Sonny's Forum Replies
Hi Ben, could you add Myridian, a band of your compatriots playing death doom, please:
RYM: https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/myridian
BC: https://myridian.bandcamp.com/album/starless
Will do.
Here you go:
Eternal Rot - "Crawler" (from "Grave Grooves", 2014)
ISIS - "The Other" (from "Oceanic", 2002)
Ophis - "The Perennial Wound" (from "Spew Forth Odium", 2021)
Wildspeaker - "Cinders" (from "Spreading Adder", 2017)
Graves at Sea - "The Waco 177" (from "The Curse That Is", 2016)
Hey Vinny, I have been working on this this morning and noticed that you have nominated Isis' "The Other" again. You nominated it last month as a replacement for a Smote track. I presume you hadn't removed it from your list, so have you got a replacement? Do you want me to insert the Smote track you originally suggested last month instead or do you want to nominate something else?
Slow - "V - Oceans" (2017)
Today's selection from the Vault of the Underappreciated is a slab of funeral doom goodness from Belgium's Slow. Here is my review:
Slow is a funeral doom project of prodigious belgian Déhà, who is perhaps better known for his black metal and blackgaze work, but who is also a proficient doomster with acts like Yhdarl and Wolvennest. He has released seven albums under the Slow banner, with "V-Oceans" unsurprisingly being number five and, probably, my favourite. This is the last of the Slow albums that were produced as a solo project, Déhà since having been joined by lyricist Lore Boeykens who also contributes bass and backing vocals.
Anyone even remotely familiar with Déhà's other projects will be unsurprised to hear a significant post-metal and -gazey element to Slow's funereal dirges, but make no mistake this is still ponderously heavy stuff. The vocals are of the gravel-throated, abyssal demon bellowing kind that are the cornerstone of so many fantastic funeral doom albums and are more than ably delivered here by the main man himself. As he intones at the beginning of "Ténèbres", "This is not meant to bring you joy, this is not meant to give you any solace," and it surely doesn't if you take its message literally yet, ironically, if you are a lover of the melancholy and desperate atmospherics of funeral doom then it may well bring you great joy indeed (it certainly does for me).
With tempos that are measured by a calendar rather than a metronome, the five, 10-minute plus tracks here crawl under your skin and sit there draining your optimism like a vampiric parasite feasting on the mind's positive energy, leaving its host bereft and borne down by the weight of existence. The riffs are monumental chords that swell like tsunamis, given additional heft and gravitas by layered synths and choral effects which thankfully don't swamp the guitar and drums, but which add their weight to the crushing mass subtlely enough so as not to be distracting. "Oceans" covers a theme that has served funeral doom very well over the years with its huge swells of sound being an exceedingly effective artistic interpreter of oceanic environs and deep sea tectonics, here being used as a metaphor for the unalterable inevitability of death, in other words, all the best sentiments of funeral doom.
The number of ratings for Slow albums on RYM is paltry with this being the most-rated with a touch over 300, yet this is funeral doom of the highest order that deserves to be considered up there with giants of the genre like Bell Witch and Esoteric. OK, maybe not Esoteric, but everybody else anyway! Criminally overlooked, for me this is a top drawer entry into the funeral doom pantheon.
4.5/5
Fair enough Sonny.
How about
Oromet - "Forsaken Tarn" (from "The Sinking Isle", 2025): 11:21 (pushing my minutes up to around 32 minutes)
Thanks David.
Morag Tong - "Through Clouded Time" EP (2016)
I thought I would try to showcase a few of my favourite obscure doom bands through these pages, so this is the first of, hopefully quite a few lesser known releases. I will try to limit it to ones no one else has rated yet.
My review:
I have been a fan of London's Morag Tong for a good decade now, since the release of this debut. four-track EP back in 2016. They are named for the fictional guild of assassins featured in The Elder Scrolls game Morrowind and their reverb-drenched doom metal is as influenced as much by stoner metal as you would expect from a band of RPG-ing nerds. My original one-line review for this went "stoner doom that's nice 'n' slow and as heavy as an anchor strapped to an anvil that's tied to a millstone" and you know what, that remains true, but there is actually a bit more to it than just sheer weight so I thought I had better elaborate.
The riffs have an in-built bluesiness that reaches back as far as Sabbath's debut but which are delivered with such heft and distortion that they sound mountainously and crushingly heavy. The soloing, such as it is, has a psychedelic, spacey tinge that is fed from the band's stoner roots and which is aided by some Hawkwind-ish electronics buried quite deeply in the mix. I hesitate to call it trippy, though, because the tempo is so lethargic and the riffs just so fucking heavy that I am unsure if anything with this amount of heft can ever be labelled as such, although the title track "Through Clouded Time" does feature some quieter, more trippy moments, such as the introductory couple of minutes or so which almost sounds like a very heavy version of Fleetwood Mac's "Albatross" and a quite funky bass breakdown just after the halfway point. The two tracks either side, "Godhead" and "The Eyes of Men" are a bit more straight forward but deliver such devastatingly heavy doom riffs that they are still worthy of attention in their own rights.
Drummer Adam Asquith also handles vocals which are perfectly functional for this style of stonerised doom, whereas his drumming is really good within the confines of the genre and he and bassist Sam Lewis both featuring prominently enough in the mix to lay down a super-solid foundation upon which dual guitarists Alex Clarke and Lewis Crane can lay down the towering monoliths of the riffs. The four are obviously deeply steeped in the world of stoner doom and they sound like solid technical musicians perfectly able to translate their intentions into music, so there is a definite authenticity about what they delivered here.
In summary, this is a very impressive twenty-three minutes that handed out an attention-grabbing calling card to the UK's doom metal afficianados. Unfortunately I felt 2018's full-length "Last Knell of Om" failed to live up to this promise and I have yet to hear 2023's Grieve, so this stands as the band's high water mark for me so far. Truth is though, even if they never bettered this, it would still stand as a worthy testament. I was then and remain still, mightily impressed.
4/5
Ethereal Tomb – “The Sufferance of Mourning” (from “When The Rivers Dry”, 2023): 10:01
Ethereal Darkness – “On The Edge of a Cliff” (from “Echoes”, 2026): 8:48
Sunn 0))) – “Glory Black” (from “Sunn O)))”, 2026): 10:25
Just under 30 minutes, leaving some minutes spare for anyone.
I don't like questioning other people's picks, but I am reluctant to include the Ethereal Darkness track in all honesty David. I have no idea how it is labelled as Death Doom on RYM. To my ears this track is melodic black metal with little to no doom present. What do you think? Is there something more doomy on the album that may be more suitable for a Fallen playlist?
Thanks so much for adding my latest slew of requests, Ben.
A couple more for you:
Crimson Altar - US, doom metal
RYM: https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/crimson_altar_f1
BC: https://crimsonaltar.bandcamp.com/
Mangog - US, doom metal
The "obscure" bands still work best for me though Sonny so keep them coming.
Will do.
I am becoming increasingly frustrated by the fact that so many aren't available on Spotify though. I will have to try a bit harder to promote some of them via reviews etc.
Just letting you know that Doomicidal are already on the site.
They are and I have rated both of their releases, so I don't know what the hell I was thinking there! Sorry, Ben.
The "obscure" bands still work best for me though Sonny so keep them coming.
Will do.
A couple more for you Ben, please.
Mother Crone (US)
RYM: https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/mother_crone
Bandcamp: https://mothercrone.bandcamp.com/
Mortalicum (Swe)
RYM: https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/mortalicum
Bandcamp: https://metalonmetalrecords.bandcamp.com/album/mortalicum-tears-from-the-grave
My review:
Finnish duo Convocation inhabit that sector of the metal Venn diagram where the arcs of funeral and death doom overlap, which also happens to be one of my favourite shades of metal. For latest album, No Dawn for the Caliginous Night, they lean more towards the funeral doom side of things, ultimately taking a leaf out of the mighty Esoteric's book. One danger of funeral doom that these Finns avoid is in overcooking things and allowing tracks to drag along without much variation, producing arse-numbingly long albums in the process. Convocation rarely go beyond the 12 minute mark for individual tracks and their longest album is fifty minutes, this one clocking in at forty-eight. They also like to bring in some textural and tonal variation, whilst still maintaining the slow, funereal pacing from whence the genre derives it's name.
The production is excellent, allowing the heaving chords to provide a huge wall-of-sound which towers over and threatens to smother the listener with sheer sonic immensity and even though there is an undoubted crushing power to the tracks, there is much more to them than just that, with string accompaniment and vocal and guitar melodies providing a striking countepoint to the fundamrntal heaviness of the instrumentation. Opener, Graveless yet Dead, features Shape of Despair's Natalie Koskinen as second vocalist, whose soaring, angelic vocals provide perfect contrast to Marko Neuman's bellowing roars as he rails against his fate as a cursed, undying soul, fated to forever wander the Earth. The album features another couple of guest vocalists, Corpsessed's Niko Matilainen on second track, Atychiphobia, and Dying Fetus / Misery Index singer Jason Netherton guesting on closer, Procession (which also sees Ferum's Samantha Alessi providing a spoken narration).
The eye of the album's storm is the instrumental track Between Aether and Land which sits at the heart of the album and which has a less dense feel to it, being woven through with a nice melodic thread that makes it sound less despairing and hopeless than the opening twenty minutes, allowing a shaft of light or a glimpse of open countryside to infiltrate the ominous and despairing atmosphere of the remainder of the album. Naturally this is short-lived and Lepers and Derelicts hits with the full crushing force of a tsunami of hopelessness, sucking all air and positivity out of proceedings and feeling all the more forceful for it's contrast with the preceeding track, Marko Neuman's howling roars sounding increasingly desolate as he bellows the protagonists hatred of his own existence as a torturous demon, bedevilling mankind. On closer, Procession, Convocation really reveal their hand with a track that has a massive epic quality to it, with superb compositional and atmospheric flourishes, from guest Antti Poutanen's cello accompaniment to Samantha Alessi's narration and the melodic guitar work that threads it's way through those hefty, intimidatingly massive chords. Ultimately the track (and by extension, the album) sheds it's horrors and ends with a much more serene feeling as cello and picked guitar along with the closing narration seem to offer the consolation that eventually all horrors must pass.
With No Dawn.. Convocation have truly cemented their place as one of my absolute favourite funeral / death doom bands and I would claim this as a classic of the genre, making them fit to take up their place alongside genre greats like Esoteric and Evoken.
It is a 5/5 classic for me.
Hi Andi, you can add me back on to the Feature Release schedule for The Guardians, The Infinite, and The North starting in June.
Thanks!
Yay, welcome back to the fold, Xephyr.
I like the looks of this one, so will definitely give it a spin at some point.
Y&T - "Forever" from Black Tiger (1982)2.5/5. This one's OK but doesn't give me much awe. Sorry, Sonny.
Quoted Shadowdoom9 (Andi)
No need to apologise, Andi. I picked it more as a nostalgia trip than anything. It was a song I knew from the rock club I used to attend every Friday night back in the Eighties, but I didn't know who it ws by as I was never a Y&T fan. I then heard it again on the Black Tiger album when I was checking stuff out recently for my 1982 list and it brought back some good memories, so I thought I would give it an airing.
May 2026
1. Funeral Circle - "Corpus of Dark Sorcery" (from "Funeral Circle", 2023) [submitted by Sonny]
2. Smote – “Lof” (from “Clyppan”, 2025) [submitted by dk]
3. Purple Lung - "Beware the Bog Witch" (from "Mystic Vision", 2026) [submitted by Vinny]
4. For My Pain... - "Autumn Harmony" (from "Fallen", 2003)
5. ISIS - "The Other" (from "Oceanic", 2002) [submitted by Vinny]
6. Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean - "An Abundance of Mercy" (from "Let Us Not Speak of Them but Look and Pass On", 2026)
7. Novembers Doom - "Not the Strong" (from "To Welcome the Fade", 2002) [submitted by Andi]
8. Concept of God - "Visions (Nightmares) (from "Visions", 2007) [submitted by Sonny]
9. Unearthly Trance – “Raised by Wolves” (from “Season of Seance, Science of Silence”, 2003) [submitted by dk]
10. Neurosis - "Blind" (from "An Undying Love For a Burning World", 2026) [submitted by Vinny]
11. Departure - "Emanations of Hopelessness" (from "Mired in Descension", 2025) [submitted by Sonny]
12. Space Sugar - "Graveyard Keeper" (from "Ride Your Panic", 2025) [submitted by Vinny]
13. Sumac – “Will to Reach” (from “What One Becomes”, 2016) [submitted by dk]
14. Oreyeon - "Nothing but Impurities Pt.2" (from "The Grotesque Within", 2026) [submitted by Vinny]
15. Dawn of Winter - "The Peaceful Dead" (from "The Peaceful Dead", 2009)
16. Ennui - "Antinatalism" (from Qroba, 2026) [submitted by Sonny]
May 2026
1. Kings Rot - "Fall of the Witch King" (from "The Shadow of the Accursed", 2021) [submitted by Vinny]
2. Hellhammer - "The Third of the Storms (Evoked Damnation)" (from "Apocalyptic Raids", 1984) [submitted by Sonny]
3. Thunderbolt - "Shadows of the Deepest Night" (from "Black Clouds over Dark Majesty", 1999) [submitted by Karl]
4. Haimad - "Nen Cenedril" (from "When Night Rode Across the North", 2025) [submitted by Karl]
5. Mesarthim - "The Degenerate Era" (from "The Degenerate Era", 2020) [submitted by Sonny]
6. Thus Defiled - "Rapture of Twilight Burning" (from "Wings of the Nightstorm", 1997) [submitted by Karl]
7. LVME - "Third Flame of Disorder" (from "The Blazing Iniquity", 2024) [submitted by Vinny]
8. Crurifragium - "Slaughterers of the Flocks" (from "Beasts of the Temple of Satan", 2017)
9. Beltez - "A Grey Chill and a Whisper" (from "A Grey Chill and a Whisper", 2020) [submitted by Sonny]
10. Deadlife - "Your Life Is Pointless" (from "No Help Is Coming", 2014)
11. ShadowThrone - "Endless Dance of the Universe" (from "Elements' Blackest Legacy", 2019)
12. Veter Daemonaz - "The Awakening" (from "Trivmph", 2016) [submitted by Vinny]
13. Fermenting Innards - "Myst" (from "Myst", 1995) [submitted by Karl]
14. Cirkeln - "Hammer High" (from "Stormlander", 2020)
15. Agatus - "Under the Spell of the Dragon" (from "Dawn of Martyrdom", 1996) [submitted by Karl]
16. Bosse-de-Nage - "Leviathan" (from "Hidden Fires Burn Hottest2, 2026) [submitted by Vinny]
17. Fides Inversa - "Algolagnia Divine" (from "Hanc Aciem Sola Retundit Virtus (The Algolagnia Divine)", 2009) [submitted by Sonny]
18. Skyforest - "Reminiscence" (from "Unity", 2016)
Again, thanks for the speedy responses guys. Makes things much easier time-wise.
Welcome back, Xephyr. Great to see you back. Our little corner of the internet is still hanging in there doing its thing!
Thanks a lot guys. Much appreciated.
Wow, that WAS quick. Thanks Vinny.
As this is a three-playlist month for me, I would appreciate it if you could get your suggestions in a bit earlier guys. If not, then no probs, the 15th will do just fine.
June is a Horde playlist month, so suggestions in by the 15th at the latest please.
Damn. I thought we were through that. I haven't had any errors since I restarted, but that could be a timezone thing.
I may have to investigate what's causing it.
I actually only had a couple that may have been entirely coincidental and things generally seem to be ok now, so I doubt if it was connected to the previous issue.
The reason a release will be added to the site as Non-Metal is if there it's one that sits between other metal-tagged releases in a band's discography Sonny. That wasn't the case with "Rocka Rolla" as it preceded their metal albums & is well known as more of a hard rock record. In the case of the Money album, that was added to the site as heavy metal due to the NWOBHM tag on RYM at the time (Note: the majority tag was Hard Rock but, tellingly, Heavy Metal had been downvoted). I made the executive decision to alter the tagging after hearing the album because it's nothing like metal & the Hall of Judgement would never produce an outcome with such an obscure release. We don't generally delete releases like that, although we probably should.
Ah, ok. I get it now.
I haven't had any issues with this today, Vinny. i had a couple yesterday, but nothing like before Ben reset the server.
Edit: seriously I must have spoken too soon. Literally two minutes later 502 errors have popped up.
Very well Sonny. We shall go to the Hall on the doom metal association too.
Really, there is no need to Daniel. I am not confiident enough in my memory to vote and I really don't have any wish to revisit it. If you consider it a done deal then that is fine by me. I don't even know why I felt compelled to comment to be honest. As I have oftten been told, sometimes I really need to keep my opinions to myself!
Nah, I think you have a valid point. I personally disagree with hall entries being closed prior to voting.
I do understand why though Ben, because unfortunately the participation in the Hall entries is so low that it tends to just end up being a dumping site where entrants sit, in many instances indefinitely.
Very well Sonny. We shall go to the Hall on the doom metal association too.
Really, there is no need to Daniel. I am not confiident enough in my memory to vote and I really don't have any wish to revisit it. If you consider it a done deal then that is fine by me. I don't even know why I felt compelled to comment to be honest. As I have oftten been told, sometimes I really need to keep my opinions to myself!
I haven't listened to this for a while but I remember being perplexed at the doom metal tagging at the time. I have no wish to relisten to it and am not bothered enough to object to you passing it uncontested, Daniel, but i strongly disagree and just wish to illustrate that other opinions are available.
I am not the biggest fan of Bjork's music, but I do genuinely love this record.
YDI - "Black Dust" (1985)
This one has been eating away at me for a while. Whenever I look at the earliest releases I haven't rated yet for the Fallen, this ugly, yellow and black fucking cover is always there staring at me like some recurring monochrome nightmare. I mean, look at it, it is fucking horrible. So today, as I am ploughing through some 1985 releases, I decided to get to grips with it and see what hides behind that menacing and manic-looking face. Well folks, don't be fooled because behind that ugly cover is an album of even more ugly-sounding music. Taking the idea of merging hardcore punk with the slower, looser and more distorted sound of Saint Vitus as originally posited by Black Flag's "My War" released the previous year, YDI have produced a noisy bastard child that dispenses with all the niceties of Black Flag's trailblazer.
This is filthy-sounding, virtually demo quality hardcore punk that has taken on board some of the aesthetics of the emergent doom metal scene to produce an album that sounds like it was recorded in an afternoon in the gutter of a Philadelphia back alley littered with used syringes and condoms. If anybody ever thought The Dead Kennedys and Black Flag were street punks then they will find "Black Dust" a fucking revelation that makes those guys sound like they went to Eton with singer Neil "Jackal Ssexzombie" Perry spewing forth a rasping bellow that makes Henry Rollins sound like a right stuck-up toff! This is such a dirty-sounding, gritty and groundbreaking record that I am genuinely not even sure if it really belongs in the Fallen at all. As is often the case with such revolutionary records, this is not easy to pigeon-hole, its hinting at what sludge would become being still in a very rudimentary stage of evolution. It is, however very noisy, very brash with an abrasive sound, ugly lyrics and a fuck-you-we-really-don't-care-what-you-think attitude that demands respect even if you don't enjoy the album itself. For myself, I am going to need to spend a bit more time with it to try to really get under its skin. I have it pegged at a 3.5/5 at the minute, but I feel this may rise as the album's essential ugliness smoothes itself out with further exposure and the involuntary gag reflex that it arouses subsides.
Hi Ben, could you add the following please:
The Grave [Argentina]
BC: https://thegrave666.bandcamp.com/album/the-grave
RYM: https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/the_grave
Demon Incarnate [Germany]
BC: https://fda-records.bandcamp.com/album/key-of-solomon
RYM: https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/demon-incarnate
Doomicidal [UK]
BC: https://doomicidal.bandcamp.com/album/shadow-of-the-gallows
RYM: https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/doomicidal
Eternal Black [USA]
BC: https://eternalblack.bandcamp.com/
RYM: https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/eternal_black_f1
I have never ever knowingly listened to them. What is the best release to listen to that might draw me in if I were to check them out?
I have managed to get across my suggestions this time around, so here you go Vinny:
Aggressive Perfector - "Return of the Axe" (from "Come Creeping Fiends", 2026)
Slayer - "Captor of Sin" (from "Haunting the Chapel EP", 1984)
Destruction -"Satan's Vengeance" (from "Sentence of Death EP", 1984)
Voivod - "Live for Violence" (from "War and Pain", 1984)
Exciter - "Scream in the Night" (from "Violence & Force", 1984)
Acid - "Satan" (from "Acid", 1983)
Epidemic - "Territories" (from "Decameron", 1992)
Razor - "Escape the Fire" (from "Executioner's Song", 1985)
Sacrilege - "Shadow From Mordor" (from "Behind the Realms of Madness", 1985)
Torturer - "Demoniac Possession" (from "Oppressed by the Force", 1992)
Sorry there is so much '84 / '85 stuff, but that is what I have been listening to!!
I have finalised my top dozen for 1984.
https://metal.academy/lists/single/347
1. Metallica - Ride the Lightning
2. Saint Vitus - Saint Vitus
3. Celtic Frost - Morbid Tales EP
4. Slayer - Haunting the Chapel EP
5. Iron Maiden - Powerslave
6. Bathory - Bathory
7. Destruction - Sentence of Death EP
8. Mercyful Fate - Don't Break the Oath
9. Trouble - Trouble (Psalm 9)
10. Paul Chain - Detaching From Satan EP
11. Voivod - War and Pain
12. Cirith Ungol - King of the Dead
This is a genre I know very little about, Andi, but I have always thought that bands like Nightwish and Sonata Arctica were symphonic metal rather than power metal, or are the two terms synonymous with each other and interchangeable? Other than that I can't really contribute much to this discussion, sorry. For context, though, I did buy "Keeper of the Seven Keys" when it came out and never heard the expression power metal applied to it at the time (or to anything, to be honest).
Thanks Daniel. I will give it a spin.
Edit: I must have been punch-drunk or some other synonym for fucking stupid yesterday because I thought you were suggesting an album titled "Orphaned Land" from a band called Israel. Luckily I mustn't be as dumb today because I just got out of bed and it popped into my head that you were actually recommending the israeli band Orphaned Land. In the words of a much smarter man than I - Doh!!
I can't remember having listened to them before, but I wil certainly check them out.
It looks like my picks this month have missed the mark, Vinny!! 😉
Thanks for the comments guys. "The Epigenesis" it seems is further proof of the breadth of metal appreciation with metalheads who, to outsiders, 'all like the same stuff' but who have, in fact, very different perceptions and appreciations of the same material. I am a huge lover of middle eastern music and atmospherics and that is what sets Melechesh apart and raises them up for me.
Incidently, if anyone has any other recommendations of metal with middle eastern vibes (not necessarily just black metal) then please pass them along because I haven't found too many examples and even less so that really hit the spot.
Hi Ben, could you add russian black metallers Krahnholm please.
RYM: https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/krahnholm
Bandcamp: https://krahnholm.bandcamp.com/album/a-wind-in-the-cold-night
It is pretty obvious to me by now that, when it comes to metalcore, the older stuff resonates with me most. I think that it is due to the harcore punk element being more prevalent on the older stuff, to the degree where albums like this, Earth Crisis' "Destroy the Machines" and Callous' "In the Memory Of…" seem like very different beasts to the more metallic modern stuff. There is a kind of aggressive looseness to the OS sound that has morphed over the years into an excessive tightness that feels more forced and constipated as a result. Of course, this has only been exacerbated by modern recording techniques that make a lot of the more recent metalcore I have encountered sound more like manufactured outrage than true anger at the state of things.
What I am clumsily trying to say is that I really enjoyed this album and was carried along by its aggressive delivery, overwhelming sense of outrage and its vitriolic lambasting of all and sundry. Sure, there is little variety throughout the runtime, but I am a man of simple tastes and these quite basic riffs maybe appeal to me more than more demanding listeners and I found them to be quite effective at getting my toes tapping and my head nodding, which I always view as a win! I was never a straight-edge guy, I used to like my booze and drugs far too much for such moral pontification, but I cannot deny that as a scene it turned out some great records. I am finding that the more I am exposed to these older Revolution releases, the more I discover that there is actually plenty of stuff within its remit that appeals to me, a state of affairs I would never have believed would exist when first I joined Metal Academy. Nice pick, Andi.
4/5
Hi Ben, could you add Gorge's 2021 sophomore album, "Village Raid" please.
RYM: https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/gorge/village-raid/
Bandcamp: https://gorgeband.bandcamp.com/album/village-raid
Hi Ben, could you please add danish doom / sludge band Katla. There is already a Katla on the database from Iceland, but this is a completely different outfit.
RYM: https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/katla-2
Bandcamp: https://katladk.bandcamp.com/
Hi Ben, can you add New Hampshire death doom trio Departure please. They are not on RYM (and frankly I can't be bothered to add them at the minute), but they are on metal-archives.
MA: https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Departure/3540558079
Bandcamp: https://departuredoom.bandcamp.com/album/mired-in-descension
Boghaunter - "Writhe" EP (2018)
I picked "Writhe" up on its release via Bandcamp and, at time of writing eight years later, it remains the only release from the New Hampshire trio, amounting to two tracks spanning 25 minutes of material. Boghaunter's version of doom metal is heavily atmospheric and dips its toes into atmospheric sludge waters more than a little. Opener "Constellation Vows" builds on clean and clear lighter motifs and then batters them down with some crushing riffs and corrosively harsh vocals, only for them to reassert themselves in a to-and-fro of contrasting and complementary tidal shifts. This feels to me to be more than the usual atmo-sludge trick of build, build release, the two atmospheric poles weaving together like the intertwining twin serpents of celtic legend and displaying a nice level of songwriting maturity. Second track, "Ordeals in Stillness" is less intricate and more straightforward doom metal, albeit no less impressive, employing a memorable and melodic, gravitationally heavy riff which is accented by sparely used keys and soaring lead work. These provide a doom-laden foundation, dripping with melancholy over which the sludgy vocals bark and snarl in protest.
I was impressed by this opening salvo from Boghaunter back in 2018 and remain so to this day and it is a great shame that so promising a debut wasn't the springboard for a career of note. Even sadder is that there seems to have been very little activity from the three guys elsewhere, although I have just found the 2025 debut three-track EP from death doom band Departure which features Boghaunter guitarist and vocalist Michael Demers on lead guitar and which, although it is more straight-up death doom, is still a good listen. I guess the history of metal is strewn with such tales of exceedingly promising acts, for whatever reason, falling by the wayside while lesser talents thrive, but I am grateful that we got this beauty of a release anyway.
4/5
Hi again Ben. Could you please add UK stoner metal band Iron Hearse?
RYM: https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/iron_hearse
BC: https://ironhearse.bandcamp.com/album/dial-h-for-hearse
Also, austrian doomsters Iron Heel:
Boghaunter seem to have impressed everyone which makes it even more of a pity that their entire output is one 2-track EP. As that was approaching a decade ago, I guess it is very unlikely we will hear much more from them in the future either.
A quick question: do you enjoy me picking more obscure bands that may not have had too much exposure (I have hundreds), or would you prefer to hear better established acts?
Hey Ben. Could you add UK black metallers Helgafell please?
Not sure if you're still cutting down on non-Fallen members' track submissions, Sonny, but here's one to fill the 6-minute void left by David:
Novembers Doom - "Not the Strong" (from To Welcome the Fade, 2002)
It's OK Andi, I will take it as David has left a few minutes unclaimed.