If I were to give anyone an album that personified the very definition of funeral doom in my opinion, I would point them to this record. Quite unexpectedly it has become one of my favourite funeral doom albums that I have heard during my still relatively short tenure in The Fallen clan. What Tides of Awakening captures superbly is atmosphere. When I play the opening track, ‘Coalescent of the Inhumane Awareness’ it creates pictures of a dense fog or mist, seeping into all the parts of my life I am uncomfortable or unhappy with, shrouding them in a dense shroud of calming, almost sensual melancholy that acknowledges their prowess but refuses to let them have prominence at this time. That haunting guitar melody seeps through in the background, adding threat and menace to proceedings.

This therapeutic effect was entirely unexpected going into the album and I do not doubt that this is probably an experience that is isolated to myself only. It is great though when an album connects with you, especially when you least expect it to and it causes you to reflect on your wider existence as well as being able to enjoy the quality of the performance as well. Now, it matters not to me that the drums have only a minor presence on the album. I would go as far as to say the album would not work anywhere near as well if they were more prominent in the mix. They act somehow as an additional atmospheric effect, which is not something that I thought I would ever say to describe the sound of drums. It is the vocals that have the largest impact for me though. They are well balanced in the mix, retaining presence without spilling over into dominating proceedings. Whilst they may be the focus of my attention, they are still very much a component part of a much bigger machine.

Whilst it would normally be a problem for me, the fact that I cannot distinguish between tracks works for me here as I am utterly enthralled from the off. It plays best, in my head at least as a singular track experience with only the final track having that more ambient style that separates it from the pack. You can all just leave me here having my own private therapy session with this month’s The Fallen feature release.

See you all in December.

Maybe.

It's albums like Generation of the Void by German death doomers Nailed to Obscurity that leave me feeling strange. I can tell that all of the foundations are here, great death doom production, a solid driving bass to carry the album forward, guitar variation and a pretty good vocal range. This album reminds me of the recent gothic side of Katatonia, but where Nailed to Obscurity move away from that is the death growls from the vocalist; it gave the record the feeling of a Swallow the Sun type record. The tracks themselves are pleasant to listen to with plenty of enough variety to keep the album flowing and not become overbearing.

And despite all of that, I feel a sense of indifference towards Generation of the Void. Perhaps it's the burden of higher expectations with bands like Fires in the Distance, Swallow the Sun and Red Moon Architect that have projected the death doom metal genre to ceiling shattering heights that Nailed to Obscurity just do not have here. I for one, was anticipating when the harsh vocals that were commonplace on the opening handful of tracks ("Glass Bleeding" and "Liquid Mourning") to be pushed back as the clean singing takes center stage, and the harsh vocals serve more as embellishment instead of the main attraction. And when that happened on "Generation of the Void", I felt a sense of simplicity; it still sounds good and is one of the records bast songs, but the Katatonia influence takes over and it becomes hard to separate the influencer from the influencee. 

It's still not a bad album. My time with Generation of the Void was mostly enjoyable with good fundamentals and a strong sense of belonging within this style of music. However, without a true standout moment or idea for Nailed to Obscurity to latch onto, I'm afraid that this record (and band) lose my interest. This void is quite a dull place when you really think about it.

Best Songs: Overcast, Generation of the Void, Misery's Messenger

Woods of Belial was created by the Sorvali brothers Henri and Ville, members of Finnish Pagan black metal band Moonsorrow. Adopting the stage names Blood and Wohi, they took on a darker, more experimental sound, industrial black-doom. They already made two demos before this, Thy Unholy Pentagram and Baxabaxaxaxaxabaxaxaxaxa! 666 Yndstr Draconis, both in the late 90s. In 2002, the band began making a 3rd demo, then Firebox Records offered a deal to promote it as a full album...

Deimos XIII is, similarly to Green Carnation's Leaves of Yesteryear, a 5-track album that includes two extras. 5 tracks in 50 minutes, wow! They do their industrial black-doom sound pretty well. Although the old-school black metal elements bleed through, the compositions are slower and darker in the riffing and drums.

"Worm of Na'ruq" is a sinister electronic intro. It leads to "Desolate", which is the more doomy track, even leaning into the post-sludge of Neurosis and Isis. The riffing is a bit repetitive, especially when it keeps getting repeated for a third of the track, but other than that, it's pure high-quality darkness. "Halla" is the shortest full song, but it has their blackened side, including screams and organs. Atmospheric black metal is combined with funeral-ish doom, in a similar vein to Katatonia's debut and Dolorian. Suitable for exploring the dark lands of Morytania in RuneScape.

"The 13th Horror" has some killer moments from all 3 of the main genres, but some parts can a little boring and dragged out throughout those 17 minutes. The ambient industrial instrumental finale "Pervertum II" is, oddly enough, the most memorable part of the album. It pretty much exemplifies the dark temptation of the more experimental side of The Sphere. A breath of fresh dark air!

Deimos XIII is a fresh decent album. I just wish some things would be improved for a less draggy repetitive album. It's always good to try new things, whether the results are exciting or disappointing. The Sorvali brothers would focus on their main band after this....

Favorites: "Desolate", "Halla", "Prevertum II"

Trivium is back with their first new material in 4 years, Struck Dead! Well, it's a short 3-track EP, but one that really SLAMS. They have their usual thrashy melodic metalcore with fire and fury. It's an amazing way to make up for when their Poisoned Ascendancy tour with Bullet for My Valentine fell through partway, and it shall gets us geared up for their next album to come next year.

As the band continues to evolve throughout their over 25 years of existence, these heroes of Florida's modern metal scene aren't putting out the fire anytime soon. What you can expect from this EP is similar to the rest of their catalog, bloodthirsty riffing and epic melodies.

The first track and single, "Bury Me With My Screams" shows that the band is back with a vengeance, filled with awesome heavy groove. It's an explosion of crushing riffing, Matt Heafy's vocals ranging from raw screams to emotional cleans, and energetic drumming by Alex Bent. Truly a pit-ready anthem! The title track, "Struck Dead (Pain is Easier to Remember)" has that mid-paced groove with Heafy bellowing the track's title, "STRUCK. F***ING. DEAD!!!". And when it switches to the big melodic chorus, it already seems like a remake of their ultimate best track that is the In Waves title track. That is, until it speeds up for a long brutal thrash/groove bridge. It's just pure rage throughout, with the most of that in the breakdown. Enjoyable, but can't beat the other two tracks here and especially not "In Waves".

"Six Walls Surround Me" is the EP's 7-minute epic. It may just be the "And I Return to Nothingness title track" of this EP, longer and more epic than the heavy rest of the offering. After a haunting one-minute intro, the remaining 6 minutes has the band's thrashy melodic metalcore reminiscent of Ascendancy, with a more cinematic progressive structure. It's the perfect emotional storm! Oh, and I would like to note that based on the different keys that are out of the E-flat/drop D-flat/7-string B-flat/drop A-flat tuning range, this may be the first ever Trivium track in D tuning (not drop D, standard D) (in my theory). So many surprises in that towering track that are easy to remember!

Struck Dead shows the band looking back at the past while preparing for the future. It also fits well as a farewell to Alex Bent and his drumming fire. His replacement, the previous unavailable Alex Rudinger (Revocation, Monuments, Whitechapel, Light the Torch, Threat Signal, Intronaut, etc.) will make the band destined for a brand-new more technical era. In the meantime, this 18-minute EP has brought their heavy memorable sound back on top. Their talents are unforgettable!

Favorites: "Bury Me With My Screams", "Six Walls Surround Me"

When I heard that Labyrinthus Stellarum had a new album in 2025, and in such short order after Vortex of the Worlds, I wasn't expecting the album to be this drastic of a departure. It still has what I would consider the essence of the Ukrainian atmospheric black metal project, but instead of playing into the expected tropes of bands like White Ward and Deafheaven, Labyrinthus Stellarum borrow heavily from Blood Incantation of all groups! Specifically, the minimalist electronics of the album Timewave Zero. Make no mistake, Rift in Reality is an EBM album, and that's not the abbreviation you think it is.

Rift in Reality is, by all accounts, a pop album that just so happens to use black metal foundations. And I could not help being a little bit excited with "Voyagers", "Take Us Home" and "Cosmic Plague". And because the tracks are so short in execution, it becomes really easy to digest a project like this; it feels like you're getting hit by a truck relentlessly, but before you know it, it's over.

I would say that's a good thing most of the time, but Labyrinthus Stellarum litter Rift in Reality with some truly gross mixing. This record has zero grit and no desire to grow or show any dynamic swell. The guitar playing on this record is so neutered by compression that it might not even be here at all. The idea that this album could be considered metal at all should be troubling. The bass might as well not even exist with the exception of the few synth breaks because most of this albums highlighted parts are the percussion and vocals. The vocals are pleasant enough, but the percussion, like with their previous album, has this faded reverb effect throughout the album, which contributed greatly to the spacey and existential themes presented, but without anything to ground it in place, it loses some of that grandeur.

Rift in Reality is an album that might be considered controversial, especially by the black metal purists. But I wanted to like Rift in Reality within its first few moments and its attempts to go more pop. But terrible production choices make the rift between artful black metal and mainstream electronic metal more defined than ever before.

Best Songs: Ravenous Planet, Lost in the Void, Cosmic Plague