Though hailing from Chicago, Illinois, the doom metal of Rezn displays a touch of East-Asian mysticism about it, on Solace – the band’s self-released fourth full-length. Slow-to-mid-paced, hypnotic riffing goes from nimble and floating to heavy and crushing (and back again) all fluidly and with an altogether gorgeous production that makes this metal album akin to some exotic sweet that still delivers satisfying, crushing heaviness.
Gaerea had a 2022 about as good as any Extreme Metal band, with the release of their third full-length album Mirage driving forward their sound and eloquently merging ferocious Black Metal with elements of heavy “post-” music to create a unique style, on a record that was one of the finest of the year. And during this period of creativity vocalist and guitarist Guilherme Henriques would continue to develop his Oak side project with former drummer Pedro Soares, which had begun when the two were writing and recording Gaerea’s debut album Unsettling Whispers in 2018.
Authenticity.
The concept defies explanation, evades forensic inspection and can tie even the greatest philosophers in knots. Yet it’s something that we seek in artistic expression, and somehow we instinctively know when we encounter it.
A new doom metal “supergroup” releasing a COVID-19 lockdown album in late 2022. That sentence, which describes MMXX‘ Sacred Cargo (Candlelight) in plain terms, will no doubt inspire a variety of different thoughts and feelings in people with an interest in such things. Some might dismiss the concept (album) out of hand. After all, the band’s name translates as “2020” and, well, not only is it not 2020 anymore, but the mere mention of that year is liable to inspire at least a wearied eye-roll if not a flashback to genuine out-and-out despair.
Skin & Sorrow (Aqualamb) is the second full-length release from Cleveland, Ohio’s “heavy, low and witchy” duo Frayle. The band consists of multi-instrumentalist Sean Bilovecky and singer Gwyn Strang, who between them cite the influence both doom metal (Black Sabbath, Kyuss, Sleep) and avant-garde pop (Björk, Portishead). Frayle’s stated aim is to create “music for the night sky”.
The fabulously named Iowa-based duo Telekinetic Yeti release Primordial their follow up the rather excellent Abominable on Tee Pee Records, and appropriately it’s a beast.
Notably minimalist in its composition, which serves to emphasize the satisfyingly abrasive low end, title track Primordial kicks off proceedings with a very potent low and slow deep groove. This is made even more impressive by the lack of a bass player.Continue reading
Thun is back with their second album, II (Eat Lead and Die Music) picking up where they left off with even more environment-loving Lovecraftian doom metal. In fact, Thun are so environmentally focused that they are only releasing this album digitally. The band states that a digital release is the most energy-efficient way to enjoy music, feeling that producing more plastic is counterintuitive to what the album’s message is. Bonus points for the band standing up for what they believe in.
“It’s gonna be cold, it’s gonna be grey, and it’s gonna last you for the rest of your life.” I believe that was the famous Bill Murray quote when asked his opinion on Cavernlight’s latest, As I Cast Ruin Upon The Lens That Reveals My Every Flaw (Translation Loss). Nah, I’m just having a bit of fun with Cavernlight. Or maybe I’m not considering that even though it won’t “last you for the rest of your life” (the album barely cracks the forty-minute mark) the cold and grey remarks certainly apply here.
The UK doom scene continues to pump out solid releases and the latest from Alunah is no different. Strange Machine (Heavy Psych Sounds) kicks right off with the album track and does not let up on the psychedelic rock/doom metal mixture. A lot of fans of the scene tend to just say things like “Oh it’s just more Sabbath worship”, but rest assure, these Birmingham natives are not here to hit copy and paste.Continue reading
Italian Doom Metal band Messa has completed the follow-up to their critically acclaimed Feast For Water (Aural Music) entitled Close (Svart Records). Messa is one of those bands that instantly caught my attention by combining melancholic, haunting music with impressive, powerful vocals. After the release of Feast For Water, which is considered one of the best Doom Metal records in the past five years, I was already wondering about how a new album from the band would turn out. I believe that there is always a bit of extra pressure to write a follow-up album after a “breakthrough album”, but the Italians were able to just knock it out of the park once again with Close.