Doom Metal

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    The Human Condition – Modern Maze (2011)

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    Arriving from the UK, today we have The Human Condition’s debut demo EP titled “Modern Maze”. In this 21 minute three track effort, the band delivers very effective Doom Metal songs that have that old-school vibe thanks to the well-crafted guitars and commanding bass guitar line. With most of the band members having previous band experience in the Doom Metal genre, it makes sense that The Human Condition’s sound is very well defined and effectively crafted.

    Opening with the 7 minute “Modern Maze” song, this release kicks off with very typical Doom Metal sounding guitars and solid clean vocals. It usually takes us a while to get used to clean Doom vocals, but with Nathan Harrison, they sink in quickly. The riffing is very well crafted and it is properly mixed allowing everything else to shine the way it should. The pounding bass guitar line is nicely defined and the drums are pretty straight forward, but well-constructed.

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    Les Discrets - Ariettes Oubliées... (2012)

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    As one of the most anticipated releases of 2012 here at Infernal Masquerade, “Ariettes Oubliées...” is Les Discrets second full-length release and a substantial improvement over their first effort. In this release the band delivers eight highly emotional tracks that if you can’t find the beauty in them; you are definitely deaf or have some hearing problems.

    Combining elements of Post-Rock, Shoegaze, Doom Metal and acoustic passages, Les Discrets manage to deliver a more concise and mature album that showcase the band’s abilities in making emotional music that will transcend in time. Fursy Teyssier’s vocals have greatly improved since “Septembre Et Ses Dernières Pensées” and together with Winterhalter on drums (Alcest) and  
    Audrey Hadorn providing additional vocals and lyrics, the band is a force to be reckoned and hopefully continue to release even better albums in the future.

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    Earth Burnt Black – Harrowing Catharsis (2011)

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    With a very interesting and rich sound, today we have Earth Burnt Black’s debut full-length “Harrowing Catharsis”. The band pretty much throws everything in the frying pan and delivers a very well tasty dish of well crafted and different sounding music with a nice and clear production on top of it. These types of albums are the ones we wait for at Infernal Masquerade since the combine so many different things and still manage to sound very well and powerful.

    The “Intro” track immediately gives you the feeling that this will be a Doom Metal release, but this quickly changes in the next song. “The March” features hard rocking guitars and clean vocals to start, clearly breaking away from what is expected from the intro. However, not long enough the Doom and Grooviness come back and the band delivers interesting brutal sections with both growls and screams mixed in between some more clean vocals. While this might sound completely chaotic, it actually works very well with the melodic aspect of the song.

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    Grave Siesta – Grave Siesta (2011)

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    Making its way from Finland, today we have Grave Siesta and their self-titled debut full-length release. In this album the band cruises through 45 minutes of very unique and diverse sounding Doom Metal that seems to not take any particular shape, but sounds crunchy enough to be noticed. The band formed in 2010, and with a couple of demos under their belt they unleash this very solid freshman effort that will surely get them some attention.

    With a hefty dosage or Stoner Rock, Psychedelic Rock and a Doom Metal core, the band opens this release with the punishing “Work Enslaves”. In this track the guitars immediately pop-out and the typical Finish-sounding vocals appear. The bands vocalist Taito Halonen sounds very similar to M Mystons from the Finish Rock outfit Mystons. There are some screams that definitely sound different but fail to make an impression in this track. “Barbaric” has a more traditional Doom feeling to it and delivers more excellently crafted guitar riffs. The vocals again shine thanks to the Southern feeling to them, greatly enhancing the gritty sound of the song.

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    Öxxö Xööx – Rëvëürt (2011)

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    With a very interesting and even their own language, today we have one of France’s most interesting and experimental bands: Öxxö Xööx and their latest release “Rëvëürt”. With almost 80 minutes of genre-bending music, this album delivers nine tracks of excellently crafted Avant-garde Music with Doom metal influences incorporating grand organs, harpsichords and string ensembles.

    For people that believe they’ve heard it all, “Rëvëürt” will surely surprise you and will take you into a journey through the unknown. With the opener “Ägörth” the band delivers a monumental track featuring Doom-like structures with eerie passages and a very theatrical edge, similar to what Elend used to do but with a heavier edge.

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    Grey November – The Fall of the House of Usher (2011)

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    All the way from France, today we have Grey November and their latest full-length release “The Fall of the House of Usher”. This two person band commanded by multi-instrumentalist Cédric Seyssiecq delivers a much needed dose of Funeral Doom Metal with some Gothic Doom elements filled with melancholy and despair, just perfect for the cold winter months.

    Opening with the 12 minute epic “Pendant Toute Une Journée D'automne”, this song nicely evolves from a Funeral Doom piece into a more powerful Gothic Doom track. Featuring the angelic vocals of Marieke Delanghe, this song nicely builds up expectation for what is next to come in this release. Continuing with a mixture of Shape of Despair and Elend, “Roderick Usher” provides atmospheric keyboards accompanied by ethereal female vocals and some creepy spoken male sections. A few riffs here and there nicely bring this song down to Doom territory.

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    Mournful Congregation – The Book of Kings (2011)

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    Australian Funeral Doom masters have returned with another release that will crush your soul and spirit, and you will be begging for more. In “The Book of Kings”, Mournful Congregation present four tracks clocking in at an impressive 76 minutes of morale-crushing Funeral Doom Metal, the stuff nightmares are made of. If you are a fan of the genre, be prepared to burn all your previous Funeral Doom CD’s and only listen to this gem for a few years (until the band releases something else).

    With the band’s traditional three guitarist approach, the album opens up with the gut wrenching, 19 minute “The Catechism of Depression”. Not only does this track has an epic title, it also features excellent and depressive guitar riffing, a tempo so nicely set up that you could listen to this until you grow old, and a very emotional flow. This monumental opening track features a nice mixture of distorted guitar sections (tuned very low of course) and some acoustic passages that add to the emotional charge of this song.

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    Black Cobra – Invernal (2011)

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    As hard-hitting as a bag of bricks, today we have Black Cobra’s fourth full-length release “Invernal”. Following the same devastating path as in “Chronomega”, the band delivers 40 minutes of relentless riffing and crushing drumming all packaged in eight well balanced tracks. Not reinventing the wheel or anything, Black Cobra excels at what they do and do not try anything pretentious a very effective approach due to their own sound and power.

    Getting right down to business, “Avalanche” delivers punishing riffs and well paced drums. The band’s power is made known since the first track and never goes too soft or two slow, like most Sludge/Doom bands these days. Jason’s vocals are very fitting of the music and deliver the band’s message in a powerful way. But his guitar skills are what make this release quite interesting to the ear.

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    Ordo Obsidium – Orbis Tertius (2011)

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    During our reviewing sessions it is very interesting to find bands that make us wonder where they come from and why we haven’t heard from them before. Ordo Obsidium is one of those bands that after listening to their devastating debut album “Orbis Tertius made us wonder where they come from since they have a very interesting Scandinavian/European sound. However, to our surprise the band comes out from the Bay Area in the USA.

    Delivering five aural assaults of Doom-influenced Black Metal, this band means serious business since they can keep the kvlt side of things alive while bringing the tempo down a bit and not sounding dull or repetitive. The crushing opener “Nequaquam Vacuum” delivers the first 11 minute attack of powerful riffing and bestial drumming all surrounded by a melodic and nicely paced atmosphere. The vocals are as hellish as they can get, but they never get in the way of enjoying the underlying melody behind this track. The dreamy passages (i.e around the 6:45 mark) create excellent contrast with the high paced section.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
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    Isole – Born from Shadows (2011)

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    As you probably know, we are huge Doom Metal fans, so every time a new release comes our way we prepare ourselves to fully enjoy one of our favorite genres in Metal. “Born from Shadows” marks the return of Isole after two years since releasing “Silent Ruins”. In this release the band finally fully convinces us by mixing slow and painful sections with a few speed-ups and harsh screams, a bit like My Dying Bride did in their past.

    The repetitive and tuned low riffing is a must, and on “Born from Shadows” it is perfectly developed. With the opener “The Lake”, Isole quickly delivers dominating riffs paired with the epic vocals that we are not quite so fond, but in this release the band pulls them off perfectly. The speed up and harsh vocals section in this track is very nicely timed and works wonders to keep the song going for the seven minutes it lasts.

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