is most of the time.

Whilst I may have just laid praise at Usnea’s door for their blunt summary of life, it is the more cosmic sound to their funereal atmospheres that I think keeps me more interested. Portals Into Futility has a clever way of hinting things always have the capacity to get worse, to spiral further out of our control, to reach levels of despondency that are frankly unearthly. Whilst I am going to flat-out challenge the “blackened” description of their sound, the sterility of their bleaker passages of music simply asks, “is this is as good as things get this side of the dirt”? It is perhaps only their general disdain for life that I can match to any blackened references that are inferred. Vocally, there is a definitive desperation to how Joel or Justin (both appear to be credited for the vocals) deliver their musings. Yet I would not compare this to anything in the black metal realm, if anything they are clearly more sludge orientated. The guitars also may possess a swarming quality on tracks such as ‘Lathe of Heaven’ but he pacing here is very much funeral doom or glacial sludge riffs.

Give me the murky and unfathomable depths of ‘Demon Haunted World’ all day, any day and I will gladly bathe in them until that mire is engrained in my skin. When that Bell Witch bass kicks in I am in utter joy on this track even if it suggests one of the more positive sounding moments on the whole album (that’s how bleak this thing is). The album artwork (which Justin is also credited with collaboration on – busy chap) sums up the contents perfectly. Ultimately, there is no comfort to be found is what that artwork says to me, and Portals Into Futility is an uncomfortable listen. Closing with a punishing, nineteen-minute track shows that the end is more agonising than the run up. Buckle up folks. Strap on in. This is going to be a rough one.

I think we can all agree in the Dark Moor fanbase that the Elisa C. Martin era is the best. The albums from that era certainly beat the ones with Alfred Romero on vocals, though I still like the new era too. Shadowland is a solid start, and The Gates of Oblivion is the fan favorite. For me personally, the highest peak in their production and classical-infused symphonic power metal sound has to be their second album, The Hall of the Olden Dreams!

The production quality is crystal clear compared to Shadowland, and the neoclassical guitar shredding has the right amount of flavor. Nothing sounds distant. And those vocals by Elisa C. Martin pack a punch in every song.

The intro "The Ceremony" starts the album sounding like it came fresh out of the Old School RuneScape soundtrack. There was a time when I was focusing on more modern and heavier genres and put those instrumentals down as cheesy and sh*tty. But now I can appreciate the classical majesty, just like in the good ol' days of over a decade before this review. Then we really blast off into "Somewhere in Dreams". When I first encountered that song all those years ago, it was love at first hearing. I knew I had to listen to the rest of the album and the band's material right away. It's one of my favorite Dark Moor songs to this day and I'll never get tired of it. "Maid of Orleans" is another popular song from Dark Moor's earlier era, following the 1990s/2000s E-flat-tuned power metal trend. Some of the best vocals by Elisa appear in "Bells of Notre Dame", especially in the verses. She can belt out her vocal melodies that perfectly align with the emotional conflict depicted in the lyrics. And those vocals fit well with the guitar rhythm too. If Disney decides to make a live-action remake of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, they better include that song in the soundtrack.

Also showing their production improvement is "Silver Lake". The fast riffing and soloing makes the song another highlight in the album and possibly the band. As perfect as this album is, I admit that there's a bit of steam lost in "Mortal Sin". It's still great though. "The Sound of the Blade" has some nice variation as a softer ballad. Adding more variety on the heavier side is "Beyond the Fire" which I enjoy for its lean into Stratovarius-esque territory.

The one track that really threatens the album's perfection is "Quest for the Eternal Flame". The riffing by Enrik Garcia doesn't sound as majestic as the earlier tracks. At least Martin is holding the track up with her vocals, though the verses are losing their flow. The keyboard melodies sound a bit repetitive. And the chorus doesn't sound quite inspired or inspiring. Believe me, I was THIS close to giving this album 4.5 stars. Luckily, "Hand in Hand" saves the day as a fantastic closing track with its divine choruses, riffing, and soloing. I also love the Bach-sampled guitar/keyboard fiddling in the bridge (the same as in Children of Bodom's "The Nail").

I would also recommend the edition released in Korea that includes "The Fall of Melnibone", a 10-minute epic based on the Elric of Melnibone, though I don't enjoy the ballad "Wood's Song" as much. Either way, I highly recommend The Hall of the Olden Dreams for any fan of Dark Moor and power metal. This is where they truly leave their mark!

Favorites: "Somewhere in Dreams", "Bells of Notre Dame", "Silver Lake", "Beyond the Fire", "Hand in Hand", "The Fall of Melnibone" (bonus track)