Doom Metal

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    A Pale Horse Named Death – And Hell Will Follow Me (2011)

    cover

    In the ‘meh’ column, today we have A Pale Horse Named Death and their debut album “And Hell Will Follow Me”. Even though the band features Sal Abruscato (ex-Type O Negative) and Matt Brown (Seventh Void), there is not much to enjoy (at least for us) with a lot of dull and repetitive riffs.

    Maybe some fanboys of Type O Negative will try to cope with the loss of Peter Steele and adopt this band, since it sounds a bit like earlier TON albums (sans the vocals of course). But for us it just feels like a very average mixture of Doom/Stoner Metal and Alternative Rock elements that falls short of the caliber of the band’s members.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Deep Desolation – Subliminal Visions (2011)

    cover

    All the way from Poland today we have Deep Desolation and their crushing debut full-length release “Subliminal Visions”. Mixing Black, Death and Doom Metal the band manages to pull it off graciously with a monumental sound and very well crafted songs.

    We have to admit that whenever we get something labeled Black/Doom metal, it usually sucks and it’s a pain in the ass to review since we have to listen to the full CD at least 3 times. With “Subliminal Visions” it was very relieving that we actually enjoyed the CD on the first spin and we ended up loving it the next few times. The band’s take on the genre mixing comes from an aggressive perspective rather than drowning the listener with slow Doom riffs and Black Metal snarls that will make you start snoring.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Ptahil – The Black Fire (2010)

    cover

    In preparation for their upcoming full-length CD for Wraith Productions "For His Satanic Majesty's Glory", we get 3 crushing tracks of nihilistic Black/Doom Metal from one of USA’s newest and most diabolical bands. For 13 minutes we are transported to the depts. of hell, thanks to a raw and thick atmosphere that evolves you in full darkness.  

    With two new tracks and a cover of Beherit’s “Gate of Nanna”, this demo CD has enough sauce to keep fans going until their new album gets released. The crushing track “World Ablaze” kicks off this CD and immediately starts with blasting drums, hellish vocals and a very raw nature to the song that makes it highly effective. We are not sure that this will be the final mix and how the CD will sound, but we dig the rawness of this track.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Ptahil – Anti-Flesh Existence (2010)

    cover

    “Anti-Flesh Existence” marks the band’s debut full-length album, but it only includes 3 tracks and the version we got for review has the two tracks of their “Ortus” EP (which we reviewed here http://www.infernalmasquerade.com/?q=reviews/00743-ptahil-ortus-2010). With such a weird way of presenting your first full-length, we will discuss these three brutal tacks in depth as part of this review.

    “In Ritual to Yam” we get an old school Black Metal track in the vein of Bathory, Venom, Hellhamer, etc. With such a raw and powerful sound it quickly makes and impact on the listener, but we feel that it’s somewhat sub-par compared to their songs in “Ortus”. However, this track does set the tone for the following aural assaults that will shake you out of your seat.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Gravewürm - Blood of the Pentagram (2010)

    cover

    Legendary USBM act Gravewürm have returned with their 7th full-length release titled “Blood of the Pentagram”. In this album the band continues to create their very disturbing sound by combining raw Black Metal elements with Thrash/Doom/Death Metal influences that give the band’s sound a little edge over the rest of the average sounding BM bands these days.

    However, not everything is enjoyable in “Blood of the Pentagram” since this release tends to get a bit too simplistic and repetitive in nature. The band exploits the raw and lo-fi approach to things and creates a very creepy sound, but it fails to deliver when the music tends to get boring and super repetitive.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Dusted Angel - Earth Sick Mind (2010)

    cover

    Hailing from the USA, today we have one of the dullest and most generic bands we have received in quite a while: Dusted Angel. The band plays Doom/Stoner Metal with almost no sense of originality and creativity, crafting seven songs that will surely be forgotten the moment you stop listening to this album.

    We know that Doom/Stoner Metal are two genres that do not have much to have drastic changes and elements that would make a release be completely out of the ordinary, but when the band just plays very similar riffs over and over and the vibe of the music feels a bit stale and uninspired.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    While Heaven Wept – Triumph:Tragedy:Transcendence – Live at the Hammer of Doom Festival (2010)

    cover

    As one of the most under rated bands of the USA, today we have While Heaven Wept and their very impressive live CD/DVD “Triumph:Tragedy:Transcendence – Live at the Hammer of Doom Festival”. With a career of over 20 years and only three full-length releases, we are usually excited when we can get anything new from this amazing band.

    In this release (the audio portion), the band presents seven of their most epic songs and provide amazing renditions of each one of them, especially the older songs that in this release feature Rain Irving on vocals. With half of the “Vast Oceans Lachrymose” album here and some of the band’s ‘greatest hits’, this package features an amazing value for all the countless fans of the band.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Witchsorrow – Witchsorrow (2010)

    cover

    Keeping the Doom Metal flame alive, today we have Witchsorrow and their self-titled debut album. Invoking the spirits of great bands like St. Vitus, Candlemass, Penance, etc, Witchsorrow shows their cards with this very solid debut release. With “Witchsorrow”, you will get a 45 minute dose of crushing Doom Metal with some psychedelic influences like in the old-school days.

    As you can expect, the guitar work is monumental and it creates a very thick atmosphere. Typical for (good) Doom Metal releases, the band goes balls deep into crushing riffs and songs over 9 minutes long. By doing everything by the book, and adding some psychedelic guitar sections, you can’t really argue about the efficiency of “Witchsorrow”.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Fangtooth – Fangtooth (2010)

    cover

    Featuring two members of Exhuman, today we have Fangtooth, a Doom Metal band from Italy that blends traditional elements of the genre with some Stoner/Southern Metal influences and craft an interesting sound. Featuring six track totaling around 38 minutes of music, this self-title release shows a promising band that is still trying to find their sound.

    While the genre is full of great bands, the younger bands struggle a bit to find their own identity. This is exactly what happens with Fangtooth in their debut full-length release; the band tries too many different things and ends up a bit short in achieving something very cohesive.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Place of Skulls - As a Dog Returns (2010)

    cover

    Tennessee doomsters Place of Skulls return with another traditional Doom Metal combined with Rock release that will surely take you by surprise thanks to its groovy riffing and brilliant guitar solos. The band formed by Victor Griffin of Death Row/Pentagram fame gives us 9 very interesting tracks that will have you listening to them more than once in order to understand them completely.

    As we listened to “As a Dog Returns”, we quickly identified a single issue that caused some confusion when listening to this album. The ordering of the songs is a bit odd and it tends to cut the flow of the album, creating a very uncomfortable but yet intriguing listening experience. The differences between “The Maker” and “Breath of Life” (tracks 1 and 2) are pretty drastic, since the first song opens things up in a groovy powerful fashion and the second one is more of a slower-paced ‘doomier’ song that kind of kills the flow of this release. This issue also happens further in the album, but if you don’t mind about the flow of a release then this should not be a problem for you.

Pages

Recent Image Galleries