Crooked Whispers, The - Satanic Melodies (2020)^{Release ID: 23784}

LA's The Crooked Whispers have delivered a debut album of occult-laced doom metal with a vocalist who will undoubtedly divide opinion. The music is Electric Wizard-influenced devil-worshipping doom metal with fat, heavy riffs that is a staple of the doom metal scene. Vocalist Anthony Gaglia (of Portland's LáGoon) however is a different proposition. His singing style is more that of a black metal singer and when his voice kicks in after nearly two minutes of second track Sacrifice's plodding main riff it comes as a bit of an initial surprise. I must say though, by the end of Sacrifice I had become used to it and found it quite an interesting variation to the occult doom template. The lyrics are all hokey, seventies horror movie influenced nonsense as is par for the course, but good fun all the same. All in all a damn solid slab of doom metal with a bit of a twist and at only thirty minutes for it's six tracks (well, four with an intro and outro) it doesn't outstay it's welcome.