It’s been a tic since I’ve heard a doomy sludgy style album that I enjoyed. After a while it becomes rote. It all sounds the same. Thankfully, Rot (Church Road Records) by the oh-so-brilliant Ohmms brings back that delicious, doomy, sludgy, bombastic sound. Can a doom album make one happy? Oh yes, Ohmms’ Rot can.
Trove Of Oddities At The Devil’s Driveway (Heavy Psych Sounds) is the fourth full-length release from France’s Witchthroat Serpent. Recorded in single live takes to analog tape at Brittany’s Kerwax Studio, the record is described as being “slower…darker and more evil” that its predecessors, and “an invocation to Satan”.
Like the previous installment, the third chapter in Ripple Music’s Turned to Stone series is framed as a challenge between two contenders for Stoner Doom supremacy. But while Chapter II saw Howling Giant and Sergeant Thunderhoof put forth their competition as a battle of wits between mythic swordsmen, Chapter III is the culmination of an ongoing meme war between Merlin and Wizzerd. It also operates on a similar template as each band is given a full epic track to put their best foot forward.