Doom Metal

Recently signed to Neurot Recordings, Ufomammut delivers their seventh full-length release titled “Oro: Opus Primum”. In this excellent release, the band brings five tracks of pure (and crushing) Psychedelic Doom Metal at its most devastating and cavernous shape, however this time around there are some seeping Stoner Rock influences that nicely add to the overall musical experience that this Italian band presents.

The band’s sound has always been very well crafted to highlight the heavy guitars and the well-developed atmosphere, and in this release the band continues with their excellent songwriting skills but on a bigger stage (Neurot Recordings). This release feels a bit better than “Eve” in terms of developing the songs a bit more efficiently and with extra elements that makes them less repetitive.

Following a dreadful opening track, “Holnap majd felgyújtom az erdőt” has a completely different production and sound to it. The band seems to have chosen a different pace and approach to BM, sounding a bit deranged and with a very barebones musical foundation. This track is actually enjoyable and entertaining after such a bad opener. Followed by an acoustic track titled “Varnak a varjak”, we are left kind of puzzled and intrigued to where this is going next.

Opening with the mysterious “Empireum”, the band uses nice atmospheric elements to create an initial build-up in this track. The build-up is quite effective and things don’t really get ‘heavy’ until the 10th minute mark, with some crushing riffs and some vocals. After the initial warm-up, “Aureum” delivers a chugging opening riff and some fresh Stoner/Psychedelic riffing sections that nicely set this track apart from the opener. Firing on all engines, “Infearnatural” keeps the riffage going and features some excellent clean vocals that give a nice contrast to the atmosphere of the track. This song is the one that sounds the most ‘traditional’ in the Doom sense of the word, making it the most accessible one of this release.

With some ambient and drone elements, “Magickon” nicely winds down the listener with a weird atmospheric piece that nicely builds up until the guitars and drums make an appearance quite late in the track. Now that the stage is set, “Mindomie” nicely closes the release with some heavy riffing, interesting drum patterns and some crazy vocals. This track is as dark and cavernous as the rest of the release but feels like a nice release of all the tension and build-up expectation generated in the first five songs.

Before you know it “Oro: Opus Primum” is all said and done but you are still left with the satisfaction that Ufomammut has delivered a worthy first release on Neurot Recordings, the home of very talented and diverse artists. If you liked any of the band’s previous releases, this album should nicely satisfy your cravings of Ufomammut for at least one or two more years.

After releasing a few demos and a split album in a span of 14 years, we finally have Murw stepping up to the full-length arena with “Kanker”. In this very interesting release, the band delivers 37 minutes of a highly melancholic combination of Doom Metal with some Death/Black Metal elements. Mostly driven by powerful guitar riffs, “Kanker” is a very well-crafted release that deserves attention.

Opening with the crushing “Kanker”, this release sets sail with the heaviest and most ‘Black Metal’ track in the whole album. The raw power behind the riffs and crushing vocals is very dominating, reminding us of older Death/Doom bands from the 90’s. At around 7 minutes long, this song nicely evolves into some Doom-ish melodic passages with weeping guitars and a nice overall atmosphere. Keeping things in ‘Doom mode’, “Als Sneeuw Voor de Zon” sounds like something that Mournful Congregation or Shape of Despair could have crafted.

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.

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.