What Are You Listening To Now - The Fallen Edition

Paradise Lost - Paradise Lost (2005)

This is fairly typical of Paradise Lost's 2000's output. In other words it is an album of rather staid gothic metal that doesn't do anything especially interesting or exciting. It isn't terrible by any means, but it does sound awfully commercial to my ears and it fails to grab me in any meaningful way, other than as background. The '00s seem to have been a period of still water for the Yorkshiremen, a period of treading water after the successful emergence and flourishing that the band underwent through the 90s and prior to their 2010s resurgence when they rediscovered their doom-laden inheritance. At least the album does end on a high with the one-two of "Spirit" and "Over the Madness" providing the album's best moments and Nick Holmes' voice still sounds great here, so all was not lost by any means.

3.5/5

Cult of Luna and Julie Christmas - Mariner (2016)

I have no idea who Juie Christmas is, or what her work outside of this collaboration may sound like, but one thing is for sure, she has certainly brought an additional dimension to CoL's sound, without nudging it too far from what we have come to expect from the swedish atmo-sludge crew. I went into Mariner expecting it to be Cult of Luna with ethereal female vocals, presuming Julie Christmas to have come from a darkwave or gothic background similar to Chelsea Wolfe, but that isn't what she brings to the table at all. In fact, there is a quite a variation in her vocal styles, ranging from a quite twee-sounding, young girl-like voice to a snarling, sharp-edged sludgy shriek. I must admit that it is the more aggressive latter style which I found most appealing, such as she uses on "The Wreck of S.S. Needle" alongside a clean style that reminded me of SubRosa's Rebecca Vernon. I can see that Julie's vocals may be divisive among CoL fans and I feel that it may take me a few more listens to be completely at home with them myself, but she does help to revitalise a band that was getting maybe a little too comfortable in it's own skin.

Of course, this being Cult of Luna, the instrumentation is impeccable and the songs are multi-textured affairs, but they feel less reliant on the build-and-release trope that has become the main feature of atmospheric sludge in general and CoL in particular over the years. I think this may be down to the flexibility of Julie Christmas's vocals which bring wider textural variety to the vocal aspect of Mariner's sound and makes it less reliant on the building of instrumental tension and the subsequent payoff of it's release that the genre has stereotypically come to rely on. This fundamental aspect of Cult of Luna's sound isn't completely absent of course and is very much still in evidence in a song like "Approaching Transition" which, tellingly, Julie is less involved in and as such sounds more like the CoL we are all used to.

Whilst the album as a whole is a very solid and interesting affair, for me it is at it's best when JC is given free rein and utilises all the vocal tricks in her toolbox, with the closer "Cygnus" and the afrementioned, "The Wreck of S.S. Needle", being the two standouts as her vocals weave in and around the band's searing and soaring instrumentation in a quite sublime dance of musical dexterity and creativity. The songwriting on these two tracks is quite exceptional and feels extremely natural, as if the sounds these two entities have ended up producing are the only feasible outcome of their inevitable collaboration.

I must admit, before listening to Mariner, I thought that Cult of Luna no longer really had the ability to surprise me. Entertain and delight me, for sure, but to make me do a double-take and really sit up and take notice of a newly-heard release, no those days were gone. I was wrong for sure and I can't really explain why it has taken me so long to get around to checking this collaboration out, other than I already thought I knew what to expect. Well bigger fool me, because this is not at all that thing, but rather an invigorating and special slab of atmospheric sludge that stands up to scrutiny against all but the absolute best that the genre has to offer. Maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks after all.

4.5/5

Katatonia - Discouraged Ones (1998)

The latest subject of my quest to rate all the albums on the Fallen chart has led me to Katatonia's 1998 third full-length. I've got a bit of a troubled history with Katatonia, with my earliest exposure to them, Last Fair Deal Gone Down not at all being to my liking. However, both Brave Murder Day and the subsequent Sounds of Decay EP restored my confidence in the Swedes and I enjoyed both quite a bit. Oh dear, between those and this, though, things went horribly wrong. I found this to be incredibly insipid, with the comparison that kept leaping into my mind being "it's metal Coldplay". I have no intention of providing a full review because that would entail me having to listen to it several more times, a prospect that is just too daunting for me to contemplate, even though my doctor says I need to get my blood pressure down and listening to something this bland on hard rotation may well manage that. Sure there were a couple of decent tracks, "Cold Ways" and "Saw You Drown" are quite nice, but the vocals are the most banal I have heard this side of Chris Martin. I'm really sorry to anyone who does love this (I know Ben is a fan) and I mean no disrespect, but I disliked it immensely. Discouraged Ones? Yeah, I'm one of 'em.

2/5 

I was planning on just sharing my thoughts on Trail of Tears' 1997 demo When Silence Cries, but then I finally found their rare 1996 demo from when they were originally called Natt, so let's check them both of them out...

Natt (Norwegian for "Night") was the earliest incarnation of Trail of Tears, formed in 1994. They were much different from the Trail of Tears we know. There's barely, if at all, any of the orchestral synths that have marked an important aspect of their later sound. The harsh/female vocal ratio is closer to that of Free Fall Into Fear and Existentia, with the small amount of female singing coming from vocalist Ales Vik, not bad but can't surpass the later female vocalists. The sound itself can be considered melodic death-doom in a similar vein to Amorphis' Tales from the Thousand Lakes and 90s October Tide, rather than Trail of Tears' brand of epic extreme gothic metal. It's a decent demo, though I won't say many of the songs would be considered highlights. The ones I enjoy are in the B-side; "Once a Paradise" (later re-recorded as a bonus track for Trail of Tears' debut Disclosure in Red) and "Sadness". Nice demo, but not worth returning to....

Favorites: "Once a Paradise", "Sadness"

3/5

One year later, the band consisting of bassist Kjell Rune Hagen, guitarists Terje Heiseldal and Michael S. Krumins, and vocalist Ronny Thorsen had the name changed to Trail of Tears and recorded the demo When Silence Cries. I was actually able to find this demo easily when I first got fully interested in this band a year before this comment, that's how common it was compared to the Natt demo. Background synths became more prominently used, though they sound a little odd here. Helena Iren Michaelsen comes in with her operatic soprano that, like I said above, can surpass Ales Vik. The gothic/melodeath sound that is who they are is in full force, kinda like Katatonia's Brave Murder Day with a twist by Epica (Helena would later join that band when they were starting out as Sahara Dust). I love the songs here that are demo versions of some highlights from Disclosure in Red. If you've read my review for that album, you know what I think of those songs. A better beginning for this wonderous band....

Favorites: "Mournful Pigeon", "When Silence Cries"

3.5/5

I've spent a lot of time with Abandon's The Dead End album from 2009 over the past couple of weeks. I've had to devote a lot of time, because the album is 106 minutes long! I'm certainly glad I've put the effort in though, as this is really great Funeral Doom release that's very reminiscent of Worship and Skepticism. I note that the release is labelled Sludge Metal first and foremost, but I'm afraid that makes me even more confused as to what Sludge Metal actually is. Are hardcore-style vocals really enough to turn what is very obviously a Funeral Doom release into a Sludge Metal release?

Anyway, if you haven't checked this one out Sonny, I'd be shocked if you didn't dig it. Make sure you have plenty of time to give it a few spins though!

I remember seeing the cover, but don't recall hearing it before.

I have just got it teed up to play as accompaniment on my morning dog walk, Ben, so we are good to go. It's a sunny day here today, so I don't know how that will chime with what appears to be a very bleak release, but we will see.

Wren "Black Rain Falls" (2025)

Wren is one of the most unmetal sounding band names that could be picked really. One step up from Sparrow or Dunnock I suppose but still leans heavily on the lame side of the bird world. Whilst it may not be the most threatening name in the world metal, Wren does fit the atmospheric sludge of this London four piece as they explore a vast and dense landscape across their third album, Black Rain Falls. Foraging through punishingly slow riffs, flitting between ethereal density and atmospheric ecosystems and nesting in the rafters of the solid structures of the seven tracks on offer.

Describing themselves as a ‘blackened noise band’ (at least according to the Spotify bio anyway) could not be further from the truth, as there is no noisy element to this record. The agonising pace of album highlight, ‘Toil in the Undergrowth’ is testimony to how captivating atmospheric sludge is. By the time the first riff lands we are three minutes into the track. Those hoarse and tormented vocals heralding the arrival of the track proper perfectly as that riff crashes in behind them. This album is full of Neurosis and Isis influences, and as a result had me hooked from the off. Songs feel like they are expanding even though there is little in the way of variation to suggest this is naturally the case. Any progression is deliberate and measured, feeling organic and unforced.

Tracks often end feeling like very little has happened in the way of change once the established format has been engineered, but still, I get sense of total satisfaction from the majority of what is on offer here. The interlude in the middle of the record feels a bit out of place though, even though it does in some ways introduce the dense, bassy opening of ‘Metric of Grief' nicely. Album closer ‘Scorched Hinds’ is one of the more obvious Neurosis sounding tracks, with its shifts and swells accompanied by chiming guitar notes that remind me of Kowloon Walled City. There is a lot to like in the simplicity of Black Rain Falls and it stands out as one of my happier new finds in The Fallen clan of late.

Sleep - Dopesmoker (2003)

Let my precautionary tale be a warning to all you young metalheads out there. It all begins with Black Sabbath and if you start down that road of taking tokes of the Brummies' fairly lightweight stoner metal you eventually end sprawled out on some mates bedroom floor, rendered virtually catatonic by constantly huffing bong hits of Sleep instead of going out to walk in the sunshine occasionally! Sleep and Dopesmoker are synonymous with the real hardcore end of stoner metal and their huge, fuzzy riffs are dragged out almost beyond endurance, to create a metaphorical blanket of weed smoke that both cradles and stifles the listener, leaving them unable to do much other than lay back, open their mind and just go with the flow (man!!) And I am guessing that that was exactly the band's mission statement when they set out to create Dopesmoker, to which end they have been inordinately successful. The perfect accompaniment to afternoons spent earnestly discussing man's cosmic insignificance and wolfing down Sugar Puffs straight out of the box with mates just as hammered as you are.

4.5/5

I've noticed that a lot of modern-day critics seem to struggle with "Dopesmoker" but I've always found it to be really solid (4/5). Could this be a product of the Spotify age where the patience of your average listener has gradually diminished? Perhaps. "Sleep's Holy Mountain" is my favourite Sleep record these days though (4/5).

I've noticed that a lot of modern-day critics seem to struggle with "Dopesmoker" but I've always found it to be really solid (4/5). Could this be a product of the Spotify age where the patience of your average listener has gradually diminished? Perhaps. "Sleep's Holy Mountain" is my favourite Sleep record these days though (4/5).

I'm not sure what the issue is to be honest Daniel. I would agree with your hypothesis, but then you see albums like Mirror Reaper doing really well, so lack of patience can't be the whole story. 

I have gone the other way, to you, Holy Mountain was my introduction to Sleep and was mt favourite for ages, but in the last couple of years Dopesmoker has superceded it. Maybe now I have finished working and have more time on my hands i can appreciate it more.

Lo-Pan "Get Well Soon" (2025)

In all honesty, I have never really gotten along with stoner. The concept of stoner rock vs stoner metal still confuses me as I never find the (limited) stoner that I have listened to venture far enough into metal to justify the tag. Accepting that I am formulating this opinion on a minority listening experience, I chose to look at stoner releases in my 2025 summary of The Fallen just as I would sludge, trad doom or death doom (drone can fuck off). Still, I approached Get Well Soon with a “get this over with” mentality. What began as a mere exercise to trim down the to do list of ever-growing releases this year, soon became a much cooler undertaking than I first imagined.

Clearly, there is a very virulent strain of hard rock running through the hazy, stoner vibes of Lo-Pan’s sound. It is not delivered in a mainstream manner though, which makes it an interesting style of rock to listen to. Whilst the stoner elements assist in that, the driving rhythms don’t follow a particularly linear or predictable narrative. This is on occasion detrimental to my enjoyment of the record. ‘Rogue Wave’ seems disjointed as opposed to oddly entertaining and the following track ‘Harpers Ferry’ develops a laboured edge to the music as it appears to slow to allow the vocals to catch up; it is almost as if they wrote too many words on the lyric sheet at times.

I have little in the way of genuine stoner influences to be able to call them out here, but I do hear elements of Chevelle in the rolling riffs. At the same time, the structure of the tracks, with their bounding yet still balanced nature gives me Helmet vibes. The tuneful yet edgy vocals belie perhaps the fact that they are singing about topical and confrontational themes. Lo-Pan sings about real world issues, talking about them against a backdrop of seemingly benign hard rock tunes. This tempering process works well; it negates the sense that the messaging is overtly preachy but still lets the grown up have the necessary focus. You can nod along and tap your foot in time to the music whilst contemplating the message behind the lyrics, all done without the need for rampant or juvenile incitement of violence as a response to the ills of the world. In short, Lo-Pan lets the music do the talking.

Percussively powerful without ever becoming overbearing, the solid drums complement the rest of the instrumentation well. Perhaps except for the bass, the repertoire of instruments all gets good representation in the mix. Whilst I cannot go as far as to call the album catchy, it lingers on the brain after the event. I find bits of it playing distantly in my head in the hours or days after the last listen and this makes me understand that there is perhaps still some growth to happen with Get Well Soon. For now, the record sits in my solid score range. A side note has been made for a review of the review in the coming weeks and months though.

3.5/5

Amenra - De toorn EP (2025)

De toorn is a two-track EP running for 25 minutes and is the first of two EPs already released this year by the belgian atmospheric sludge band. Both tracks follow a very similar path, starting off in a very gentle, minimalist manner. The opener "Heden" begins with soft, heartbeat-like drumbeats and a murmuring bassline interjected with gentle guitar strumming and vocalist Colin Van Eeckhout quietly intoning the lyrics with a spoken word delivery. We all know this quiet calm cannot last and that it is just a matter of time until the wave comes crashing in. That it takes until the final quarter of the track for it to happen, just as you start to wonder if this is not the track you thought it was, it almost takes you by surprise. Van Eeckhout goes into full desperate, Burzum-like shrieking mode as the heaving tsunami riff hits and the shuddering climax is brought to fruition. Heden is definitely a case of the payoff being worthy of the build-up and is a decent, if not exactly unpredictable piece of atmo-sludge songwriting.

The problem for me is that they then try to pull off exactly the same trick with the second track, the EPs title track. This time the quiet calm, post-rock led extended intro is provided by a jangling guitar and snare beat with the vocals again pretty much being spoken word. The climax this time around hits at the two-thirds in mark and takes a very similar form to the opener. Whilst the atmospherics on both tracks are exceedingly well delivered and they are obviously very comfortable with both their instruments and songwriting technique, the similarity of the two tracks feels almost a little lazy and too comfortable for a band who have delivered much more variety in the past. Look, these guys are good, and both these tracks are too, but I expected a bit more from such a talented bunch.

3.5/5

Amenra - De toorn EP (2025)

De toorn is a two-track EP running for 25 minutes and is the first of two EPs already released this year by the belgian atmospheric sludge band. Both tracks follow a very similar path, starting off in a very gentle, minimalist manner. The opener "Heden" begins with soft, heartbeat-like drumbeats and a murmuring bassline interjected with gentle guitar strumming and vocalist Colin Van Eeckhout quietly intoning the lyrics with a spoken word delivery. We all know this quiet calm cannot last and that it is just a matter of time until the wave comes crashing in. That it takes until the final quarter of the track for it to happen, just as you start to wonder if this is not the track you thought it was, it almost takes you by surprise. Van Eeckhout goes into full desperate, Burzum-like shrieking mode as the heaving tsunami riff hits and the shuddering climax is brought to fruition. Heden is definitely a case of the payoff being worthy of the build-up and is a decent, if not exactly unpredictable piece of atmo-sludge songwriting.

The problem for me is that they then try to pull off exactly the same trick with the second track, the EPs title track. This time the quiet calm, post-rock led extended intro is provided by a jangling guitar and snare beat with the vocals again pretty much being spoken word. The climax this time around hits at the two-thirds in mark and takes a very similar form to the opener. Whilst the atmospherics on both tracks are exceedingly well delivered and they are obviously very comfortable with both their instruments and songwriting technique, the similarity of the two tracks feels almost a little lazy and too comfortable for a band who have delivered much more variety in the past. Look, these guys are good, and both these tracks are too, but I expected a bit more from such a talented bunch.

3.5/5

Couldn't agree more, both the releases this year did nothing for me.

Arkham Witch - I Am Providence (2015)

Despite appearances to the contrary, I do actually like metal that is fun, alongside all the doom and gloom that makes up the bulk of my metallic intake. One of my primary sources for when I feel the need for some light-heartedness is Keighley's Arkham Witch. On "I Am Providence" they provide twenty very short and punchy, tongue-in-cheek heavy metal celebrations of horror writer HP Lovecraft's eldritch stories that are both catchy and fun and which I more often than not find myself singing along to (too loudly and out of tune). This is an album for lightening your mood when you are feeling low. It feels kind of like a heavy metal version of The Misfits and it is a joyous celebration of both metal and horror stories, two things that have been a part of my life since I was a teenager. I have a score for this, but I'm not posting it here because I don't want to affix a number to how much fun and joy this album brings to me.

King Witch - III (2025)

I am only part-way through my first listen to this new one from KW, a band that I have been following for quite a while, and i just had to come here and post, "holy shit Laura Donnelly can fucking sing". If Ronnie James Dio  was a woman (and a bit taller) then he would have sounded just like this. I can definitely feel that this is going to be a 2025 favourite for me. If you love epic doom / heavy metal then you need to do yourself a favour and get an earful of this shit! 

No score yet, but it's gonna be good....