The Death Doom Metal Thread

Rippikoulu - "Musta seremonia" demo (1993)

I hadn't revisited this cult classic of a mid-90's demo tape in many years but Ben recently asked me for my opinion on it & I noticed that I hadn't rated it on Metal Academy yet so I felt it was about time I gave it another sitting. The six tracks included run for just over half an hour which is a good length for this kind of release &, while the production may be really raw, it  loses none of it's effectiveness. In fact, I feel that the crushing down-tuned riffage & depressive atmospherics are only enhanced by it which is the sign of a true underground gem. I really love the deep death growls too as they're wonderfully monstrous but don't sound generic in the slightest.

Musically, Rippikoulu's sound is a tale of two cities. On the one hand you have the dark, suffocating doom/death of bands like Spectral Voice, Winter & diSEMBOWELMENT, only it's been combined with the grimy, mid-paced, tremolo-picked conventional death metal of early Bolt Thrower & the outcome is nothing short of splendid. Perhaps the lack of production can make a lot of the material sound a touch samey but it's only a short release & the couple of more atmospheric highlights that close out the demo certainly stand out, particularly the spectacular "Pimeys yllä Jumalan maan" which about as good as doom/death gets. If I'm being picky I'd say that the faster parts are a little less effective than the doomier sections but this is a quality effort from a band that clearly showed a lot of unfulfilled potential.

4/5

Rippikoulu - "Musta seremonia" demo (1993)

I hadn't revisited this cult classic of a mid-90's demo tape in many years but Ben recently asked me for my opinion on it & I noticed that I hadn't rated it on Metal Academy yet so I felt it was about time I gave it another sitting. The six tracks included run for just over half an hour which is a good length for this kind of release &, while the production may be really raw, it  loses none of it's effectiveness. In fact, I feel that the crushing down-tuned riffage & depressive atmospherics are only enhanced by it which is the sign of a true underground gem. I really love the deep death growls too as they're wonderfully monstrous but don't sound generic in the slightest.

Musically, Rippikoulu's sound is a tale of two cities. On the one hand you have the dark, suffocating doom/death of bands like Spectral Voice, Winter & diSEMBOWELMENT, only it's been combined with the grimy, mid-paced, tremolo-picked conventional death metal of early Bolt Thrower & the outcome is nothing short of splendid. Perhaps the lack of production can make a lot of the material sound a touch samey but it's only a short release & the couple of more atmospheric highlights that close out the demo certainly stand out, particularly the spectacular "Pimeys yllä Jumalan maan" which about as good as doom/death gets. If I'm being picky I'd say that the faster parts are a little less effective than the doomier sections but this is a quality effort from a band that clearly showed a lot of unfulfilled potential.

4/5

A five-star rating from me for this one, Daniel. I have a copy of the 2010 re-issue on CD and it gets plenty of spin-time in the Sonny household.

Anathema - "Serenades" (1993)

Nostalgia is a very powerful emotion. For an obsessive music fanatic like myself it can be so potent that it’s actually kept me from reviewing Liverpool doom/death legends Anathema’s debut album for far longer than it should have. You see, 1993’s “Serenades” (as well as ALL of Anathema’s other 1990’s material) had nothing short of a life-changing impact on my life at the time. There were some seriously hard times during that period of my life including death, drugs, unwanted pregnancy, abortion, adultery, etc. & Anathema represented a place for me to curl up in a ball, wallow in my sorrows, rejuvenate my strength & return to the world with renewed vigor. For this reason, I’ve found the idea of reviewing “Serenades” to be a highly daunting (if not impossible) task. I mean, how could I possibly do it justice? I was well aware that not all of this record was spectacular enough to warrant the five star rating I’ve dished out for it without a hint of hesitation over the years & it scared me to have to deal with that in a way. Perhaps I didn’t want to face a world where “Serenades” is just another record? I dunno but it’s time I overcame my fears in this regard though, if only to ensure that my Top Ten Death Doom Metal Releases of All Time list is a genuine portrayal of the quality of each release.

Ben & I discovered Anathema very early on in their recording career & I regard myself as being very lucky to have done so. 1992’s “The Crestfallen” E.P. was a marvellously atmospheric way to kick things off & saw the band taking huge strides forwards following a couple of crudely produced demo tapes that I picked up through the tape trading scene. Their debut full-length has proven to be much more divisive than the E.P. though & for reasons that I’ve always struggled to understand to be honest. My gut instinct tells me it’s been heavily down-rated by fans of Anathema’s later progressive/alternative rock releases which is a theory that’s pretty easy to believe although there are other factors that come have come into play too. Vocalist Darren White’s mournful death growls can be pretty tough going for those that don’t buy into the sheer hopelessness of Anathema’s depressive, mournful approach to doom metal while the inclusion of a 23 minute ambient piece at the end of the tracklisting is no doubt an insurmountable obstacle for your average metalhead. The album jumps around quite a bit stylistically too as it presents a number of disparate influences throughout its 66 minute runtime. None of these things have proven to be challenges for me personally though. In fact, I genuinely love all of those elements to tell you the truth.

The production job on “Serenades” is pretty dirty which is probably one of those love it or hate it things. Personally I think that the down-tuned guitars benefit from it as it adds to the mournful quality of the album. The rhythm section sounds natural though, particularly the drums which possess an organic depth. The performances are excellent all round with the Cavanagh brothers proving themselves to be the owners of true genius in the way they create complex melodic counterpoints that combine into one devastating harmonic result. This technique has been one that I’ve forever admired & few have ever come close to matching. When they get things just right they can build some truly transcendent & emotionally charged doom metal that reaches into my soul & tears my heart-strings to pieces. This has never been better highlighted than it is on “Sleep in Sanity” which is one of the greatest couple of doom/death tracks ever recorded. The re-recording of “They (Will Always) Die” (which was originally including on “The Crestfallen” as “They Die”) goes very close to matching it too with “Under A Veil (Of Black Lace)” completing a trio of astoundingly high quality examples of their type. The gentle acoustic ballad “J'ai fait une promesse” is just as strong with female singer Ruth Wilson’s sweet tones making me feel like I’m drowning in honey while the epic ambient closer “Dreaming: The Romance” is incredibly well written & executed for a metal band. As an avid fan of ambient music, I have to say that it’s remarkable that Daniel Cavanagh has been able to pull off a work as fully realised & consistently engaging as this monster piece which sees me melting into my environment in a state of satisfied relaxation to cap off what is an immensely important record in my life.

Is “Serenades” the perfect record I always wanted it to be? Well, no I don’t think it is as I can’t say that I genuinely "love" tracks like “Sleepless” & “Where Shadows Dance”. I’ve always found it funny that easily the most popular track on “Serenades” is also it’s clear weak point in my opinion. The gothic rock-inspired “Sleepless” has become a very popular anthem for the band over the years (in part due to its accompanying video clip) but if you look closely you’ll find it to be one of the least significant moments on the album. The clean vocals sound sloppy, the structure is very basic & the more up-tempo metal riffs are not half as compelling as when Anathema reach deep inside of themselves to draw out the darkest memories of the most shattering parts of life. Regardless of what era of Anathema’s back catalogue I explore, they have an uncanny knack for making me feel things that no other metal band can & I can’t see that changing any time soon. "Serenades" offers more of those moments than most as it's built around some incredible highlights. You really need to buy into what Anathema are selling if you’re going to reach their gooey centre though as their complexities are not as obvious as that of their peers who generally don’t reach as far when it comes to structural complexity. If you go nuts for bands like Katatonia, Paradise Lost & My Dying Bride then I implore you not to be put off by the undue criticism of “Serenades” because it’s one of the more special doom/death releases you’ll find. It sits more than comfortably alongside the star-studded back-catalogue of one of the most important bands in my life.

4.5/5

Here's my updated Top Ten Death Doom Metal Releases of All Time list with "Serenades" dropping down a few places:

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

02. Cavurn - "Rehearsal" demo (2017)

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

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

05. Anathema – “Serenades” (1993)

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

07. Winter - "Into Darkness" (1990)

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

09. Evoken - "Quietus" (2001)

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

Brilliantly personal review Daniel. This album is a bit hit or miss for me, but I totally understand how it could be special for anyone. Though I am guilty of finding Sleepless to be the best song ;)

Also, LOVE seeing Mar de Grises in your top 10 Death Doom list. Most underrated band... maybe ever. 

My Dying Bride - "Songs of Darkness, Words of Light" (2004)

The eighth full-length from Halifax's finest doom/death exponents is another strong effort that combines their various components in possibly the most cohesive way yet with the doom/death, gothic metal & conventional doom metal elements being perfectly entwined to create a focused & unified journey. The album begins in solid fashion over the first few tracks before dropping the momentum a little through the middle, only to recover in the most emphatic way possible by closing with two of My Dying Best tracks ever. Aaron's clean vocals are perhaps his best to date as I don't find them half as repetitive as he is sometimes guilty of. His harsh vocals do sound a little weak through the first half of the album though before recovering for the stronger material at the back end of the tracklisting. While there are no weak tracks included, the mid-album lull does prevent me from reaching for my higher scores but there's not doubt that "Songs of Darkness, Words of Light" is a strong release that fans of bands like Paradise Lost, Anathema & Draconian will do their fair share of frothing over. In fact, I'd take it over 2001's widely praised "The Dreadful Hours" album & only place it behind My Dying Bride's classic 1992-1995 material in their overall back catalogue these days.

4/5

I'm gonna be checking out one Evoken album a day until I review Caress of the Void.  I want my review of that album to be as accurate as possible, and this will add another band to my death doom and funeral doom charts when I make them.  So today it's Embrace the Emptiness.  And I'll be working on that while also working on prog electronic.

Darkthrone - "Land of Frost" demo (1988)

I picked up all four of Darkthrone's demo tapes very early on in my tape trading days back in the early 1990's. This one was their first & it shows in the dodgy performances as everything is pretty loose. "Land of Frost" is generally regarded as being death metal but there's easily as much doom metal as there is death metal here with the slower stuff being some of the stronger parts of the cassette. Some people seem to have a problem with Fenriz' psychotic vocal delivery which is smothered in delay but I don't mind it at all. There's enough decent material for this to be a much better demo actually. It just needed a bit of quality control & some more developed chops.

2.5/5