The Death Doom Metal Thread

diSEMBOWELMENT - "Transcendence Into The Peripheral" (1993)

The greatest death doom metal release of all time in my opinion & also the best metal release to ever come out of my home country of Australia.

5/5

Katatonia - "Brave Murder Day" (1996)

Stunningly melodic Swedish doom/death featuring Opeth's Mikael Akerfeld on vocals. This was a huge record for me during the most difficult time of my life where my emotions were all over the place. It really hit me right where I needed to be hit at the time. Admittedly it hasn't aged as well as I thought it might have (i.e. the song structures are very pieced together & the snare sound is quite similar to hitting a matchbox) but those superlative melodies, beautifully composed harmonies & Mikael's aggressive vocals make this an essential release for the subgenre.

For fans of: early Paradise Lost, early Anathema, October Tide

4.5/5

This morning I decided to continue with my Top Ten subgenre lists theme of recent weeks with my Top Ten Death Doom Metal Release Of All Time so here it is:

01. diSEMBOWELMENT – “Transcendence Into The Peripheral” (1993)

02. Anathema – “Serenades” (1993)

03. My Dying Bride – “Turn Loose The Swans” (1993)

04. Anathema – “The Silent Enigma” (1995)

05. Katatonia – “Brave Murder Day” (1996)

06. My Dying Bride – “Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium” E.P. (1992)

07. Mar de Grises – “Streams Inwards” (2010)

08. Daylight Dies – “A Frail Becoming” (2012)

09. My Dying Bride – “The Thrash Of Naked Limbs” E.P. (1992)

10. Anathema – “Crestfallen” E.P. (1992)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/131

OK, I'll bite. DDM primary on Rob Your Mates required:

1. Winter - Into Darkness (1990)

2. Rippikoulu - Musta seremonia (1993)

3. Cianide - A Descent Into Hell (1994)

4. Monolithe - Monolithe III (2012)

5. Epitaphe - I (2019)

6. Ceremonium - Into the Autumn Shade (1995)

7. Coffins - Buried Death (2008)

8. Sempiternal Deathreign - The Spooky Gloom (1989)

9. Convocation - Ashes Coalesce (2020)

10. Atavisma - The Chthonic Rituals (2018)

Sorry, I know it's considered sacreligious not to have MDB, Anathema et al on a death doom list, but I do genuinely struggle with the whole gothic death doom schtick (in case you hadn't noticed)!

I've also not included any albums that are principally considered funeral doom, so no Evoken and the likes.

OK, I'll bite. DDM primary on Rob Your Mates required:

1. Winter - Into Darkness (1990)

2. Rippikoulu - Musta seremonia (1993)

3. Cianide - A Descent Into Hell (1994)

4. Monolithe - Monolithe III (2012)

5. Epitaphe - I (2019)

6. Ceremonium - Into the Autumn Shade (1995)

7. Coffins - Buried Death (2008)

8. Sempiternal Deathreign - The Spooky Gloom (1989)

9. Convocation - Ashes Coalesce (2020)

10. Atavisma - The Chthonic Rituals (2018)

Sorry, I know it's considered sacreligious not to have MDB, Anathema et al on a death doom list, but I do genuinely struggle with the whole gothic death doom schtick (in case you hadn't noticed)!

I've also not included any albums that are principally considered funeral doom, so no Evoken and the likes.

Really interesting list mate. That Winter record was a strong contender for my list however it's just been too many years since I lastrevisited it so I couldn't quite decide where the level of my adoration sits for it these days. Cruciform's "Paradox" demo would have been a strong contender too but I wanted to create a list in our Public Lists section so could only select proper releases.

My Dying Bride - "Turn Loose The Swans" (1993)

It's been many years since I revisited this old favourite so I was interested to see if it would still leave me lying in a pool on the floor in the same way as it did during my formative years. Well the answer to that question is that it certainly does but not quite as much as it once did which is mainly due to the overly-theatrical clean vocal moments like we hear in the opening track "Sear Me MCMXCIII" where Aaron is consciously trying to be the most dark, emotional & generally gothic person on earth. When the band hit their straps though (as they do in the classic three track run that includes "The Snow In My Hand", "The Crown Of Sympathy" & the title track) there are very few doom-related bands that can compete with them & the growly vocal stuff is always much appreciated. There are occasional moments when the violins get a little too cheesy but these are generally balanced out by some super-dark riffs of pure doom & order is well & truly restored. I guess my musical radar just isn't quite asin tune with the more gothic end of metal as it once was but I still think this is My Dying Bride's best full-length & it remains in my top three for the doom/death genre overall although it may have  slipped back into third position now.

For fans of Saturnus & early Paradise Lost/Anathema.

4.5/5

Katatonia - "Dance of December Souls" (1993)

To be honest, I've never understood the unanimous praise that Katatonia's debut full-length seems to inevitably draw. Sure, it's got some lovely melodies & creates a uniquely sombre atmosphere at times but is it really a genuine classic? I don't think so. The musicianship is pretty amateurish, the vocals are lacking in power & control, the arrangements are pretty loose, it's lacking in heaviness for a doom release & Dan Swano's keyboards are cheesy as hell for the most part. Somehow though, the overall package seems to draw me in just enough to qualify for a pass mark. I think the first couple of proper songs taint my impression a bit as they both sound pretty lethargic & this is exacerbated by the fact that the closer is absolutely awful but there's a lengthy four track run in between that I really enjoy & it just does enough to overcome my concerns. In fact, you can pretty easily see where a classic like "Brave Murder Day" came from during that stronger period & perhaps that fact alone is enough to command a 3.5/5 rating from me. I have to say that I've never understood the links to melodic black metal though. There's approximately one minute of black metal here if you look closely. There's a lot more of the gothic component which would stay with Katatonia for most of their career. Overall, I'd suggest that "Dance of December Souls" is a mildly enjoyable if inessential & overrated release that kicked off a consistently high quality discography.

For fans of October Tide & early Paradise Lost/Anathema.

3.5/5

Anathema - "The Silent Enigma" (1995)

The 1995 sophomore album from Liverpool-based doom/death exponents Anathema was a hugely influential release for me personally. Ben & I had gotten aboard the Anathema train very early on with their debut album "Serenades" having become nothing short of iconic in our household but "The Silent Enigma" brought with it some significant changes. Front man Darren White had departed with guitarist Vincent Cavanagh having taken over the vocal duties which had given the band a decidedly more gothic edge in comparison to their more deathly roots. In fact, I'd suggest that Anathema were no longer a death/doom band by this stage & were more of a gothic/doom one. The other change was the incorporation of more atmospherics. Theses sections definitely require a bit of patience as they're often drawn out but the pay-off is significant with the whole album possessing an immeasurable beauty. You'll rarely find a more emotionally charged metal release & it set the groundwork for Anathema's transition away from metal altogether over the next few albums.

For fans of Katatonia, Paradise Lost & My Dying Bride.

4.5/5

P.S. I've moved this release up a couple of notches in my Top Ten Death Doom Metal Releases Of All Time to number four ahead of Katatonia's "Brave Murder Day" & My Dying Bride's "Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium" E.P. after this revisit.

Paradise Lost - "Gothic" (1991)

I can distinctly remember the impact that this album made on the extreme metal scene at the time & rightly so but I have to admit that I've never rated it as highly as most death/doom fans seem to. There are some great atmospheric moments here but it does still sound like a work in progress to me rather than the finished product. The introduction of gothic elements such as female vocals & symphonics add a lot of interest however the gothic parts don't always hit the spot for mine. Gregor Mackintosh's guitar skills were still very basic at this stage too. He spends far too much time floating in & out of key for my liking as he clearly had no theoretical understanding of music. It's pretty amazing that he manages to hit such transcendent melodies at times when you take that into consideration, Nick Holmes death growls are outstanding & are probably the highlight of the album for me personally.

The album kicks off really well with the gothic-inspired title track (arguably the best & most ambitious piece on the album) & the more traditionally focused death metal number "Dead Emotion" being fine examples of the band's atmospheric skills but I find the two tracks that follow (i.e. "Shattered" & "Rapture") to be decidedly flat which means that the rest of the album is spent trying to recover (which it admittedly does reasonably well). "Eternal", "Angel Tears" & "Desolate" are all very strong but overall I'm left feeling a touch underwhelmed for such a highly regarded & important record. Perhaps it's that Paradise Lost aren't all that special at the classic death metal sound that makes up part of the album & I'm not the biggest gothic metal fan in the world either. Still... there's no argument from me when it comes to the unique atmosphere that Paradise Lost were able to create here & I enjoy the experience whenever I return to "Gothic"

3.5/5

Am I the only one who thinks that there should be more acknowledgement of the two distinct types of death doom metal. There seems to me to be a world of difference between the gothic style of death doom practiced by MDB et al and the more heavily (heavenly) death metal vibes of Cianide, Rippikoulu, Asphyx, Atavisma and Coffins. Is a fan of My Dying Bride, Katatonia, Draconian and Paradise Lost necessarily going to get off on Autopsy and Winter? I'm not saying they wouldn't, but surely there is enough of a separation in overall sound and atmosphere to justify a gothic or maybe even melodic death doom tag. They sound as different to me as black metal and melodic black metal do, so if the purpose of tagging is to direct fans of a certain style to further releases or bands they might like why should these two quite differing styles be lumped together.

Anyway it's just a thought, I'm trying to take my mind off the imminent destruction of the European way of life by focussing on the important issues!

Am I the only one who thinks that there should be more acknowledgement of the two distinct types of death doom metal. There seems to me to be a world of difference between the gothic style of death doom practiced by MDB et al and the more heavily (heavenly) death metal vibes of Cianide, Rippikoulu, Asphyx, Atavisma and Coffins. Is a fan of My Dying Bride, Katatonia, Draconian and Paradise Lost necessarily going to get off on Autopsy and Winter? I'm not saying they wouldn't, but surely there is enough of a separation in overall sound and atmosphere to justify a gothic or maybe even melodic death doom tag. They sound as different to me as black metal and melodic black metal do, so if the purpose of tagging is to direct fans of a certain style to further releases or bands they might like why should these two quite differing styles be lumped together.

When I was still listening to death-doom, I thought of the subgenre as 3 distinct types; melodic (My Dying Bride, Katatonia), gothic (Draconian, Paradise Lost), and DEATH-doom (Autopsy, Winter). It makes a lot of sense, and if I really was into the doom side of death-doom that marked the former two categories, I wouldn't like the death side as much (and I've never had). Two metal genres can be combined as one, but what matters is which side gets more of the spotlight. So yeah, you're not alone there, Sonny.

Am I the only one who thinks that there should be more acknowledgement of the two distinct types of death doom metal. There seems to me to be a world of difference between the gothic style of death doom practiced by MDB et al and the more heavily (heavenly) death metal vibes of Cianide, Rippikoulu, Asphyx, Atavisma and Coffins. Is a fan of My Dying Bride, Katatonia, Draconian and Paradise Lost necessarily going to get off on Autopsy and Winter? I'm not saying they wouldn't, but surely there is enough of a separation in overall sound and atmosphere to justify a gothic or maybe even melodic death doom tag. They sound as different to me as black metal and melodic black metal do, so if the purpose of tagging is to direct fans of a certain style to further releases or bands they might like why should these two quite differing styles be lumped together.

Anyway it's just a thought, I'm trying to take my mind off the imminent destruction of the European way of life by focussing on the important issues!

I guess it comes down to the same old question. What is Death Doom Metal? Is it simply bands that mix death metal and doom metal together? Or is it an actual style / sound of metal music? If it's the former, then you could argue that bands like Asphyx might belong. If it's the latter, then they have no place at all under the current death doom subgenre.

Either option has major flaws to be honest. I mean disEMBOWELMENT don't sound anything like My Dying Bride, nor do they sound anything like Coffins. But they definitely mix death metal techniques and doom metal.

I know I've said it before, but if I had A LOT more time, I'd attempt to rebuild the metal branching tree, and I'd start by trying to identify "sounds" within each genre. Giving them names would be the last thing that I'd do, and I'd want them to capture the essence of the sound without encouraging the inexperienced to use them incorrectly. Would it work? Probably not. There'd be way too many bands / releases that don't belong anywhere, potentially creating an endless list of subgenres. It would be fun to try though.

If / when that failed, I'd explore the idea of having only top level genres, with a bunch of descriptive tags to help separate them. What would happen if we only had Doom Metal, Thrash Metal, Heavy Metal, Death Metal, Black Metal etc., and then a bunch of descriptive tags that could be attached to them (Melodic, Brutal, Technical, Progressive, Gothic, Industrial, Symphonic etc.)? I can really see that working for a lot of the genres. Is this a death metal album? Yes. Is there a dominant descriptor that could be applied to it?  Yeah, it's got a high Symphonic aspect. Cool... it's a Symphonic Death Metal album! Again, probably wouldn't work, but it would be fun to think about.

I haven't answered your question at all. Sorry about that.

Am I the only one who thinks that there should be more acknowledgement of the two distinct types of death doom metal. There seems to me to be a world of difference between the gothic style of death doom practiced by MDB et al and the more heavily (heavenly) death metal vibes of Cianide, Rippikoulu, Asphyx, Atavisma and Coffins. Is a fan of My Dying Bride, Katatonia, Draconian and Paradise Lost necessarily going to get off on Autopsy and Winter? I'm not saying they wouldn't, but surely there is enough of a separation in overall sound and atmosphere to justify a gothic or maybe even melodic death doom tag. They sound as different to me as black metal and melodic black metal do, so if the purpose of tagging is to direct fans of a certain style to further releases or bands they might like why should these two quite differing styles be lumped together.

Anyway it's just a thought, I'm trying to take my mind off the imminent destruction of the European way of life by focussing on the important issues!

I guess it comes down to the same old question. What is Death Doom Metal? Is it simply bands that mix death metal and doom metal together? Or is it an actual style / sound of metal music? If it's the former, then you could argue that bands like Asphyx might belong. If it's the latter, then they have no place at all under the current death doom subgenre.

Either option has major flaws to be honest. I mean disEMBOWELMENT don't sound anything like My Dying Bride, nor do they sound anything like Coffins. But they definitely mix death metal techniques and doom metal.

I haven't answered your question at all. Sorry about that.

Actually Ben you have answered the question and quite succinctly indeed. So if I understand your reply, the melodic and gothic-toned variant (to use a topical term) should be tagged as death doom as it has a distinct style separate from death metal to a degree and the Coffins, Hooded Menace, heavily death metal based style would best  be tagged as both death metal and doom metal separately and the death doom tag discarded for these releases. That actually makes a huge amount of sense. The implication of this for Metal Academy and the clans of course, is that Draconian, Katatonia and the likes would reside solely in The Fallen and Cianide and Ripikkoulu would have both Fallen and Horde residency. I like this solution as it removes confusion and would better serve those looking for music in either style.

So to this end, on the releases page where you can select the clan and genre, if you select multiple choices, ie Fallen and Horde releases or death and doom metal, could we have an option for the results to display only releases that have both the selected genres and/or clans as at the moment it only displays releases that fit either criteria. This would also work for discovering stuff like blackened thrash or blackened death metal etc. and would give the release search function a greater flexibility.

The Ruins Of Beverast - "Exuvia" (2017)

With each revisit I really find myself becoming more & more enamoured with this fifth album from German solo act The Ruins Of Beverast due to the sheer scope & ambition that "Exuvia" possesses in spades. It not only drips of darkness & underground street credibility but it also pushes the boundaries of the doom/death subgenre in ways that make it seem like an uncomfortable fit next to other releases of its type. The tribal ambience that perpetuates most of the album is truly unique while the use of traditional death metal & black metal components never sound like a drastic change of scope & are more of a logical progression for the album. There are a few moments that don't quite hit the mark as well as others but when Alexander von Meilenwald gets his doom on there are few that can touch him with the production & execution being outstanding. I particularly love the deep, tribal drum sound & the thick, powerful guitar tone. It's also very rare that you'll find a solo artist that's as proficient as Alexander is across the whole gamut of instrumentation too. There's an undeniable class about this release as a piece of art & I've fallen head over heals for the sheer weight of its proficiency & grandeur.

4.5/5

Here's my updated Top Ten Death Doom Metal Releases Of All Time list which has seen Anathema's "Crestfallen" E.P. dropping out to make way for The Ruins Of Beverast's "Exuvia":

01. diSEMBOWELMENT – “Transcendence Into The Peripheral” (1993)

02. Anathema – “Serenades” (1993)

03. My Dying Bride – “Turn Loose The Swans” (1993)

04. The Ruins Of Beverast - "Exuvia" (2017)

05. Anathema – “The Silent Enigma” (1995)

06. Katatonia – “Brave Murder Day” (1996)

07. My Dying Bride – “Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium” E.P. (1992)

08. Mar de Grises – “Streams Inwards” (2010)

09. Daylight Dies – “A Frail Becoming” (2012)

10. My Dying Bride – “The Thrash Of Naked Limbs” E.P. (1992)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/131

Spectral Voice - "Eroded Corridors Of Unbeing" (2017)

Three of the dudes from Blood Incantation & Black Curse get together & make a doom/death record that pays clear homage to the great diSEMBOWELMENT only with a stronger emphasis on Bolt Thrower style death metal. What could be bad about that concept? Well the answer is nothing. Nothing whatsoever. Spectral Voice aren't quite as talented at creating truly unique & mind-bending atmospheres of sheer desolation as the Aussie doom/death legends were but they offer enough in the way of crushingly deep doom caverns & sudden blasting grind sections to keep this ol' death metal fanatic frothing at the mouth. Love those super-deep death growls too even if they're a long way from original. Spectral Voice just don't quite manage to get any of the five lengthy tracks to the absolute elite level though as there's always a flatter moment included somewhere & this sees me falling just short of my upper ratings but if you're a fan of bands like Anhedonist & Inverloch then you won't regret giving this album a few spins one bit.

4/5

Here's my updated Top Ten Death Doom Metal Releases Of All Time list which has seen Evoken's "Quietus" entering the fray at the expense of My Dying Bride's "The Thrash Of Naked Limbs" E.P.:

01. diSEMBOWELMENT – “Transcendence Into The Peripheral” (1993)

02. Anathema – “Serenades” (1993)

03. My Dying Bride – “Turn Loose The Swans” (1993)

04. The Ruins Of Beverast - "Exuvia" (2017)

05. Anathema – “The Silent Enigma” (1995)

06. Evoken - "Quietus" (2001)

07. Katatonia – “Brave Murder Day” (1996)

08. My Dying Bride – “Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium” E.P. (1992)

09. Mar de Grises – “Streams Inwards” (2010)

10. Daylight Dies – “A Frail Becoming” (2012)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/131

Epitaphe - II (2022)

Epitaphe's debut album, I, was one of my favourites of 2019 and earned itself a five-star rating in the process. So we are now three long war- and pandemic-riddled years on and the French death doomers have unleashed their sophomore, II, upon us (with huge anticipation from me). Luckily for us all their lack of imagination in the titling of their albums is the only area where they are deficient on the imagination front.

Once more the band employ a symmetry in the tracklisting as they did on the debut with a couple of three-minute, gentle instrumental pieces book-ending three nineteen-minute epics. II seems to be primarily tagged as progressive metal, but I am not entirely sure if that tagging is appropriate, chiefly because I don't know if a huge percentage of usual progressive metal fans would love this. I think of it more as death or death doom metal release that has some progressive tendencies, particularly in the songwriting department, rather than an actual prog metal release. The progressiveness here doesn't amount to overindulgence or technical showiness that bedevils so many releases labelled as prog metal, but is merely a convenient label to describe the convoluted songwriting. One thing is for certain, Epitaphe certainly employ an impressive arsenal of extreme metal tropes to achieve those songwriting aims. Vocally they run the whole gamut from deep, rumbling death metal growls to clean doom metal singing to harsh sludgey howls, back to soft, clean vocals similar to Mikael Akerfeldt's cleans on a track like Face of Melinda. Musically there are brutal death metal riffs, thick, sometimes melodic doom metal riffs, subsonic OSDM riffing and a plethora of blastbeats. All this multitude of weapons in the Frenchmens' arsenal are skillfully deployed with some excellent songwriting that, despite all the twisting and turning, is still fundamentally heavy as fuck! These lengthy tracks are not the slow-build, increasingly formulaic musings of the atmo-sludge wave, but tracks that rise and fall less predictably, ranging from intense explosions of brutal death metal savagery to calm and serene pastoral sections and artfully displayed technical prowess.

II is not an album for the impatient metalhead, but is a technically impressive (in both songwriting and performance) release that does not skimp on sheer aggression and heaviness when the music calls for it, but also contains plenty of nuances and variety. More challenging extreme metal releases can often, by their nature, be quite alienating with a tendency towards dissonance and angular song structures, but Epitaphe, much like Mikael Akerfeldt's Opeth before them, produce complex and challenging music that doesn't alienate the listener, but rather entrances and mesmerises them. This latest album should definitely cement Epitaphe's reputation as a metal band of immense ability and one of which to take note.

4.5/5

Even though I apparently enjoyed Epitaphe's debut quite a bit, I have zero recollection of it after rating it fairly highly at a 4. Something about immensely crushing Death Doom, regardless of how good it is, never quite allows me to go back to it with any sort of frequency. This follow-up has had way more replay-ability for me and due to the additions that Sonny listed, it's way more in line with my personal tastes than the debut. There's a ton to unpack through its drawn out songwriting, but I've found it to be all well worth it and I feel like I still haven't really gotten past the surface level of it at this point. Definitely one for me to go back to and give some more proper time before the end of the year. 

4.5/5

Tzompantli - Tlazcaltiliztli  (2022)

Tlazcaltiliztli is an album of thick as molasses death doom riffs and awesome bellowing growls for vocals that sound like a wounded bison and remind me somewhat of Japanese death doomers Coffins. Whilst the bulk of the album consists of this crushingly brutal assault on the listener's sensibilities there are also some really cool indiginous Mexican folk interludes that make for something a bit different and are undeniably an interesting diversion. The death doom side of things isn't the most earth-shatteringly awesome or original metal you are ever likely to hear, but it is authentic and it's chugging riffs are heavy as fuck and if you are a fan of extreme doom metal then that, along with the more interesting indiginous music interjections, should at least merit you checking it out (just don't try spelling it!) Me, I'm always a sucker for anything that sounds like it was derived from the early Autopsy sound, which this assuredly is, so for me this is a big thumbs up.

4/5

Assumption - Hadean Tides (2022)

Despite forming in 2011 as a duo consisting of drummer David Lucido and multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Giorgio Trombino, this is only Italian death doom outfit Assumption's second full-length, following 2018's Absconditus. Since the release of the debut the pair have rounded out their lineup by adding permanent bassist Claudio Troise and second guitarist Matija Dolinar to share the six-string workload with Giorgio. I think this is a good move, for while I respect multi-instrumentalists, I feel the full band dynamic nearly always works better.

A large proportion of Hadean Tides takes the form of funereally-paced death doom in the vein of bands such as the mighty Evoken with huge, crushing, glacially-paced riffs and Giorgio's impressive deep growls providing the vocal counterpoint. The pacing isn't monolithic though and the band will often break into an Incantation-like killer death metal riff to get the old noggin nodding or a quicker-paced doom section in the vein of a band like Coffins.

Of course, staying true to the idiosynchratic nature of Italian doom metal, the band throw in a couple of curveballs. First off, set in the very heart of the album is a six-minute ambient piece, Breath of the Dedalus, that sounds like it would be better-suited to a cosmic black metal album from the likes of Mesarthim or Mare Cognitum than a death doom release, yet here it sits like a black hole acting as an axis around which the rest of the album rotates... and somehow it works. The other, and possibly even more jarring curveball comes in the form of my favourite, the penultimate track, Triptych. It starts off weirdly with a lone bass line and Giorgio speaking the lyrics making it feel like a Doors track, in fact the whole song feels a bit like a death metal version of The End, with a similarly uncomfortable atmosphere to it and an even more dense and impenetrable lyrical content. Eventually it resolves itself into a classy, heaving death doom riff that is sustained for a short while after which it returns to the disturbing spoken-word approach of the earlier part before exploding into an all-out death metal blast which you can certainly imagine being accompanied by images of a water buffalo beheading! The tracks are generally shorter than on the debut (although the album overall is much longer) all except the closer, the fifteen-minute Black Trees Waving, which begins in funereal style, but which resolves into a great riff with some decent soloing whilst taking a couple of twists and turns along the way including a croaking clean vocal section.

Overall, Assumption take a tried-and-tested formula and reproduce it very convincingly whilst adding in just enough originality to assert their own identity and hopefully prevent themselves from getting lost in the avalanche of metal albums hitting the metaphorical shelves. It is one of those albums that should certainly make ears prick up, for good or ill, when heard. On the downside, I'm not sure why, but I don't  hear a huge amount of emotion or menace invested in it (something the aforementioned Evoken could certainly teach them about) and as such it does have a bit of a cold and sterile feel to it. However, I did find myself being drawn back to it's siren call several times and it did hold my interest with it's sometimes unpredictable structure, so I think I must label it a success.

4/5

Here's my updated Top Ten Death Doom Metal Releases Of All Time list which has seen My Dying Bride's "Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium" E.P. jumping a few spots up the list after yesterday's revisit:

01. diSEMBOWELMENT – “Transcendence Into The Peripheral” (1993)

02. Anathema – “Serenades” (1993)

03. My Dying Bride – “Turn Loose The Swans” (1993)

04. The Ruins Of Beverast - "Exuvia" (2017)

05. Anathema – “The Silent Enigma” (1995)

06. My Dying Bride – “Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium” E.P. (1992)

07. Evoken - "Quietus" (2001)

08. Katatonia – “Brave Murder Day” (1996)

09. Mar de Grises – “Streams Inwards” (2010)

10. Daylight Dies – “A Frail Becoming” (2012)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/131

Cavurn - "Rehearsal" (2017)

Well, what have we here then?? Fucking hell! Ladies & gentlemen, this relatively unknown rehearsal demo is an absolute fucking beast of a doom/death metal release. In fact, it's forced me to heavily revisit the all-time top ten I submitted only yesterday! It's super-dark, ultra-cavernous & as weighty as any extreme doomster could ever want. I actually don't buy that it's a rehearsal tape as it's simply not possible to get one to sound this good. This shit doesn't look out of place with the absolute elite examples of the subgenre in my opinion.

For fans of Mortiferum, Bloodsoaked Necrovoid & Burial.

4.5/5

And here's my adjusted top ten:

01. diSEMBOWELMENT – “Transcendence Into The Peripheral” (1993)

02. Anathema – “Serenades” (1993)

03. Cavurn - "Rehearsal" demo (2017)

04. My Dying Bride – “Turn Loose The Swans” (1993)

05. The Ruins Of Beverast - "Exuvia" (2017)

06. Anathema – “The Silent Enigma” (1995)

07. My Dying Bride – “Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium” E.P. (1992)

08. Evoken - "Quietus" (2001)

09. Katatonia – “Brave Murder Day” (1996)

10. Mar de Grises – “Streams Inwards” (2010)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/131

Paradise Lost - "Drown in Darkness - The Early Demos" (2009)

Unlike with the other Peaceville Three bands, I never checked out Paradise Lost's early demos back in the day, perhaps because their first couple of albums didn't make as big an impact on me as My Dying Bride & Anathema's did. I thought I'd rectify that omission this week through this compilation which draws together 1988's self-titled demo, 1989's "Frozen Illusion" demo & 1989's ""Plains of Desolation" live bootleg. Be warned that this is some very rough stuff as far as production & sound quality goes so it's lucky that I have a long history with tape trading. As with Paradise Lost's early albums, the performances are very primitive but Nick Holmes' vocals are excellent & he represents the focal point for the band at this point, particularly as Gregor's guitar work isn't always far enough forward in the mix or perfectly in tune.

The three releases showcase Paradise Lost's evolution from a fairly standard death metal band into one of the earliest exponents of the death doom metal subgenre. The self-titled demo & "Plains of Desolation" sit very much at the centrepoint between the two genres while "Frozen Illusion" sees them having transitioned into a genuine doom/death band & is much the better for it. You'll find a few tracks being repeated across the three releases but they're not always in the same format & have slightly different atmospheres. "Paradise Lost" & "Plains of Desolation" are very poorly recorded with the latter having the guitars sitting miles too far back in the mix but Nick somehow manages to keep things from being a complete disaster through his charismatic delivery. The drumming is particularly poor on "Plains of Desolation" too.

Thankfully though, the "Frozen Illusion" demo is really quite good with "Paradise Lost" & the title track being very entertaining & highly atmospheric examples of early death/doom. It's versions of "Paradise Lost" & "Frozen Illusion" are the clear highlights of the compilation & make it worth checking out for completists & fans of the band but I wouldn't recommend "Drown In Darkness" to casual listeners as it can be a bit of a hard slog at times, even though it offers a fair bit of authentic 80's underground death metal atmosphere. Think Autopsy meets Celtic Frost & you won't be too far off the mark.

3/5