Doom

Beelzebud – Beelzebud [Singapore, Black / Doom] (2015/2020)

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Cyclopean Eye Productions | 3-25-20

Special note that this 3 song full length from Beelzebud was released in 2015 but as most stories go, its distribution probably never left Singapore. This is okay since now we are going to get a second chance at this unltra bleak black doom record with a band whose name sounds like lame ass stoner doom. Listen, I get it, stoner doom plays at an aesthetic and weed themed band names are part and parcel for the genre. Beelzebud does play stoner doom though in a burned out shell of black metal similar to bands like Cough where the groovy vibes have long since dried and what are left are gnarled roots. Beelzebud also possesses the ability to make 10, 15, 25 minute tracks interesting though their protracted torture of rough production and gang vocals. Whether or not this release is actually 2020 or 2015, it seems to not matter as much as the weight of the hammer upon your head.

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Father Moon – 2 [Canada, Doom] (2019)

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Self Released | 1-13-19

This is not usually the type of music featured on this site. I do not think this type of music is really featured anywhere. I do not know what this is. It is weird and I love it. Father Moon is a Canadian act which seems to take its cues from Nightfall era Candlemass but the drug fueled days of Sabbath. The result is something that more difficult to explain but easy to enjoy. Additionally the near DIY production and presentation is something which makes this EP feel like a flea market discovery of the year since it is difficult to understand what is exactly happening. Come confused, leave delighted.

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Miscarriage – Imminent Horror [International, Sludge / Doom] (2018)

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Self Released | 12-31-18

I was initially repulsed by the email i got titled “Miscarriage” but later still repulsed when I finally listened to this record. This email I got from the creators stands as the only evidence this band exists outside of a Facebook page, Bandcamp, and perhaps some awful hovel in the middle of Hell. If you are here for the sludge doom tag, you are in the right place but pretend those things you love now chase you through a landscape of nightmares and nausea. Now take those feelings and extend it over an hour and you will be close to understanding the terror of this record. This is not for the faint at heart or even the fully stable in mind. This is perdition in musical form and I can’t help but love every second.

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Haunter / Crawl – Haunter / Crawl [US, Black / Sludge] (2018)

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Self Released | 11-6-18

Welcome to the horror show with two bands from Texas making music that sounds like the crawling chaos of mental collapse. Both bands, Haunter and Crawl have spent the bulk of the last few years releasing impressive collaborations and splits with LVTHN and Sovereign. This recent split is to commemorate the tour both bands are undertaking which will bring them around my area which will allow me to spend a Wednesday night in the depths of darkness. Haunter plays a style of black metal suitable for a labyrinth filled with monsters while Crawl sounds like drowning in a swamp while being pulled beneath the fetid water. Both are horrible and utterly fascinating. So just to be clear the songs available on this split are two songs (Gilded Medulla/Echo-Chambered Corroboration) credited to Haunter while the last (At The Forge of Hate) being from Crawl. I felt that I needed to make the distinction as splits on Bandcamp can be a toss up of what is featured. Also the music is swirling and inverted so it is easy to get lost.

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Svartmálm – Svartmálm [Faroe Islands, Atmospheric Black / Doom] (2018)

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Tutl Records | 2-2-18

I think I just wanted to type in the place Faroe Islands which the description of atmospheric black / doom once in my life. Svartmálm certainly comes from a place not known for its metal and is one of 14 metal bands registered in the history of the Faroe Islands. It is not like this small island is out of reach of the rest of the metal world as it is positioned between Iceland, The United Kingdom, and Scandinavia which all have their histories steeped in extreme metal, it is just the island is now know for bands like Tyr and its breathtaking beauty.

Svartmálm is certainly cinematic in its approach to combine both the edge of black metal to the soothing atmosphere of both doom and folk metal. which the vocals are crips and stalk across the music, the band employs theatric elements which allow their self titled debut to become something more than just the black metal record from the Faroe Islands. The three part closer, “Svartideyði” allows the band to stretch out and shine in becoming the band they truly want to be — which is the weird witches on an isolated island. The only difference between that dream and others like it is this island seemd to be well produced and come with dramatic hooks.

Disgusted Geist – Reign of Enthrallment [US, Death / Doom] (2018)

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Self Released | 6-18-18

Check. Check. Check. This band has everything I look for in a potential match including a badass name, grimy looking album art, and a tone which carries clout in the tomb stalking world of death metal. At this point in my existence the presence of bands like Disgusted Geist immediately draws my attention since they travel to place where I would like to rot in eternity. Shrouded in atmosphere and with the weight of stone sarcophagi, Reign of Enthrallment is a genre piece which provides the soundtrack to subjugation by an evil necromancer.

With all of the aesthetics aside, Disgusted Geist does a fantastic job at combining Vastum style riffs with the frenzy of complete annihilation. Though I believe the band has room to grow in this underground tomb, the premiere of their morbid world is enough for attention and possible courtship int he afterlife. Come for death, worship eternity resurrected as a thrall.

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Lightpath – Children of the Void [Italy, Death / Doom] (2018)

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Self Released | 6-5-18

I think I can count the number of doom albums on this site with relative ease as I could probably use two hands. Doom is not a genre I travel into or at least have patience to surround myself with. This does not mean there are not good records being made and great bands making them. For me there has to be something else outside of the doom to snare my attention. Lightpath, a very new Italian act, seems to have doom coming with their death metal friends and they all have rusty knives. This is the type of party I enjoy.

Children of the Void is listed as a promo which could very much fall under the classification of demo. It is a three song showcase which lays out the tenets and intentions of the band which all are malicious and ugly. The female(?) vocals come snarling and add a rotting edge to music that is already adversarial. Outside of this sort of unique presentation is music that is well constructed and consistently remains intriguing. If Lightpath was intended to get attention with this promo/demo they have done so with music that is more fitting of a broken leg than anything resembling fun. It is nasty, harmful, without morals, and completely entertaining.

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Burial Stone – Lost History [US, Death] (2018)

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Self Released | 2-27-18

Alright this is what I am fucking talking about. Death metal which has the sentiments of a caveman hunting on the unforgiving landscape where death and life are locked in an inseparable embrace. All of the information regarding Burial Stone indicate this is death metal from New Jersey without any serious mention of the doom aspect. Perhaps we have moved past the point where we are considering doom a genre and this is just death metal played out in agonizing slow motion.

the three tracks which make up the Lost History EP are of exceptional quality with the raw nature of the cover, production, and instrumentation only adding to the mystic surrounding this band. With song titles like “ATLANTEAN ASCENSION,” Burial Stone summons primordial sprits to help them weave their tale. When doing so however the world becomes turgid with the haze of sorcery. Lost History is the work of death magic and I am so pleased to be in its wake.

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Alkymist – Spellcraft Ceremony [Canada, Black / Doom] (2018)

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One of the more confusing things about this project is it sharing a name with a progressive sludge band from Denmark. Though this is not the first time two bands have shared the same name, the fact both of them are unsigned and relatively on equal levels in terms of popularity makes it confusing at first. Just make sure you are in a cathedral of sadness before listening. Check your surroundings. Are there bells tolling in the distance masked by rain?

Spellcraft Ceremony is a debut 30 minute album (?) from a one man project heavily influenced by the works of Ruins of Beverast. I only say that since the tape version of this comes with a Ruins of Beverast cover. Even outside of tribute songs, the general atmosphere of gloom and inescapable doom which permeates this record is palatable. The atmospheres created by one person never feels stretched or thin and works well as a declaration of sadness voiced by one lone soul.

Spellcraft Ceremony currently is up for tape preorder limited to 100 copies. This tape is being released in collaboration with Moriendi Music and Corde Raide Productions. The only familiar thing I found with Corde Raide is being the only label to release Labyrinthique’s Demo MMXVI. Even if you do not want the Ruins of Beverast cover, the digital version for Alkymist is priced at 2 CAD which will buy you a ticket to a land of perpetual dusk.

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RUTSA / POHJAMUTA / CICUTOXIN – Cold Case [Finland, Sludge / Punk / Noise] (2018)

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Rämekuukkeli-levyt | 2-1-18

…and here we are in some far flung corner of the world with a three way split of things that may or may not be metal. I do not think it matters as it is 100% effective. I adore not only the quest for weird and caustic thing but also when there is a breakdown between genres to achieve an end goal. The Cold Case split is a three way collaboration with three Finnish underground acts whose seems united in their own unorthodoxy.

If there was any track to catch attention it would be RUTSA with its bombed out landscape of noise and terror. Outside of the aesthetic of harsh noise that populates the air like a swarm of hornets, the structure of the music is a churning machine of broken gears and mechanical fluid. Further investigation into the band’s demo tapes reveal a similar sound but without the level of abrasiveness present in this recent split.

I could not find the selection by CICUTOXIN in any streaming form though the band’s sludge / doom seems fitting for the collaboration. POHJAMUTA, on the other hand, does have their song available which is horrifying amalgamation between sludge and some sort of rabid punk which sees vocals screamed with irreverence and tensions wound tight around necks. All three make up a motley crew of Finnish underground acts which seem to pledge to the same monstrous god which lives in sewers and in runoffs next to graveyards. The unaligned seems to be a theme with a split that can certainly be used to scour the grime from metal.

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