The Fallen

Before I realized this was Darkthrone, I at first assumed this was some weird-ass Venom-style black/speed outfit, then a This is Spinal Tap-style parody of black metal. That's the kind of album cover a parody band would use. Then I noticed the band name.
Well, like politics, black metal is impossible to lampoon.
This is a very weird album. Were atmospheric black metal not taken for stuff like The Summoning, this feels like it would fit that name well. Black metal production and techniques used at a much slower pace. Where tremolo picking would be used, one single note is used instead. This makes it very noticeable when the album does use tremolo picking. At no point does the drumming go above a walking pace. The growling has an almost ethereal quality to it, unlike any kind I've heard before.
The writing is kind of bland. It seems aimless, possibly by intention. It starts off okay, with the kind of atmosphere you'd expect, but then we get the first solo of the album. I don't know who played it, but it's not good. A half-hearted attempt at regaining the kvlt faction, perhaps with it's strange aggressiveness. Then after another long verse, close enough in sound to the first as to make no difference, there's another solo, closer in tone to what you'd expect, but at this point feels meandering. The song finally ends with what can only be described as a very slow series of tremolos. While the album has more interesting songs on it, like Impeccable Caverns of Satan, most seem to follow this template.
I found this didn't really appeal to me, much in the same reason a lot of melodeath doesn't. If you're going to combine extreme metal with heavy or power metal, it's better to do something like Satan's Host where far less hostile sounding music with clean vocals gets hostile sounding music. Mundane sounding music makes growly vocals goofy.

3/5

Another solid playlist this month.  To call out the standouts for me:

Katatonia - I have this weird "bookend" scenario with this band in that I have only ever listened to the Dance... and then their latest release and nothing in between.  Brave Murder Day has been landing on a few playlists as suggestions around the streaming services I am on of late and so it is liable to be the next full-length I venture along with from this band.  This track proves to me that I am missing out by not listening to the rest of their discography in some more detail.

Saturnalia Temple - well, this is a fucked up sounding box of frogs if ever I heard one.  It is still so damn entertaining though, not in the least because it is so blatantly obvious that these guys have zero fucks to give

Mournful Congregation -  starting to wonder if these Aussies can do any wrong at all as there is virtually endless win in everything I hear from them.  Still sounding relevant thirty years on, this track bodes well for me getting around to the album at some point.

Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean - dumbass name aside, I had very little to argue with here.  Agonising sludge metal that is punishingly repetitive

Iron Monkey - more sludge metal only this time it is raging and ugly as fuck - me like.

Woorms - I have be eyeing that astonishingly good artwork on the Slake record and wondering if the music could ever be as good as the artwork.  Good news, it is.  With a measured level of confrontation in their sound, Woorms sound alienating and hostile whilst tipping their hats to some fine doom metal along the way also.

I seem to be one of the only ones who were familiar with the name Xibalba before checking out this debut full length record from Tzompantli. I heard 2020's Años en infierno by sheer accident and enjoyed the record enough, since for a death doom record, the album decided to focus most of its time on the "death" portion of that hybrid; a sound that I was not as familiar with as the "doom" focused hybrids.

And that also seems to be the case with Tlazcaltiliztli. "Tlatzintilli" begins with a heavy percussive element while the guitar plays a slowed down rhythmic motif. It's certainly an unfamiliar sound in the doom or death metal spheres and left me interested to hear where the band could go from there. Unfortunately, the record kind of finds its groove around "Eltequi" and does not attempt these sorts of hybrid sounds again; instead keeping the death and doom parts isolated. That's because the second half of the album spends a lot more time focused on the Indigenous timbres, which all told, isn't very much. But as I have said with many extreme albums in the past that add objectively softer passages (such as a string/orchestra section), their contributions always feel subdued to the loud guitars, percussion and vocals.

On this record though, these limited elements are fascinating and rarely interfere with the straight up metal passages so as to not overburden the listener. It also keeps them fresh when they return. As for the straight up metal passages, even though I mentioned how stale it can get later on with the death and doom sections kept apart, I cannot deny that some of these riffs are filthy; mostly on the tracks "Tlatzintilli", the title track, "Ohtlatocopailcahualuztli" and the closer "Yaotiacahuanetzli". If you're looking for a death-doom album with heavy emphasis on the "death" as opposed to the much more popular "doom" stylings of My Dying Bride or Swallow the Sun, this record can scratch some real itches.

3.5/5

A few notes regarding the tracks selected for this month's playlist:

1. Worship of Keres - "Book 3" (from "Bloodhounds for Oblivion", 2016) [submitted by Sonny]
I was going through some of the older releases I had purchased from Bandcamp and this 2016 EP jumped out at me with it's chunky and ponderous riff contrasting with singer Elise Tarens voice to great effect. They still seem to be going, but a measly couple of EPs is all they have produced so far.

2. Decadence Dust - "Lighthouse" (from "Lighthouse", 2023)
I must admit that as far as gothic metal goes I have to rely on the RYM charts quite a lot and this month they threw up Russian duo Decadence Dust and their new album Lighthouse. They sound a lot like Lacuna Coil I thought. Vocalist Anna Dust has a really nice voice and multi-instrumentalist Alexander Kargaev does a good job on the instrumental side of things. Not exactly my cup of tea, but I actually didn't mind this track.

3. Black Capricorn - "Snake of the Wizard" (from "Cult of Blood", 2022)
Black Capricorn are another Bandcamp favourite for me and I have just obtained a copy of this, their latest, last year's Cult of Blood. Super-fuzzy stoner doom from Italy that is a nice grooviness to it. The vocals aren't so great, but I can't resist a good fuzz-fest.

4. Toadliquor - "Gnaw" (from "Feel My Hate - The Power Is the Weight - R.I.P. Cain", 1993)
Another more recent discovery, sludgesters Toadliquor only left us a single full-length despite being in existence throughout the entire 1990s. Bleak as fuck, desperate-sounding sludge, I love this track.

5. Liturgy - "Veins of God" (from "Aesthethica", 2011) [submitted by Daniel]
I've not listened to Liturgy before (that avant-garde tag has always put me off) and I am guessing that this isn't what they usually sound like. A repetitive trad/stoner doom riff that I have no idea what effect it has in the context of the album from which it came, but in isolation it sounds quite a bit Ufomammut-ish.

6. Church of Misery - "Come and Get Me Sucker (David Koresh)" (from "Born Under a Mad Sign", 2023)
It was only during the compilation of this playlist that I found out that Japanese, serial killer-obsessed stoners Church of Misery had a new album out. After a sample of a ranting David Koresh this kicks into gear with a hard-hitting stoner groove that somewhat belies the subject matter and is a guaranteed toe-tapper and head-nodder.

7. Nightfucker - "Poisoned Wine" (from "Leechfeast / Nightfucker Split EP", 2023)
Last month I featured Leechfeast's contribution to this split EP, so in the interests of fairness here is the second of Nightfucker's two tracks.

8. Windhand - "Halcyon" (from "Eternal Return", 2018) [submitted by Vinny]
A great track from one of my absolute favourite female-fronted psych-doom bands. This was five years ago now, so a new studio album is long overdue,

9. Messa - "Babalon" (from "Belfry", 2016)
Messa are one of the most celebrated doom metal bands of the last couple of years, pushing boundaries more than most. Babalon is from their 2016 debut and is a bit more conventional in it's approach to doom. It's still a quality release though.
 
10. Tragedia - "Tiamat" (from "El libro de Enoc", 2023)
I've never heard these guys before, again using the RYM gothic metal charts to find them, but this is actually pretty good as far as gothic metal goes. I will have to check it out further I think.

11. Minotauri - "Doom Metal Alchemy" (from "Minotauri", 2004)
Primitive sounding Finnish trad doom that pays homage to early exponents of the style such as Pentagram. Minotauri were contemporaries of Reverend Bizarre and sound very similar to their countrymen.

12. Capilla Ardiente - "The Spell of Concealment" (from "The Siege", 2019)
Chile doesn't just produce the best thrash metal on the planet at the minute, they also have a great epic doom band in Capilla Ardiente. Candlemass worship at it's best. Notably it keeps that prominent, growling bass so beloved of so many modern Chilean thrash bands.

13. Rippikoulu - "Pimeys yllä Jumalan maan" (from "Musta seremonia", 1993) [submitted by Daniel]
Super lo-fi early death doom from the awesome Musta seremonia demo. Awesome stuff for the doom metal historian.

14. Thorr's Hammer - "Norge"
TH have attained legendary status, despite only originally existing for six weeks in the winter of '94/'95. Sunn O)))'s Greg Anderson and Stephen O'Malley teamed up with Norwegian exchange student Runhild Gammelsæter, playing a couple of gigs and recording the three-track EP from which this track was taken. Runhild has a different vocal style to the other ladies who have featured on this month's playlist and could be the musical performance of the possessed Regan from The Exorcist.

15. Warning - "Footprints" (from "Watching from a Distance", 2006) [submitted by Vinny]
It's Warning... It's from Watching From A Distance. Thankyou Vinny, I am a happy man!!

16. Khanate - "To Be Cruel" (from "To Be Cruel", 2023) [submitted by Sonny]
The title track from Khanate's latest. The soundtrack to all your worst nightmares. My favourite album of 2023 to date.

Likewise, I am struggling for time with work pressures at present so will be abstaining as well.

It's mostly in the last track, "Black Lava Flow". It seems to me that the atmospheric steam that has leveled up the album is lost, and therefore doesn't reach the earlier intensity.

1. Obelyskkh - "Aquaveil" (from "The Ultimate Grace of God", 2023)

2. Condenados - "Tierra de cementerio" (from "El camino de la serpiente", 2023)

3. Ningen Isu - "りんごの泪" (from "人間失格 (Ningen shikkaku)", 1990) [submitted by Morpheus]

4. Gore - "USA Is Calling" (from "Hart Gore", 1986)

5. Lake of Tears - "Come Night I Reign" (from "Forever Autumn", 1999) [submitted by Daniel]

6. Konvent - "Sand Is King" (from "Call Down the Sun", 2022) [submitted by Vinny]

7. Evoken - "The Mournful Refusal" (from "Antithesis of Light", 2005) [submitted by Ben]

8. Theatre of Tragedy - "Aoede" (from "Aegis", 1998) [submitted by Daniel]

9. The River - "Broken Window" (from "Drawing Down the Sun", 2006) [submitted by Sonny]

10. Tiamat - "Alteration x 10" (from "A Deeper Kind Of Slumber", 1997) [submitted by Daniel]

11. Encoffination - "The Keys of Hell and Death" (from "We Proclaim Your Death O' Lord", 2019)

12. Coffinworm - "Of Eating Disorders & Restraining Orders" (from "IV.I.XIII", 2014) [submitted by Daniel]

13. Hell - "Victus" (from "Hell", 2017) [submitted by Vinny]

14. Dolorian - "Raja Naga – Rising" (from, Voidwards, 2006) [submitted by Ben]

15. Leechfeast - "Bells of Fire" (from, "Leechfeast / Nightfucker Split EP", 2023) [submitted by Sonny]

Invernal is composed of thick, dense riffs that are common in sludge metal but which also possess a thrashiness and complexity that is much less common in the genre. This makes the album sound more kinetic than the vast majority of sludge, which by it's very nature is a slothful style of metal, but there is more than enough doominess present, despite the uptempo pacing, to justify it sitting under the Fallen's umbrella. Instrumentally this is a really fine album, the complexity of the busy riffing on a track like Somnae tenebrae is exceedingly interesting and doesn't fall into the trap of excessive "jerkiness" that I feel with a lot of technical metal and all the tracks flow along really nicely. When the band do turn in a slower-paced riff like the early riff in Corrosion Fields then they build a nice, ominous atmosphere and they aren't afraid to occasionally insert a gentle post-metal section, such as during Abyss, to break things up a little and build anticipation for their next aural assault. The production is great and very clean-sounding, which isn't always a plus for a sludge metal album, but doesn't hurt the sound here and the riffs, although they aren't as muddy as those on many other sludge releases, have a depth and "crunch" that should satisfy all but the most demanding of sludge metal fundamentalists. It is fairly unbelievable to me that this has no bass at all, because the guitar sound has such amazing depth to it that you don't even notice the four-string's absence. The drumming is excellent, but is occasionally drowned out a little, particularly on faster sections like during the middle of Erebus Dawn, however, Rafael Martinez is a busy little bee and he turns in a performance to rival even Animal from the Muppets!

The "but" is coming now I am afraid, and it is the vocals that are the subject of it. Like Vinny I think the vocals are the weak point. I actually don't mind them per se, they are not as grating or ascerbic as some sludge vocals and they don't have the shouty, "spoilt toddler" quality that turns me off to other releases so often, but they just don't sit comfortably here with the instrumental work. I have seen elsewhere that there is little variety to be found on Invernal, which I would ascribe to the singing as it does seem to sound the same on nearly every track and the accusation of lack of variety can't really be laid at the door of the instrumentalists. Invernal would definitely benefit from a more aggressive-sounding and harsher singer I feel.

In summation, this is a really excellent album musically and the two guys have done a great job of sounding like twice that many, but they really should look at drafting in another singer to push them into the top echelon of sludge metal marvellousness.

4/5

Lots of Slowcore. I find the less folky end of the genre to basically be Doom Rock. Wider Than the Sky by 40 Watt Sun is a great example, as are Low's first few albums. Codeine are this taken to the extreme, being incredibly heavy for a non-metal band. 

Dark/Depressive/Atmospheric Alternative Rock Albums like Alternative 4 by Anathema, or some mid-career Katatonia (Last Fair Deal Gone Down most of all) .

Some of the darker, more depressive Shoegaze bands creep into this territory occasionally (Nowehre by Ride, or My Bloody Valentine or Slowdive at their most depressive) 

The highlights for me this month have been Smoulder, Chelsea Wolfe and Fistula.  I keep meaning to explore more of Monolord's discography beyond No Comfort and Vænir looks he likely candidate if I am honest.  Went all skip button on STAKE, Hanging Garden, The Wounded King and Goya (I mean not bad stuff but a tad too similar to Electric Wizard really).  Passed a wet bank holiday Monday nicely though Sonny, keep up the good work.

Thanks Vinny. For me, Vaenir is Monolord's best and I would heartily recommend it if you like any of their other stuff.

I always find sludge to be quite a warm genre. Sure, it can be plenty abrasive, but generally the distorted doom metal element adds a certain warmth to the sound. Here, however, Coffinworm have imbued their sludge with an iciness forged from black metal which removes any comforting fuzziness from the album and replaces it with a cold, implacable visage that suggests that the band couldn't care less whether you like it or not. But the joke's on them because it seems everyone, myself included, does love it - haha!

Sludge metal strikes me as a genre that it is quite easy to get wrong and there are plenty of releases that leave me cold, but with IV.I.VIII Coffinworm have turned in an album that manages to get the sludge part right, whilst producing something a bit different-sounding to the plethora of sludge acts who seem to have emerged from every piece of available wordwork over the last decade or so. There is a dichotomy at the heart of IV.I.VIII, which is that it feels like it is a really abrasive and pugnacious album, but before you know it, it has sucked you in with an unexpected melodic riff before hammering you with the battering ram it has had hidden from view. Kind of the epitome of the steel fist in the velvet glove.

This is some seriously heavy-sounding shit and the blackened edge to the vocals and some of the guitarwork sound like a ripsaw trying to saw the top of your head off while the riffs are oppressive and overbearing, looming over the listener like an impending tidal wave. In addition to the black metal influence there also seems to be a detectable death metal component to some of the riffs that makes them really tight-sounding (and all the more oppressive for it). Some bands seem, to me anyway, to strive for extremity by making themselves virtually unlistenable, so drenched in dissonance and angularity are they in a search for the holy grail of inaccesibility that they forget about writing any sort of "songs". Luckily Coffinworm have been able to attain extremity without completely eschewing what makes music so cool in the first place - the songs. The tracks here are well-written and have both a direction of travel and a resolution, whilst still sounding like world-killers.

Coffinworm truly aren't for the faint-hearted Fallen member, but if you enjoy life on the outer limits of the clan's remit, then that is definitely where you will find IV.I.VIII. like some Arthur C. Clarke monolith waiting to point unwary metalheads towards the next evolutionary level of metal extremity.

4.5/5

Will be taking time to check out FVNERALS, Head of the Demon and Shape of Despair from this list.  Not a fan of Dark Buddha Rising or Om upon first listen but may revisit later.

OK, I'm a day late, but better that than never, right?

Paradise Belongs to You was the debut album from Copenhagen's death doomers Saturnus, released a full six years after their formation in 1991 they had had plenty of time to work up the material for their introduction to the metallic masses. It shows too, because the band presented a set of well-developed tracks here that it is very obvious they felt exceedingly comfortable with. Production-wise (courtesy of Flemming Rasmussen) they have hit a nice spot between clarity and a sheen of just enough muddiness to render the material suitably doomy and gloomy sounding. They have, however, taken the rather puzzling decision to include a plethora of birdsong samples into the album, which can be a bit distracting, although they are brief enough not to provide any lasting irritation.

Saturnus' whole vibe is very much derived from The Peaceville Three, particularly My Dying Bride's gothic death doom leanings and that sound is exceedingly well reproduced here. Slow, towering chords and distant and ephemeral layers of keyboards combine to produce a mournful and introspective atmosphere while Thomas Jensen's understated vocals, both death growls and cleans, effectively convey a deep and abiding melancholy. The songs are well-written and develop nicely during their respective run times with some particularly melodic and memorable riffs, such as the instantly recognisable one unveiled during Christ Goodbye or the opening riff to Astral Dawn. Their song development ensures that none of them drag on just for the sake of filling runtime, but seem to actually be going somewhere and provide a certain satisfaction at track's end that the listener has completed a journey with the band through a particularly mournful episode in their life. There are also a couple of folky interludes, in The Fall of Nakkiel (Nakkiel Has Fallen) and the short instrumental As We Dance the Paths of Fire and Solace, which break up the doomier material and provide a nice contrast in atmosphere. The album also closes with a gentle, medieval-sounding piece that leads into a final chorus of birdsong.

Instrumentally, the Saturnus guys seem very proficient and everything seems to be very professionally realised but that means naught if you don't have the songs and these Danes certainly do. Sure, it probably sits at the lighter end of the death doom scale, but I actually think Saturnus' songs are better than the comparable material from My Dying Bride, mainly because they don't lean as heavily on the whole gothic schtick. I'm sure that will surprise many readers of this, but hey, what can I say?!

(Very Strong) 4/5

This month's playlist was another success to my ears and I have a couple of new bands to check out form the list, namely Crawl and Black Oath.  I had already been listening to The Otolith (given they are basically part remnants of Subrosa who I have also been listening to).  That Ufomammut track reminded me that I already have that album in my digital library and it got quite a bashing when I was working away on the Isle of Wight one year.  I also really enjoyed that Tribulation track which is odd because I have not really gelled with much of their stuff to date.

I went through my first The Fallen playlist this month.  My takeaway picks were The Hounds of Hasselvander, Fvneral Fvck, Mansion, Ahab and The Howling Void.  I didn't mind Admiral Angry either but I have never understood the hype around Orange Goblin and this tack didn't change my mind either.  Some cool takeaways to explore in more detail though.  Thanks Sonny.

It's great that you enjoyed Mansion, Ahab and Howling Void Vinny as they are 2023 releases and it feels like The Fallen may be in for a good year new music-wise. Fvneral Fvck were a new one on me too that I discovered while compiling the list and really dug a lot.

I would suggest that we reduce our limit for The Fallen track nominations to 24 minutes each from next month Sonny.

Agreed. Let us go with that then going forward.

It looks like you've forgotten to put your rating on the release page Sonny.

With the award winners about to be announced, I thought I'd throw in my two cents & say that the Dvvell record gets my vote for The Fallen release of the year. Well done to Sonny for nominating it for feature release status, otherwise it probably would have slipped past me as I haven't seen it getting much publicity.

I'm back from a refreshing vacation to start out the new year and I went through almost 100 covers last night to help out with the sample size, since I never rate covers. I'll try and do the same for the rest of the clans as these threads pop up. Now I've got some serious catchup to do.

Set Chaos to the Heart of the Moon is the Roadburn set performed by the Belgian psych/drone/jazz collective on 17th April 2021. Starting off with Sustain, I guess you had to be there to appreciate the track as it is a bit of a nothingness really, it's random and disparate vocalisations don't do much for me in this recorded form and does very little to build any anticipation for the hour plus that is to follow, although I can see how it may be considerably more effective (and possibly disturbing) in a live setting. Those opening eight and a half minutes are followed by Zâr: Empowering the Phurba: Éon Phanérozoïque which is where the bass and percussion introduce themselves as the driving force behind the piece with the rest of the band doing all their "twiddly bits" over the top of this propulsive force which seems to gain monentum and power as the track proceeds.

The five-part, twenty-seven minute suite, Vajrabhairava is up next, starting with it's heavily eastern-influenced, shamanic atmosphere it is the most interesting part of the set for me and marks the point, quarter of an hour in, where the album finally gets going properly. The psychedelic jazz presented during Vajrabhairava is very hypnotic, in particular The Great Wars of Quaternary Era Against Ego, which comes off like a jazz version of a Hawkwind jam from their seminal Space Ritual live album and I have found myself zoning out more than once whilst listening to it, thoughts off and away elsewhere, pondering the nature of time, space and reality, such is the effect of this sonic mindwipe on my neural pathways! The final twenty-plus minutes are dedicated to another lengthy suite, the three parter, The Conference of the Stars which once more has at it's centrepiece, after a sax-led crawling first movement, a glorious jazzy space-rock jam that is dynamic and propulsive, as if hurtling between astronomical bodies on a tail of fire, which marks another high point of the album for me. The performance sounds impeccable, and it is evident that NM are consummate musicians who are technically excellent and who gel together impressively in a live environment.

Overall, this is an album that gets off to a slow start and begins to test my patience early on, but which redeems itself with some quite sublime, psychedelic-laced musical adventures to places few others dare to tread. I get a similar sensation from this as from another Roadburn set, Waste of Space Orchestra's Syntheosis, which isn't musically the same, but is certainly spiritually so. For all the plaudits for the droning avant-jazz, it is the kineticism of The Great Wars of Quaternary Era Against Ego and The Conference of the Stars Part Two: the Ascension that really grabs me, their dynamism providing more focus and direction than the sometimes (to me) aimlessness of the most avant-jazz sections. I can imagine this was a brilliant live experience and I am sure that a Neptunian Maximalism performance is indeed something to behold, with the recorded version probably lacking a bit of the x-factor you sometimes get with the best live acts. When it is good, it is absolutely superb, but there are a couple of sections I could do without if I am being honest (as in the first fifteen minutes) and so I can't award it my very highest scores.

4/5 (may get bumped at a later date!)

Hey there, Daniel. Since you enjoy that Admiral Angry album, and you have a good feeling about Knut's Challenger based on earlier monthly playlist research, this Today is the Day album might just make your day:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2rSh9MnfQo9HmPLo2W5MBa

1. Monolithe - "Sputnik-1" from " Kosmodrom" (2022) [submitted by Sonny]

2. Candlemass - "When Death Sighs" from "Sweet Evil Sun" (2022)

3. My Dying Bride - "Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium" from "Trinity" (1995) [submitted by Daniel]

4. Saint Vitus - "Clear Windowpane" from "Born Too Late" (1986) [submitted by Sonny]

5. Spiritual Beggars - "Angel of Betrayal" from "Ad Astra" (2000)

6. Conjurer - "Basilisk" from "Páthos" (2022)

7. Mortiferum - "Incubus of Bloodstained Visions" from "Preserved in Torment" (2021) [submitted by Ben]

8. Sentenced - "Cross My Heart and Hope to Die" from "The Cold White Light" (2002)

9. Orodruin - "Ruins of Eternity" from "Ruins of Eternity" (2019)

10. Rapture - "This Is Where I Am" from "Futile" (1999) [submitted by Ben]

11. Pantheist - "Lust" from "Amartia" (2005)

12. Horn of the Rhino - "Reins of the Warlord" from "Dead Throne Monarch" (2008) [submitted by Sonny]

13. Doomshine - " Sanctuary Demon (Chapter of Prognosis)" from "The Piper at the Gates of Doom" (2010)

14. Cavurn - "II" from "Reheasal" E.P. (2017) [submitted by Daniel]

15. Greenmachine - "Golgotha" from "Mountains of Madness" (2019)

16. The Ocean - "Benthic: The Origin Of Our Wishes" from "Pelagial" (2013) [submitted by Daniel]

17. The Otolith - "Hubris" from "Folium Limina" (2022) [submitted by Sonny]

18. Procession - "To Reap Heavens Apart" from "To Reap Heavens Apart" (2013) [submitted by Ben]

OK, so what, at one point as we passed from summer to autumn, felt like a very lacklustre year for doom metal, has picked up quite considerably and ultimately has produced some sterling releases, albeit the year as a whole is lacking depth of quality. My current top ten now looks like this and I would have no problem recommending any of them to a fan of Fallen-related metal:

1. Dvvell - Quiescent (10/10)

2. Messa - Close (9.8/10)

3. Monolithe - Kosmodrom (9.1/10)

4. Epitaphe - II (9.0/10)

5. The Otolith - Folium Limina (9.0/10)

6. Mournful Congregation - The Exuviae of Gods: Part I (9.0/10)

7. Shape of Despair - Return to the Void (8.8/10)

8. The Funeral Orchestra - Funeral Death - Apocalyptic Plague Ritual II (8.7/10)

9. Conan - Evidence of Immortality (8.5/10)

10. BlackLab - In a Bizarre Dream (8.2/10)

There are still a couple of releases I need to work up reviews for, such as Darkthrone's Astral Fortress and Spiritus Mortis' latest, but this is where we are at the moment.

I really enjoyed this release Ben. It was new to me as I'd only heard Void of Silence's 2010 fourth album "The Grave of Civilization" previously but I think this is the better record of the two from what I remember of that particular release. I'd describe the sound of "Criteria ov 666" as being blackened/gothic doom metal. The style of the riffage certainly borrows a lot from My Dying Bride while the use of dark atmospheric interludes & cinematic symphonics gives Void of Silence a clear differentiator. The vocals are obviously drawn from black metal with Aborym front man Malfeitor Fabban handling the microphone duties on this occasion. I have to say that the rhythm guitar sound leaves a little to be desired but the tracklisting is completely free of duds so it's a very consistent record. It is a little strange though that they've elected to leave the three strongest cuts until right at the end of the album but it does leave you wanting more which can hardly be negative now, can it? Great selection once again Ben.

For fans of My Dying Bride, Dolorian & Dread Sovereign.

4/5

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2rSh9MnfQo9HmPLo2W5MBa

1. The Obsessed - "Brother Blue Steel" from "Lunar Womb" (1991)
2. Darkthrone - "The Sea Beneath the Seas of the Sea" from "Astral Fortress" (2022) [submitted by Sonny]
3. MWWB - "Valmasque" from "Y proffwyd dwyll" (2016) [submitted by Ben]
4. Conan - "Levitation Hoax" from "Evidence of Immortality" (2022) [submitted by Sonny]
5. Spiritus Mortis - "Death's Charioteer" from "The Great Seal" (2022)
6. The Body - "Even the Saints Knew Their Hour of Failure and Loss" from "All the Waters of the Earth Turn to Blood" (2010)
7. Tiamat - "Carry Your Cross and I'll Carry Mine" from "Prey" (2003)
8. Daylight Dies - "Dismantling Devotion" from "Dismantling Devotion" (2006) [submitted by Ben]
9. Toadliquor - "(Opening Sections Of) Inter-Stellar Space" from "Feel My Hate - The Power Is the Weight - R.I.P. Cain" (1993) [submitted by Sonny]
10. My Dying Bride - "A Sea to Suffer In" from "The Angel and the Dark River" (1995)
11. Elder - "Gemini" from "Dead Roots Stirring" (2011) [submitted by Daniel]
12. Assumption - "Triptych" from "Hadean Tides" (2022) [submitted by Sonny]
13. Candlemass - "Solitude" from "Epicus Doomicus Metallicus" (1986) [submitted by Ben]
14. Khazad-dûm - "The Forsaken Palace" from "Hymns from the Deep" (2020)
מזמור. 15 [Mizmor] - "The Narrowing Way" from "Cairn" (2019)

Well shit; it turns out that I have been remarkably tardy when it comes to the Fallen clan in recent months. In fact, my last review of a featured release from this clan was Type O Negative's World Coming Down back in July. And I feel a little regret in this because I have most likely been missing out on some crushing, Sonny nominated Doom metal such as this!

One of my biggest criticisms of the limited funeral doom that I've reviewed here is its clunkiness. What we have here on the debut album from Dvvell has the production quality of a death doom project from My Dying Bride or Swallow the Sun. There is a pristine level of polish to the instrumentals and the performances throughout the record. Even the malformed vocal timbre is precise.

What makes Dvvell stand out from those death doom albums is the suffocating atmosphere, which is heavily influenced by M.S.W. or to a lesser extent, Ahab. These four tracks have some titanic low ends, which allows for the post-metal adjacent guitar leads and vocals to pierce through the wallowing atmosphere. Which does lead into songwriting and I must admit, Dvvell did a fantastic job of defying my initial expectations. Every track is close to fifteen minutes and while it certainly feels like this is the case, each one has more than enough modulation to not make it too redundant over these extended runtimes. This is most notable in those guitar leads and vocals rather than just a monotonous implication of the open power chords for the entire runtime. RYM has drone metal listed as a subgenre and I can see it, but those lead parts are enough of a change of pace that I think we can devalue that as a subgenre.

If I had to criticize this record for anything, it would probably be how tracks end, specifically "Mother" and "Son" with their extended electronic/ambient passages that don't really develop the tune that just finished, or prepare the listener for the next tune all that well. Otherwise, this is a splendid release. This is an example of doom metal in its highest quality and continues to impress with each subsequent listen. Ahab sounds like a big influence and for me, that is the highest compliment.

9/10

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2rSh9MnfQo9HmPLo2W5MBa

1. Goatsnake - "IV" from "I" (1999)

2. Triptykon - "Boleskine House" from "Melana Chasmata" (2014)

3. Bethlehem - " Funereal Owlblood" from "Dark Metal" (1994)

4. Eyehategod - "Anxiety Hangover" from "Dopesick" (1996) [submitted by Daniel]

5. Magmakammer - "Mindtripper" from "Mindtripper" (2018)

6. Isole - " Shadowstone" from "Bliss of Solitude" (2008) [submitted by Ben]

7. Wine From Tears - "Cotard's Delusion" from "I'm Fine... " (2022)

8. Belzebong - "Bong Thrower" from "Sonic Scapes & Weedy Grooves" (2011)

9. Spiritus Mortis - "Are You A Witch" from "The Great Seal" (2022)

10. Trouble - "Psalm 9" from "Psalm 9" (1984) [submitted by Ben]

11. Tons - "Ummagummo" from "Hashension" (2022) [submitted by Sonny]

12. Old Man Gloom - "Common Species" from "No" (2012)

13. Sinister Downfall - "Eyes Forever Closed" from "The Last Witness" (2022) [submitted by Sonny]

14. The Gathering - "Strange Machines" from "Mandylion" (1995) [submitted by Ben]

15. Solitude Aeternus - "Upon Within" from "Alone" (2006) [submitted by Daniel]

16. Convocation - "Martyrise" from "Ashes Coalesce" (2020) [submitted by Sonny]

Dead Roots Stirring is one of those albums that has been on my radar for seemingly ages yet, for some reason, I haven't managed to get round to it until now. Firstly and to get it out of the way, I agree with Daniel that this is in no way a metal album, but don't necessarily let that put you off because despite that it is still damn heavy all the same. I would say it is firmly rooted in the classic heavy psych albums of the late sixties and early seventies from the likes of Captain Beyond, Sir Lord Baltimore and High Tide, yet with modern production values that tone down that warm, fuzzy seventies sound and replace it with a precision and clarity (albeit still heavy on the fuzz-pedal) that maybe requires a greater technical ability from the modern psych practitioner.

Most of the tracks have a real groovy stoner vibe going on with some nice bluesy melodies and usually end up with an extended psych-inflected instrumental jam that never sounds meandering or aimless, but always maintains focus. It is these jams where the band seem most at home, yet despite this I think they also recognise that people often have trouble relating to purely instrumental music and so every track contains, at least at some point, a vocal section or two. The vocals aren't exactly stellar, but they aren't by any means awful and the verses often have some decent seventies-sounding hooks - the lead-in to the title track, for example, even though I know it hasn't, feels like it's been around for years.

Drummer Matthew Couto is all over proceedings like an acid-fuelled octopus and he kind of reminds me a bit of Ufomammut's drummer, Vita. The real focus of the band however is vocalist and guitarist Nicholas DiSalvo who just seems to "get" how to play heavy psychedelic music. He allows the jams to grow organically and never feels like he is losing his way (the cardinal sin of far too many psych exponents), weaving the songs' melodies into the extended solos in such a way that any given track's main theme is kept towards the fore and maintains a constant and connecting thread throughout each track. His soloing is inspired and remains interesting throughout the album's entire fifty minutes runtime so solo-fatigue never even gets close to settling onto the listener.
I feel the high quality of the first two tracks, the superb Gemini and Dead Roots Stirring, does drop off just a little over the next two, III and The End, but closer Knot is right back up there again in trip-happy-heaven. So, OK, while Dead Roots Stirring is possibly not even really qualified to be on Metal Academy, if you love heavy stoner vibes and feel like losing yourself in the musical adventures of a highly-skilled band of modern groovsters then, as they say, turn on, tune in and drop out to the Dead Roots Stirring.

🍄🍄🍄🍄 (Four 'shrooms out of five)

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2rSh9MnfQo9HmPLo2W5MBa

1. Sky Pig - "The Scag" from "Hell Is Inside You EP" (2020)

2. Lord Vigo - "Memento Mori" from "Danse de Noir" (2020) [submitted by Daniel]

3. Theatre of Tragedy - "Fair and 'Guiling Copesmate Death" from "Velvet Darkness They Fear " (1996)

4. Sore Throat - "Phase I" from "Inde$troy" (1989) [submitted by Daniel]

5. Paul Chain Violet Theatre - "In the Darkness" from "In the Darkness" (1986)

6. 16 - "Monday Bloody Monday" from "Bridges to Burn" (2009)

7. Slow - "Déluge" from "V - Oceans" (2017) [submitted by Ben]

8. Solitude Aeternus - "Scent of Death" from "Alone" (2006)

9. Draconian - "The Sacrificial Flame" from "Under A Godless Veil" (2020)

10. Acid Mammoth - "Caravan" from "Caravan" (2021) [submitted by Sonny]

11. Dystopia - "Control All Delete" from "Dystopia" (2008) [submitted by Daniel]

12. Possessor - "Twisted Nerve Endings" from "The Speed of Death EP" (2022)

13. Solstice - "Death's Crown Is Victory" from "Death's Crown Is Victory" (2013) [submitted by Ben]

14. Hell - "Mourn" from "Hell III" (2012) [submitted by Sonny]

15. Acid Witch - "October 31st" from "Witchtanic Hellucinations" (2008)

As I have commenced my exploration of The Fallen clan it seemed sensible to pass comment on this month’s feature release, especially given the high praise it has received to date. The caveat I must add here is that I have sampled Solitude Aeturnus before now and found them not entirely to my liking. I saw these guys come up as a recommendation when searching for bands like Candlemass (who remain my benchmark in doom whom I usually chart my forays from). Stylistically the comparisons are usually spot on I must admit but considering the first four Candlemass albums are my genre-defining releases, Solitude Aeturnus have a lot to live up to.

On Alone I must comment on how nu-metal I find Rob Lowe’s vocals. Not to say that this is alternative or nu-metal in anyway, but I get flashbacks to listening to the likes of Life of Agony back in the 90s. That low vocal tone looms through in the slower moments and I cannot help but think of the sound of that very different sub-genre of metal music. Whilst we are on about the vocals, I do also find them incredibly whiny on here. Now, I know that is sort of the point and they are done deliberately like this to emphasise the melancholy of the music. However, whilst I can acknowledge the fine set of pipes that Mr Lowe possesses, I do find the vocals to be a real bug bear of mine.

It is not even as if the riffs rescue proceedings entirely. Huge though they are (and with a decidedly eastern/oriental theme to them for the initial few tracks here) I find that they are too melodic for most of the record, and I do find myself longing for the more heavy and bruising style of riffs I normally associate with this type of music. Rarely during the hour-long runtime of Alone do I feel like I encounter anything monolithic in terms of a crushing wall of doom, in fact for most of the time it plays like a heavy metal record with a heavy doom metal influence. Moments such as the opening of Is There and the Black Sabbath riff that opens Tomorrows Dead do fill me with hope but are mostly just empty promises.

Although it is all done well enough, I just do not fell that the band ever get beyond a jog here and that they should be capable of more given their obvious stature in the field of doom. Maybe with my recent departure from The Guardian clan, Alone is too near to that sound for my comfort nowadays and it would have perhaps sat better had I discovered it some years ago. Epic though it is, this record is somehow not captivating enough overall and I almost want to like it more than I actually do.

3/5

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2rSh9MnfQo9HmPLo2W5MBa

1. Temple of Void - "Deathtouch" from "Summoning the Slayer" (2022)
2. Candlemass - "Tears" from "Tales of Creation" (1989) [submitted by Daniel]
3. Celtic Frost - "Obscured" from "Monotheist" (2006) [submitted by Sonny]
4. Bog Body - "Ice Stained Kurgan" from "Cryonic Crevasse Cult" (2022)
5. Hangman's Chair - "Who Wants to Die Old" from "A Loner" (2022)
6. Mastodon - "Crusher Destroyer" from "Remission" (2002) [submitted by Daniel]
7. BlackLab - "Abyss Woods" from "In A Bizarre Dream" (2022)
8. The Gates of Slumber - "Bastards Born" from "The Wretch" (2011) [submitted by Sonny]
9. Esoteric - "Sinistrous" from "The Pernicious Enigma" (1997) [submitted by Daniel]
10. Come to Grief - "When the World Dies" from "When the World Dies" (2022)
11. Skeleton Gong - "Nephilim" from "For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky" (2015)
12. Slomatics - "Futurian" from "Estron" (2014) [submitted by Sonny]
13. Witchfinder General - "Death Penalty" from "Death Penalty" (1982) [submitted by Sonny]
14. Wolf Counsel - "Aeons" from "Initivm" (2022)
15. Churchburn - "Scarred" from "Genocidal Rite" (2021)
16. Type O Negative - "Creepy Green Light" from "World Coming Down" (1999) [submitted by Daniel]
17. Until Death Overtakes Me - "Missing" from "Prelude to Monolith" (2003) [submitted by Ben]

Even though we decided not to add Southern Metal to Metal Academy, I decided to create a Top Ten Southern Metal Releases of All Time list for anyone that's interested in checking out what the movement's all about.

Note: I've included some releases that I don't consider to be genuine Southern Metal but that are generally regarded as being included within the genre. I didn't include the Pride & Glory record I investigated because we decided not to add it to the site.

01. Glorior Belli - "Meet Us At The Southern Sign" (2009)

02. Down - "NOLA" (1995)

03. Down - "Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow…" (2002)

04. Alabama Thunderpussy - "Open Fire" (2007)

05. Corrosion of Conformity - "Deliverance" (1994)

06. Floodgate - "Penalty" (1996)

07. He Is Legend - "Suck Out The Poison" (2006)

08. Hank Williams, III - "Hillbilly Joker" (2011)

09. Fireball Ministry - "Their Rock Is Not Our Rock" (2005)

10. Black Label Society - "Mafia" (2005)

https://metal.academy/lists/single/185

I have to admit that after giving this record a good few spins over the last couple of days I've found my opinion sitting at the extreme opposite end of the spectrum to some of those detailed above in that I feel "Danse de noir" fits the description for an epic doom metal release very accurately, so much so in fact that I'm gonna submit a Hall entry to have it removed from The Guardians because I don't feel the Heavy Metal tag is relevant given that it's more of an influence than it is a primary genre & is a necessary component of the Epic Doom Metal sound. Also, I really enjoyed this album & found it be a welcome addition to our list of feature releases. I thought the interludes were all really well done (particularly "Are You Human" which is outstanding) & the vocal delivery is something very different from what I'm used to hearing which gives it a strange appeal (think Dead Kennedys' Jello Biafra meets the upper register delivery of Type O Negative's Pete Steele & you'd be pretty close). It's interesting that front man Patrick "Vinz Clortho" Palm is actually Lord Vigo's drummer too which isn't all that common. The incorporation of synthesizer accompaniment works well to enhance the epic atmosphere with Viking-period Bathory often springing to mind & the record finishes on a high with the chorus of album highlight "Memento Mori" possessing a dark anthemic quality that really hit the spot for me. There's a bit of a lull in the second half of the album when the band steer away from the doom for a couple of tracks with both the Maiden-inspired heavy metal number "And Then The Planets Will Align" & the noticeably flat Gothic Post-Punk song "Between Despair & Ecstasy" falling short of the mark but there's more than enough quality across the rest of the tracklisting to not only make up for those blemishes but to keep me very well entertained as well. Great stuff!

For fans of Candlemass, Solstice & Sorcerer.

4/5

I was legitimately about to shoot you a message when I saw the album on the front page, Ben. Checked it out last week as I was familiar with Oceans of Slumber and not only was I not exactly impressed either, it's easily has some of the least Metal attributes for something that has 3 Metal tags. I don't think it's a bad album by any means, but it's always confused me as to why Oceans of Slumber can't nail down any sort of interesting sound considering they have a talented singer and have had glimpses of good ideas in the past. I get more Blues/Soul out of the singer than anything, although I only listened to the album once so that may be off base as well. Still, Starlight and Ash should definitely be tagged as Non-Metal, I didn't realize that it had three metal tags, unsure what people are hearing.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2rSh9MnfQo9HmPLo2W5MBa

1. Goatsnake - "Flower of Disease" from "Flower of Disease" (2000)
2. Dusk - "Mourning Shadow" from "Dusk EP" (1994) [submitted by Sonny]
3. Cemetary - "Bitter Seed" from "Black Vanity" (1994) [submitted by Sonny]
4. Year of the Cobra - "White Wizard" from "...in the Shadows Below" (2016) [submitted by Sonny]
5. Evoken - "Embrace the Emptiness" from "Quietus" (2001) [submitted by Daniel]
6. Strange Horizon - "Fake Templar" from "Beyond the Strange Horizon" (2022)
7. Solitude Aeturnus - "Tomorrows Dead" from "Alone" (2006) [submitted by Ben]
8. YOB - " Burning the Altar" from "The Great Cessation" (2009) [submitted by Sonny]
9. Acid King - "Four Minutes" from "Free EP" (2014) [submitted by Daniel]
10. Deathwhite - "Quietly, Suddenly" from "Grey Everlasting" (2022)
11. The Wounded Kings - "Bleeding Sky" from "Visions in Bone" (2016) [submitted by Sonny]
12. Unholy - "For the Unknown One" from "Rapture" (1998) [submitted by Ben]
13. Corrosion of Conformity - "Pearls Before Swine" from "Deliverance" (1994) [submitted by Daniel]
14. Megadrone - "I" from "Transmission II: Jovian Echoes" (2022)
15. Lord Vicar - "The Temple in the Bedrock" from "The Black Powder" (2019)
16. Come to Grief - " Death Can't Come Soon Enough" from "When the World Dies" (2022)
17. Tzompantli - "Yaotiacahuanetzli" from "Tlazcaltiliztli" (2022) [submitted by Ben]

I wish I had more time to return to October Rust as I think having more memory of that album would have done me a few favors in figuring out an opinion on this one. I've found that I generally enjoy my time with Type O Negative, but I never rush back to them or really feel the need to, considering I haven't listened to a single song off of October Rust or any of their other albums after it was featured months ago. I kind of felt the same way about World Coming Down, although I think I can agree that it's a step down from October Rust. It's definitely a darker, more brooding album, with the interludes painting some dark and interesting pictures. However I don't think they were utilized in a cohesive enough way for me to really get into the album's atmosphere or supposed concept if there is any; some of the transitions out of them are pretty rough sounding. I think that Type O Negative plays to their strengths extremely well and still are one of my favorite Gothic Metal bands behind maybe Tiamat, with the vocals having a ton of range and variety that contribute to the songwriting way more than any other element. The fuzzy, kind of weak sounding production sounds fine for what they were going for in my opinion, as it straddles the gap between their more gloomy but shiny sounding sections and the more dark and chuggy ones. Most songs have a ton of small transitions between the two moods and while I think it sounds great, I didn't necessarily find it compelling for the entire album's runtime. 

I'm with Daniel in that the first half of the album is stronger than the second, with the first three "real" tracks (White Slavery, Everyone I Love Is Dead, and Who Will Save The Sane?) sucking me in rather well but the final three "real" tracks (Everything Dies, Pyretta Blaze, and All Hallows Eve) felt like they were overstaying their welcome. "World Coming Down" feels like a bit of a letdown considering its length, but "Creepy Green Light" is easily one of my favorites. I think this'll be another case of me not returning to this band for quite some time, but it's nice to know I can still enjoy some Gothic Metal every now and again.

3.5/4

Yeah it’s probably worth doing but there’s really not a lot we can do about it to be honest. I don’t think it’s worth changing the playlists when there could be any number of licensing concerns depending on what part of the world you’re streaming from.

What can I say about Quietus other than it is a sublime combination of funeral and death doom that comfortably sits very high on my list of all-time great albums. Evoken cannot be accused of being a band who rush things. Forming in 1994, debut album Embrace the Emptiness wasn't released until four years later with sophomore Quietus emerging another three years after that. In fact their twenty-eight years have so far only seen six albums released, so I think we can safely say that the New Jersey five-piece are a band who like to take the time to properly work up their newest material before unleashing it upon their fans. This meticulousness reveals itself in the extremely consistent quality of Evoken's published material and never more so than here with this hour of extreme doom metal nirvana.

5/5

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2rSh9MnfQo9HmPLo2W5MBa

1. MWWB - "Logic Bomb" from "The Harvest" (2022) [suggested by Ben]

2. Crowbar - "Confess to Nothing" from "Zero and Below" (2022)

3. Night Hag - Phantasmal Scourge" from "Phantasmal Scourge" (2022) [suggested by Ben]

4. Godflesh - "Merciless" from "Merciless" (1994) [suggested by Daniel]

5. Rifflord - "Thunder Rider Cremation Ground Meditation" from "7 Cremation Ground / Meditation" (2018)

6. Yith - "Beholder" from "Immemorial" (2018) [suggested by Sonny]

7. Scald - "Sepulchral Bonfire" from "Will of Gods Is a Great Power" (1996) [suggested by Sonny]

8. Esoteric - "Beneath This Face" from "The Maniacal Vale" (2008)

9. Place of Skulls - "Song of Solomon" from "Nailed" (2002) 

10. Lacuna Coil - "Circle" from "In A Reverie" (1999)

11. Spectral Voice - Terminal Exhalation" from "Eroded Corridors of Unbeing" (2017) [suggested by Daniel]

12. The Hidden Hand - "Sunblood" from "Divine Propaganda" (2003)

13. Mizmor & Thou - "Indignance" from "Myopia" (2022) [suggested by Ben]

14. Monarch! - "Blood Seeress" from "Omens" (2012) [suggested by Daniel]

15. Hell - "Helmzmen" from "Hell" (2017) [suggested by Sonny]

16. Woods of Ypres - "Alternate Ending" from "Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light" (2012)

I just finished blasting this playlist while working out on the floor in front of the kids (yes the missus is away) & I've gotta say that I fucking loved it. The Firebreather, Mares of Thrace, MonumentuM, Bismuth, Electric Wizard, Type O Negative, Hangman's Chair & The Ruins of Beveerast tracks are all mind-blowing. The Down, Mar de Grises, Isole, Ard, Profetus & Ufomammut tracks are really solid too. The Obsidian Sea & Acid Bath songs were probably the ones that I enjoyed the least which is mainly due to the inclusion of some groovier riffs but I still quite like them. The balance of known tracks with underground ones is excellent, as is the mix of subgenres. This is about as good a playlist as I've heard to be honest.

I'd certainly heard the name Internal Void around the traps over the years but can't say that I've ever committed to checking them out before now. In fact, I wasn't aware that they'd released anything else after this debut album which proves Sonny's point about being a particularly underappreciated artist. After giving "Standing On The Sun" a few spins over the last couple of days I've achieved a firm opinion on the music that lies within & while I can't say that I find the same level of appeal as the elder statesman of our Metal Academy community there's definitely a fair few positives here. The warm 1970's production job is a great start as it really compliments the band's sound & gives the record that authentic old-school doom atmosphere. The inclusion of psychedelia in the lead guitar work is something that I've always found appealing while I can easily pickup the Alex Lifeson influence that Sonny mentioned above. Unfortunately though there's a fairly major stumbling block for me here in J.D. Williams' vocals. He's clearly trying his level best to be Ozzy Osbourne but sadly doesn't possess anywhere near the level of talent required so he often ends up sounding more like Lee Dorrian's weaker moments. There's no question that he's trying really hard but it should all come a lot more effortlessly for a genuine front man. For this reason I found that two of the three tracks I enjoyed the most were the instrumental pieces in short acoustic interlude "Eclipsed" & album highlight "The Peace Song". The other element that places a cap on my rating is the inclusion of a fair few groovy stoner metal riffs. While those riffs may sound very much like Black Sabbath, I have to admit that even the mighty Sabbath can't completely win me over when they go in that direction for any sort of period (as they did on a record like "Vol.4" which I've always considered to be a bit overrated). Epic closer "Desolate Cemetery" is my pick of the vocal tracks as it manages to overcome a significant doom-to-groove ratio through an impeccably dark atmosphere, some stellar riffage & lead work & a pretty cool lyrical approach. 

Overall I find "Standing On The Sun" to be a mildly enjoyable listen that has the edge taken off an excellent instrumental representation of the traditional doom metal philosophy by a couple of aesthetic & compositional flaws. I'd be surprised if the vast majority of Saint Vitus, Pentagram & 70's Black Sabbath fans don't find enough to keep them interested here but I'm not sure too many of them will consider Internal Void to compete with the premier traditional doom metal bands that influenced them.

3.5/5

I think it's a pretty safe bet that very few drone metal releases will get much traction with the "average punter". Drone metal is one of those extreme genres that provides greater reward the more the listener is willing to invest and many just can't get past the surface. But for those who are able, when done well, it can be an hallucinatory and revelatory listening experience that is well worth the effort. That said, though, Monarch! do seem to be lacking in exposure, even in a niche genre like drone metal and that is a great shame because Omens is as good as anything the genre has to offer.

Brief thoughts on this month's playlist:

1. Spirit Caravan - "Dead Love / Jug Fulla Sun" from "Jug Fulla Sun" (1999) [submitted by Sonny]
Spirit Caravan is a Wino-led trio that laces their stoner doom with acid. This is my favourite track from their debut and is one of my all-time top stoner metal tracks.

2. Anathema - "Radiance" from "Eternity" (1996) [submitted by Daniel]
Builds really effectively to a Comfortably Numb-style guitar solo climax.

3. Worm - "Empire of the Necromancers" from "Foreverglade" (2021) [submitted by Ben]
Heavy as fuck blackened doom from one of last year's great albums.

4. Cult of Luna - "Cold Burn" from "The Long road North" (2022)
It's CoL doing what they do and doing it supremely well. Quality atmo-sludge no more no less.

5. Crowbar - "Like Broken Glass" from "Broken Glass" (1996) [submitted by Daniel]
It's Crowbar doing what they do and doing it... What? I've used that one already? OK, but you know what I mean yeah?

6. Lethian Dreams - "Shades" from "Red Silence Lodge" (2014) [submitted by Ben]
I really like this album - I have a CD digipak with a nice message and signed by Carline Van Roos that I bought from Bandcamp when it was released This is a gorgeously melancholy track with terrific vocals from Carline that eventually explodes towards the end.

7. Internal Void - "Utopia of Daze" from "Standing on the Sun" (1992) [submitted by Sonny]
This is one of the great unheralded early 90's Sabbath-influenced trad doom albums and Utopia of Daze is my favourite track from it. I finally tracked down an original CD copy recently on Discogs from a guy in South Africa and it was worth every penny!

8. Melvins - "Vile" from "Ozma" (1989) [submitted by Sonny]
Melvins are one of those bands who baffle me with how they can go from ridiculous to sublime seemingly at will. This is a sublime moment and one of my favourites from the US sludgelords - what a brilliant crawling, creeping riff this is.

9. Converge & Chelsea Wolfe - "Blood Moon" from "Bloodmoon: I" (2021) [submitted by Daniel]
The Fallen Album of the Year for 2021 is well represented by this track which beautifully illustrates the strength of this collaboration and the contrast between the two protagonists.

10. Khazad-dûm - "Transmuted" from "Hymns from the Deep" (2020) [submitted by Ben]
If you are a fan of the LoTR books or movies then you will recognise exactly what Khazad-dûm are aiming for - to use funeral doom to recreate the atmosphere of the dwarven mines from whence the band get their name, a task at which they have been supremely successful and no more so than on this brilliant track. Another criminally underappreciated album from the last couple of years.

11. Candlemass - "The Well of Souls" from "Nightfall" (1987)
A genuine classic of epic doom from the Swedish masters with Messiah in full flow. Epic doom doesn't get much beter than this!

12. Swallow the Sun - "Keep Your Heart Safe From Me" from "Moonflowers" (2021)
A real heartbreaker from one of the more emotionally-charged albums in metal.

13. Abandon - "Pitch Black Hole" from "The Dead End" (2009) [submitted by Sonny]
It kind of came out of nowhere and blew me away this one. A mix of sludge and funeral doom that really hits the spot for me.

14. Windhand - "Woodbine" from "Soma" (2013)
I fucking love that uber-fuzzed guitar tone on this album and Dorthia's washed-out vocals suit it just brilliantly. One of the best female-fronted doom metal albums out there.

15. My Dying Bride - "A Doomed Lover" from "Songs of Darkness, Words of Light" (2004) [submitted by Ben]
My old pals are back on the playlist! Still, this is MDB at their best - fortunately Aaron Stainthorpe puts in a quite restrained vocal performance that doesn't overdo the ham. Builds really nicely too.

16. Ufomammut / Lento - "Infect Two" from "Supernaturals - Record One " (2007) [submitted by Daniel]
The January Fallen feature was pretty much universally praised by the membership and with damn good reason too. Black hole-density metal fused with space rock aesthetics for some truly mind-blowing astral projection.

   https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2rSh9MnfQo9HmPLo2W5MBa 

1. Dawn of Solace - "Erase" from "Flames of Perdition" (2022)
2. Penance - "A Wayfarer's Tale" from "The Road Less Travelled" (1992) [Submitted by Sonny]
3. Neurosis - "Through Silver in Blood" from "Through Silver in Blood" (1996) [Submitted by Daniel]
4. High On Fire - "Return to NOD" from "Death is This Communion" (2007) [Submitted by Sonny]
5. Mournful Congregation - "As I Drown in Loveless Rain" from "The Monad of Creation" (2005) [Submitted by Ben]
6. Mansion - "Traitor's Dirge" from "Altar Sermon EP" (2015)
7. Counting Hours - "To Exit All False" from "The Will" (2020) [Submitted by Ben]
8. Thou - "Inward" from "Magus" (2018) [Submitted by Sonny]
9. Space Coke - "Bride of Satan" from "Lunacy" (2022)
10. Deathbell - "The Stronghold and the Archer" from "A Nocturnal Crossing" (2022) [Submitted by Sonny]
11. Paradise Lost - "Gothic" from "Gothic" (1991) [Submitted by Daniel]
12. Konvent - "Pipe Dreams" from "Call Down the Sun" (2022) [Submitted by Ben]
13. Messa - "Serving Him" from"Close" (2022) [Submitted by Ben]
14. Inter Arma - "The Survival Fires" from "Sky Burial" (2013)
15. Ahab - "The Hunt" from "The Call of the Wretched Sea" (2006) [Submitted by Daniel]

One other thing - am I the only one who thinks that cover is creepy as fuck?

Nope. It's genuinely squeemish.

When people talk of atmospheric metal releases they usually point to atmospheric sludge or atmo-black albums and it is true, these can both conjure up marvellous atmospheres. I particularly enjoy the natural world atmospherics of atmospheric black metal, be it the icy coldness of bands like Paysage d'Hiver and ColdWorld, the sweeping highland majesty of Saor or the awe-inspiring cosmic metal of Darkspace or Mare Cognitum. However, nothing expresses the atmosphere of the most fundamental forces of the natural world, such as heaving tidal forces, than funeral doom. At it's best it is overwhelming and implacable, either smothering or sweeping away all that stands before it in the same way that lava flows or tidal waves are capable of doing. German four-piece Ahab and their debut album The Call of the Wretched Sea, based on the novel Moby Dick by Herman Melville from whence they get their name, is one of the great albums for summoning up the sensation of being out on the deep ocean and it's immense tidal forces, along with the interaction of Ahab with it's most huge and implacable denizen, the white whale Moby Dick himself. As we all know, Mastodon released their classic Leviathan album two years prior, but the fact that they both draw on the same source material is the only real connection and I don't think Leviathan had any influence on Call of the Wretched Sea at all. The Mastodon album is a straight-up narrative of storytelling whereas Ahab's aims for a more immersive and overwhelmingly tactile experience.

Funeral doom metal is not really for the impatient and will most likely always be a niche genre, particularly with the modern world's obsession with instant gratification and ADHD-like impatience in it's junkie-like hunt for that next dopamine hit. However, for those willing to invest the time and to surrender themselves to it's all-pervasive heaviness, funeral doom is ultimately one of the most rewarding of metal genres. Call of the Wretched Sea is one of the greatest examples of why and is one of the absolute peaks of funeral doom metal in my opinion. There is a genuine sensation while listening to this that forces way beyond our ken or ability to control are at large and that ultimately men are at the whim of these vast, unknowable forces. Whilst listening to this and indeed any truly great funeral doom, I feel like it registers on a physical level and can almost feel it's ebbing and flowing within my own bloodflow, such is the power of this music for me.

Despite being over an hour in length Call of the Wretched Sea never gets dull or overly repetitive as there is more than enough going on to keep things interesting, but it is never hurried and the tracks are allowed the time to develop in a natural and organic way. Funeral doom gets a reputation for being monolithic and eschewing riffs for huge chords, which can certainly be true, but here there are definitely some great riffs, albeit they are exceedingly slow, smothering, and crushingly heavy - check out the riff to The Sermon, it is basically an ultra-slow, mega-heavy sea shanty. Keyboards are used fairly subtly, but they add an extra layer to the already thick atmosphere that increases the cloying nature of the music and adds to the sensation of being dragged down to a watery grave in the lonely isolation of the vast and unforgiving ocean. Daniel Droste's subsonic growl further adds weight and sounds like some Cthulhian elder crooning into a drowning man's ear to just let go and surrender to the ocean's lure.

This is not just one of my favourite funeral doom albums, but one of my favourites of any genre, metal or otherwise and stands as testament to sheer unadulterated heaviness and almost palpable atmospherics.

5/5 classic status.

Yeah, "Bloodmoon: I" was my The Fallen Release Of The Year too. It grew on me so much with each successive listen which is a sign of its depth & character. It just oozes class, particularly the way it starts & finishes.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2rSh9MnfQo9HmPLo2W5MBa?si=78f70c3da15e4626

There's a week remaining until we know which release earns itself the best cover of the year award for each clan. As I did last year, I'll be rating every cover for my clans, and I'll probably do The Guardians as well (they have the most consistently great covers in my opinion).

I've just finished rating all The Fallen releases, and it doesn't actually take very long to run a filter in Releases (you can even exclude covers you've already rated) and then rate the ones you like. I encourage you all to do the same so we get enough votes for the result to be somewhat "accurate".

It seems we might get a runaway winner for The Fallen?