Doom Metal - A Chronological Review

Doom metal... The accepted story seems to be that it was created by the traditional doom metal bands of the early-to-mid 1980's who took the doomier elements of Black Sabbath's early albums & the 1970's recordings of more underground bands like Pentagram & Bedemon & made them into a dedicated artform. But is that technically correct or is it simply a myth? Was doom metal already well defined prior to the 1980's &, if so, who were the protagonists? Over the last six months I've endeavored to find out by exploring the earliest roots of metal & I'll be sharing my results here with you over the coming weeks as we explore the earliest roots of the doom metal genre.

OK, so you'll be relieved to hear that there's not gonna be any surprises to kick this journey off. Black Sabbath's signature title track was unquestionably the earliest example of a doom metal track. No, not heavy metal. Genuine doom metal. Well.... what's known as traditional doom metal on some other websites to be fair. Let's take a look at why, shall we?

The low tempos, crushingly heavy main riff & phenomenally dark atmosphere of the first four & a half minutes of this classic metal anthem justify a doom metal tag without any case for challenging. The remainder of the song sees that tag moving more into the traditional doom metal space than the pure doom metal one with the more up-tempo section from 4:37-5:15 clearly being the source of inspiration for Iron Maiden's signature heavy metal gallop & the final one-minute crescendo being a complete heavy psych workout. This was obviously doom metal's origin as far as I'm concerned.

The second earliest genuine doom metal track I came across in my investigations is nowhere near as obvious & was actually recorded before the release (but after the recording) of "Black Sabbath" in early 1970. It comes from former Blue Cheer guitarist Randy Holden whose debut solo album "Population II" is a pretty decent heavy psych record to tell you the truth. The album includes this metal monster "Fruit & Icebergs" that I'd suggest showcases a clear infusion of his heavy psych sound into genuine doom metal, thus creating an excellent early example of the traditional doom metal subgenre.

What do you guys think of it? Doom metal enough for ya?

One can't deny Blue Cheer's status as a proto-metal act, but I think it just slightly missed the mark.

One can't deny Blue Cheer's status as a proto-metal act, but I think it just slightly missed the mark.

Interesting. This was one of the ones that I thought was more clear-cut to be honest. Are you saying that you don't think it should qualify as traditional doom metal or that you don't think it's metal in general?

Also on Randy Holden's "Population II" album from the early 1970, we find this shorter reenactment of the previously mentioned "Fruit & Icebergs" which showcases the same slow tempos, crushingly heavy metal riffs & the lumberous doom metal atmosphere of the original version (if one that's strongly infused with heavy psych which once again sees it falling into the traditional doom metal tag):

The second earliest genuine doom metal track I came across in my investigations is nowhere near as obvious & was actually recorded before the release (but after the recording) of "Black Sabbath" in early 1970. It comes from former Blue Cheer guitarist Randy Holden whose debut solo album "Population II" is a pretty decent heavy psych record to tell you the truth. The album includes this metal monster "Fruit & Icebergs" that I'd suggest showcases a clear infusion of his heavy psych sound into genuine doom metal, thus creating an excellent early example of the traditional doom metal subgenre.

What do you guys think of it? Doom metal enough for ya?

I've got to admit, Daniel, it does sound very much like the early Pentagram and Bedemon demos and I don't think it would raise too many eyebrows if it was on Child of Darkness or First Daze Here, so yes, I think there is some credence to the claim.

She's So Heavy by The Beatles. It's not full-on Trad Doom proper, but undeniably has very strong elements of what started the genre.

This one might be a little controversial as most people seem to tag it as heavy metal but I'm gonna dispute that. Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" from their classic 1970 sophomore album "Paranoid" (which was released on 18th September 1970) is too slow & doomy for heavy metal in my opinion. The dark, lumbering riffs that make up the majority of the song's run time are classic doom metal & possess the atmosphere to match. It's only really the solo sections that see heavy metal playing a role which draws things into the traditional doom metal space.

I certainly wouldn't disagree with this. I think Iron Man encapsulates the kind of sound early Pentagram, Bedemon, Saint Vitus and The Obsessed were going for.

Black Sabbath's "Electric Funeral" from 1970's classic "Paranoid" album is an interesting one because it kinda crosses over between stoner metal & doom metal. On the one hand you have the slow tempos & imposing atmosphere of traditional doom metal & on the other one you have the extensive use of wah pedal which adds a thick layer of psychedelics & makes it hard to pick just the one genre tag. As a result, I'm gonna say that this was the first true stoner doom track.

This morning we're gonna take a look at a deeper cut that hit the scene on 21st October 1970 & it takes the form of a cover of Black Sabbath's classic title track from earlier that year, only this time it's done in a deeper, more atmospheric & much more psychedelic style that I absolutely love. It's taken from Japanese icons Flower Travellin' Band's underappreciated debut album "Anywhere" & it also represents a very pure example of the traditional doom metal sound in my opinion. See what you think.

The doom train continued its journey in February 1972 when Philadelphia hard rockers Bang released their self-titled debut album which included this doomy number which I'd suggest should qualify as traditional doom metal:

It doesn't get much more underground than the release this obscure 1972 track is taken from with Peru's Tarkus only releasing 50 copies of their self-titled debut album. It's extremely raw stuff but "Tema para Lilus" unquestionably possesses all of the calling cards of the traditional doom metal sound:

This morning we examine the birth of one of doom metal's biggest names with Pentagram's "Bias Studio Recordings" demo being released on 22nd March 1973. It contained this classic doom anthem: