Doom Metal

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    Messa - The Spin (2025)

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    Facing the herculean task of following up to their ground-breaking release “Close”, Messa returns with “The Spin” and manages to shake things up enough to create awe and excitement. After heavily touring the world after their previous release, the band took a different approach when recording this album, and managed to deliver another Doomy/Jazzy/Proggy offering with a few interesting surprises.

    Quickly turning heads, the release opens with “Void Meridian”, a mysterious track that while having some of the band’s signature elements, it also introduces some intense Darkwave/Goth Rock vibes. With an eerie The Sisters of Mercy meets Tribulation meets Soror Dolorosa, the opener and “At Races”, and “Fire on the Roof” showcase the band’s on a different light, making them more dynamic and perfectly complementing their already hypnotic style. Sara Bianchin’s vocals are a perfect fit for such a style and are as haunting as ever, particularly on the solemn “Immolation”.

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    Year of the Cobra - Year of the Cobra (2025)

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    Unleashing a barrage of fuzzy distorted guitars and heaps of catchiness, Year of the Cobra returns with their eponymous third full-length release. Keeping to their heavy Psychedelic infused Doom Metal/Rock sound, this North American duo crafts eight tracks that are vibrant and quite dynamic, showcasing their maturity while delivering some truly memorable and engaging songs. If you like bands like Purson, YOB, Jex Thoth and Sabbath Assembly, this is right down your alley.

    Opening with the ripping “Full Sails”, we get the band’s fierce and in-your-face stripped down power of crushing bass guitar and crafty drumming. The album keeps the momentum going with the additional catchiness of “War Drop” as the pulsating bass guitar line perfectly balances Amy Tung Barrysmith’s charismatic vocals. The band’s catchier side comes out with the insanely fun “Daemonium” and its hard rocking nature.

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    Патриархь - Пророк Илия (2025)

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    Finally putting all their legal messes behind,Bartłomiej Krysiuk’s Batushka is now Патриархь or Patriarch, and they are back with an impressive release titled “Пророк Илия”. Keeping some of their ‘old’ stylistic themes and sound, but also adding some extra layers and new dimensions, this release unleashes over 40 minutes of highly ritualistic and hypnotic music, that while not close to “Литоургиiа”, it does show the band in a new light and with a unique identity.

    The release kicks off with an atmospheric piece that slowly transitions into the chilling “Вершалин II”. This track perfectly exploits the band’s eerie choir arrangements alongside a good dose of Black Metal harshness and some new string instruments. The full effect is quite cinematic, unveiling new layers to the band’s sound while keeping their own uniqueness. This bleeds into “Вершалин III”, another engaging ritualistic track that masterfully incorporates some haunting female vocals.

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    Kildonan - Embers (2024)

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    As a continuation of Vostok, Hamish MacKintosh returns with “Embers”, the debut release of Kildonan. With a very emotionally charged Black/Doom Metal style, this release features six tracks and nearly 40 minutes reminiscent of a mixture of Bethlehem on their “Dictius Te Necare” era, and Death/Doom Metal musings. Creating a very deep and powerful atmosphere, this is one of those sleeper releases that we found ourselves enjoying a lot more than we expected.

    Opening with the dreamy atmospherics of the title track, we are treated to dramatic clean vocals, harrowing harsh screams and a very Doomy vibe with Black Metal infused riffs. Kind of similar to Déhà and his exploits on his solo project as well as some Acathexis thrown into the mixture. We particularly love the piercing atmosphere created by the heavy Doom riffs of songs like “Ioliar-Bhuidhe” and “A Desperate Leap for Salvation” and their contrast with heavier and more brutal tempos.

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    The Foreshadowing - New Wave Order (2024)

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    After eight years of waiting, Italian outfit The Foreshadowing is finally back with their gloomy and moody Gothic/Doom Metal with “New Wave Order”. Featuring nine powerful tracks, this release continues the band’s exploration of the darkest depths of the soul and masterfully delivers their signature moody and dark music. For fans of My Dying Bride, Moonspell, Swallow the Sun, and End of Green, this release is a can’t miss for any fan of the genre.

    Opening with the mysterious “Vox Populi”, we instantly get masterfully crafted guitars, perfectly paired with Marco Benevento’s singular clean vocals. The song is quite crafty and nicely explores different rhythms and tempos, but always keeping the band’s characteristic somberness. The more dynamic “Judas Had A Friend” leads with some dramatic weeping guitar leads, melodic catchiness, and expertly delves into more melancholic and atmospheric territories thanks to Francesco Sosto’s keyboards.

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    Glare of the Sun - Tal (2024)

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    Unleashing a hefty dosage of Doom/Post-Metal brilliance, today we have Austrian outfit Glare of the Sun with their latest release “Tal”. Featuring a very well balanced sound that mixes elements of bands like Swallow The Sun and The Ocean, this release delivers nine tracks and nearly one hour of highly emotive and yet crushing music. Highly recommended for fans of bleakness with a dose of heaviness, the music here is both emotive and crushing.

    Opening with the Swallow the Sun-esque “Colossus”, the band unleashes powerful riffs and thunderous harsh vocals. This first track showcases a Doomier side of the band that slowly gets transitioned as other songs like “Rain”, “Äon”, and “Relikt” introduce more layers to the band’s sound like excellent clean vocals, and highly melancholic (and slower) interludes. The mixture of atmospheric elements alongside piercing riffs keeps tracks like “Stonefall” quite balanced and diverse, avoiding falling into formulaic territories.

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    Mourners Lament - A Grey Farewell (2024)

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    Punishing the listener with a gargantuan slab of Doom, today we have Death/Doom outfit Mourners Lament, all the way from Chile, with their latest full-length release “A Grey Farewell”. With over 64 minutes of soul crushing music, this release delivers six tracks filled with ravaging riffs, inhuman growls, and a very mournful pace. For fans of Mourning Beloveth, Shape of Despair, Skepticism, My Dying Bride, this release is packed with sorrow and melody from start to finish.

    Opening with the moody “Towards Abandonment”, we get mournful guitars alongside solemn keyboards building up a very fragile and engaging momentum. With some solid slower interludes, weeping guitar leads, and excellent clean vocals, we got a nice vibe of early Lacrimas Profundere. Next up, we have a 13-minute onslaught of even more melancholy and elegant atmospheric arrangements, perfectly paired with pummeling harsh vocals and masterful tempo changes.

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    Mountaineer - Dawn and All That Follows (2024)

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    Just like clockwork, The Bay Area’s Mountaineer returns after 2 years with their latest opus in melancholy titled “Dawn and All That Follows”. Not on LifeForce records this time, the band unleashes a hefty 50-minute release split into eight highly engaging and very dreamy tracks. For the uninitiated, the band’s mellow sound combines elements of Post-Rock/Post-Metal with some shoegazey influences and highly melancholic clean vocals, creating a very crafty and highly atmospheric release.

    Opening with the devastating “Cradlesong”, the band quickly unleashes their powerful riffs alongside a thick and demoralizing atmosphere, perfectly paced to inflict maximum pain as the mopey clean vocals of Miguel Meza come into play. There are definitely some crafty Doom/Sludge influences in the band’s sound, as tracks like “Hypnos” and “Prism” continue to develop the crushingly melancholic atmosphere, similar to Katatonia, but more ‘alternative’.

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    Amarok - Resilience (2024)

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    Unraveling a gargantuan Doom/Sludge Metal release, today we have North America’s Amarok and their punishing sophomore release “Resilience”. In the same vein as outfits like Bell Witch, Nizmor, Usnea and Lycus, this band crafts some of the most oppressive and soul crushing long and demoralizing songs we have ever heard. Five tracks and nearly sixty-five minutes of music are a testament to this.

    Opening with the emotional rollercoaster that is “Charred (X)” the band quickly sets a very bleak and desolate soundscape, filled with Sludgy riffs and hellish vocals. If your soul did not get crushed by the 17-minute opener, the 18-minute “Ascension (XI)” will surely achieve that. This track has an even slower pace, throwing Funeral Doom vibes as the weeping guitars make way for slow snarls and piercing growls. Filled with crafty tempo changes, this track is definitely one of the finest of its kind, and a new personal favorite.

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    Shivered - Existential Mourning (2024)

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    Unleashing a very melancholic and bleak sounding Gothic Doom Metal release, today we have a one-man outfit from Iran named Shivered. In “Existential Mourning”, Mohammad Maki delivers ten tracks and nearly one hour of music, in the vein of bands like Katatonia, Fall of the Leafe, Shallow the Sun, and similars. If you are a fan of the genre, this is a very good addition to your collection as each track oozes melancholy and sadness, in a brilliant way.

    Opening with “Paranoiac”, we get a very bleak mood right out the door with weeping guitars, subtle keyboards and very mournful clean vocals. The clean and harsh vocals are very well interwoven, making songs like “Ashes of Innocence”, “The Lighthouse”, and “Existential Mourning” remind you of older My Dying Bride, but with a heaty dose of Katatonia. We love the balance between the aggressive part with lush and solemn instrumental passages.

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