Tag: Doom Metal

Melvins A Senile Animal Review

Melvins A Senile Animal Review

Artist: Melvins
Album: A Senile Animal
Genre(s): Heavy Metal, Rock
Subgenres(s): Doom Metal, Hardcore Punk, Sludge Metal, Stoner Rock
Released: 2006
Length: 41 minutes
Language(s): English
Label(s): Ipecac Recordings

Track List:

01. The Talking Horse
02. Blood Witch
03. Civilized Worm
04. A History of Drunks
05. Rat Faced Granny
06. The Hawk
07. You’ve Never Been Right
08. A History of Bad Men
09. The Mechanical Bride
10. A Vast Filthy Prison

A Senile Animal is the 15th album by sludge metal pioneers Melvins. Playing alongside founding members Buzz Osborne (guitar) and Dale Crover (drums) are bassist Jared Warren and drummer Coady Willis of Big Business. Having 2 drummers might sound redundant or gimmicky even for a band that pioneered the unlikely fusion of hardcore punk and doom metal but any sense of doubt is buried deep under an avalanche of marinated distortion and mayhem.

All 4 band members share vocal duties but you’ll be hard pressed to single out who’s who with their uniformed ghoulish wails. Aside from the odd line, the lyrics are hard to make out even at the best of times. In a way that can only be pulled off in rock music, the lack of clarity here adds a certain murky charm to A Senile Animal.

The blend of hardcore punk and unassuming doom metal plods with the aesthetics of stoner rock rings true to the sludge metal sound. Most songs on A Senile Animal lean heavily in favour of the hardcore punk influences as well as the unique styling of the Melvins. The major change comes with the last 3 songs; A History of Bad Men, The Mechanical Bride and A Vast Filthy Prison. They are on average 6.5 minutes long (whereas most other songs are about 3 minutes) and the tempo all but dies so that the Melvins can let the doom metal inspiration ooze out.

Their flexible song-writing and genre-bending styles add a wealth of depth that is rounded off by how fluidly drummers Dale Crover and Coady Willis play together. The Melvins will give you a real tour de force on A Senile Animal that you won’t find anywhere else.

July 31, 2014
Reverend Bizarre Return to the Rectory Review

Reverend Bizarre Return to the Rectory Review

Artist: Reverend Bizarre
Album: Return to the Rectory
Genre(s): Heavy Metal
Subgenres(s): Doom Metal
Released: 2004
Length: 66 minutes
Language(s): English
Label(s): Spikefarm Records

Track List:

01. The March of the War Elephants
02. The Festival
03. The Goddess of Doom
04. Aleister
05. For You Who Walk in the Land of the Shadows
06. Dark Sorceress (Autumn Siege) (Barathrum Cover)
07. The Wrath of the War Elephants

Return to the Rectory is the second EP by Reverend Bizarre. The title is an obvious throw back to their first album, In the Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend. At 66 minutes long it is hard to consider In the Rectory an EP by any stretch of the imagination. In either case the music follows the same format as In the Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend; atypical song structure, sparse guitar plods, dramatic baritone singing and a guitar tone so thick that you can almost see it.

This time around the longest song is 12 minutes and Reverend Bizarre have managed to throw in a couple of new tricks to try and keep their sound fresh. This includes a lengthy acoustic guitar intro to The Festival and more mid-paced parts which sometimes become genuinely fast. This is definitely a welcome addition to their sound.

The subdued keyboard sounds heard on In the Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend have been given a second chance on Return to the Rectory. While used sparingly, they do get stand out moments on For You Who Walk in the Land of the Shadows and The Wrath of the War Elephants. They work well to build up their foreboding atmosphere to make the songs stand apart that bit more.

Opening song The March of the War Elephants features the usual lengthy guitar drones and some excellent drum work that makes the song promising enough in its own right. The song suddenly bursts into a full on gallop and then rapidly fades out to leave you miffed. Reverend Bizarre might have spent time throwing in more variety but it doesn’t mean much when you forget to finish your opening song.

On the other hand there is strong continuity to be found elsewhere. The spares lyrics on The March of the War Elephants seem to follow into The Wrath of the War Elephants which then reprises elements of the music found in The Goddess of Doom.

The dramatic baritone voice still presides over most of the song but with more enunciation while their cover of Dark Sorceress (Autumn Siege) by Barathrum makes a U-turn by extensively using the vomiting voices found in black metal. The Goddess of Doom name drops several influential and current doom metal bands with Reverend Bizarre appointing actress Christina Ricci the title of The Goddess of Doom. This at least shows that there is a sense of humour mixed in with Reverend Bizarre’s prolonged agony.

When a band has all the ingredients for making great music it is hard to hear them miss the target if for nothing other than forgetting when to stop playing a song. Return to the Rectory shows a small expansion on their sound but it will most likely appeal to existing Reverend Bizarre fans before anyone else.

April 23, 2014
Reverend Bizarre In the Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend Review

Reverend Bizarre In the Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend Review

Artist: Reverend Bizarre
Album: In the Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend
Genre(s): Heavy Metal
Subgenres(s): Doom Metal
Released: 2002
Length: 74 minutes
Language(s): English
Label(s): Sinister Figure, Low Frequency Records (2003 rerelease), Spikefarm Records (2004 rerelease)

Track List:

01. Burn in Hell!
02. In the Rectory
03. The Hour of Death
04. Sodoma Sunrise
05. Doomsower
06. Cirith Ungol

In the Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend is the first full length album by Finnish doomsters Reverend Bizarre. They draw heavily from doom metal pioneers Candlemass and most of the songs you’ll hear are upwards of 10 minutes with the exceptions being Burn in Hell and Doomsower, the latter of which is followed up by Cirith Ungol, the 21 minute monolithic conclusion to In the Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend.

Reverend Bizarre have all of the hallmarks of the traditional doom metal sound; long songs with an atypical structure, sparse guitar plods, dramatic baritone singing, religious iconography and a guitar tone so thick that you can almost see it. Opener Burn in Hell has enough material to carry itself while establishing the consistent sound of Reverend Bizarre’s debut. Singer and bassist Sami Albert Hynninen (performing as Magister Albert) delivers one of the best lines of the album on this song, the spiteful “you bastards” that finishes the dirge.

Unfortunately by the time you get to The Hour of Death, you’ll find the songs start to lack variety and substance as Reverend Bizarre force themselves to drag out the slow, distorted passages beyond what most people would consider reasonable and it feels like they are doing it for the sake of it. Cirith Ungol embodies all of these negative traits despite having some tasteful throwbacks to Black Sabbath’s self-titled song and Iron Man.

Guitarist Kimi Karki (as Peter Vicar) and drummer Jari Pohjonen (as Earl of Void) kick the songs into gear between the guitar plods (as heard best on In the Rectory and Sodoma Sunrise) with some fantastic up-tempo guitar grooves, rapid drum fills and even an extended psychedelic guitar solo that will catch you off guard. The entirety of Doomsower is a curve ball in its own right. It is a brilliant hybrid of doom metal and stoner rock that is condensed into relatively short 5 minute blast. It shows exactly what the trio of Reverend Bizarre are capable of doing when they get straight to business without any of the filler material pointlessly jammed in there.

When Reverend Bizarre can be bothered to play with feeling they have some serious content to offer and if they followed this routine for the other songs it would have improve the experience tenfold. The dragged out passages don’t have the desired effect of building a foreboding atmosphere and will instead leave you cold after listening for long enough. While Reverend Bizarre have a genuine passion for creating doom metal, they prove to be too ambitious for themselves on In the Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend so sparing a few glowing moments, this is an album that should be reserved for doom metal fanatics.

April 20, 2014
Solitude Aeturnus Adagio Review

Solitude Aeturnus Adagio Review

Artist: Solitude Aeturnus
Album: Adagio
Genre(s): Heavy Metal
Subgenres(s): Doom Metal
Released: 1998
Length: 63 minutes
Language(s): English
Label(s): Massacre Records

Track List:

01. My Endtime
02. Days of Prayer
03. Believe
04. Never
05. Idis
06. Personal God
07. Mental Pictures
08. Insanity’s Circles
09. The Fall
10. Lament
11. Empty Faith
12. Spiral Descent
13. Heaven and Hell (Black Sabbath Cover)

Adagio is the 5th album by American doom metal outfit Solitude Aeturnus. It stands firmly on the lighter side of the doom metal spectrum with tempos going from moderately paced (for a metal band) to the slower paces more commonly identified with the doom metal sound.

Adagio starts out with the moody dark ambient introduction of My Endtime before Days of Prayer comes into get the album moving. It sounds promising enough but the 2 follow up songs, Believe and Never, are cut from the same cloth and fail to move Adagio forward. This is the major pitfall that the band faces and it becomes evident that Solitude Aeturnus don’t know which direction to take their songs despite having some good verses littered throughout the album.

Solitude Aeturnus kick it up a notch for Idis and Empty Faith with more tempo shifts, a mix of clean and distorted guitar tones and singer Rob Lowe (whose voice suits this brand of doom and gloom particularly well) alternates between almost whispered lines and his powerful singing voice. The Fall gives some relief from the rehashed song structure by being a short and straightforward acoustic song before they quickly revert back to doom metal with the appropriately titled Lament.

A cover of Heaven and Hell by Black Sabbath is used as the closer for Adagio. This forces them to adjust their approach and sees them steering away from familiar territory to bring much needed change to the album that lets it finish on a high note.

December 8, 2013
Candlemass Candlemass Review

Candlemass Candlemass Review

Artist: Candlemass
Album: Candlemass
Genre(s): Heavy Metal
Subgenres(s): Heavy Metal, Doom Metal
Released: 2005
Length: 55 minutes (58 minutes with bonus material)
Language(s): English
Label(s): Nuclear Blast

Track List:

01. Black Dwarf
02. Seven Silver Keys
03. Assassin of the Light
04. Copernicus
05. The Man Who Fell from the Sky
06. Witches
07. Born in a Tank
08. Spellbreaker
09. The Day and the Night
10. Mars and Volcanoes (Bonus Track)

Swedish doom metallers Candlemass return to form with their self-titled opus after 6 years and a brief hiatus. Candlemass also marks the return of singer Messiah Marcolin, who hasn’t recorded with the band since 1989s Tales of Creation and his voice remains as powerful as it was 16 years ago.

The lyrics tend to deal with fantasy and mythological subjects without the flamboyance that normally accompany heavy metal bands. Many of the verses are vivid in their description of scenes that you could half expect to be part of a book rather than a song. At times the lyrics can be quite gothic in nature and this helps to keep the band in line with the doom metal ethos that they helped create.

Candlemass does however breathe new life into their sound with founding member, bassist and sole songwriter Leif Edling expanding on the plodding doom metal framework that they pioneered in the 1980s. He achieves this by incorporating influences from traditional heavy metal that can be heard prominently on Black Dwarf, Witches, Born in a Tank and Mars and Volcanoes.

The song lengths are just as varied and go from a little over 3 minutes (The Man Who Fell from The Sky) up to 9 minutes (The Day and the Night). This gives the band plenty of room to play through extended passages without adhering to a typical verse/chorus format but at the same time the songs remain highly structured and never veer off without purpose.

Black Dwarf is uncharacteristic of the bands typical sound as it is incredibly up-tempo with a repetitive and infectious guitar hook that will immediately draw you into the album. The Man Who Fell from the Sky is one of the few instrumental songs Candlemass have done in their long career and while it follows a similar formula to Black Dwarf, it doesn’t have the same payoff when you expect Messiah Marcolin to burst out wailing but instead it simply continues to play on until it quickly fades to silence.

The rest of Candlemass is rounded off with songs that lean heavily in favour of their doom metal niche. Ominous songs like Seven Silver Keys, Assassin of the Light and Spellbreaker show off their modernised doom metal sound exceptionally well. Copernicus almost comes to a complete stand still after a thundering introduction and along with Spellbreaker, it is one of the few songs to feature guitar solos in their lengthy compositions.

It is not an overstatement to say that the self-titled effort from the Swedish doom metal pioneers is a triumphant return to form that will please old and new fans alike.

November 26, 2013
My Dying Bride A Line of Deathless Kings Review

My Dying Bride A Line of Deathless Kings Review

Artist: My Dying Bride
Album: A Line of Deathless Kings
Genre(s): Heavy Metal
Subgenres(s): Doom Metal
Released: 2006
Length: 61 minutes
Language(s): English
Label(s): Peaceville Records

Track List:

01. To Remain Tombless
02. L’Amour Detruit
03. I Cannot Be Loved
04. And I Walk with Them
05. Thy Raven Wings
06. Loves Intolerable Pain
07. One of Beauty’s Daughters
08. Deeper Down
09. The Blood, the Wine, the Roses

A Line of Deathless Kings is the 9th melodramatic outing by English metal outfit My Dying Bride. If the band’s name and song titles weren’t obvious enough, you can expect to hear a lot of what can only be described as funeral inspired music as interpreted by a metal band. Coupled with the morose lyrics of founding member and singer Aaron Stainthorpe, it becomes quite apparent that the members of My Dying Bride have being living in perpetual misery ever since their sand castles where kicked over one too many times during their childhood.

Monolithic guitar plods are woven together with haunted but infrequent keyboard ambiance and some contrastingly speedy percussive rhythms that create an eerie yet powerful sound for A Line of Deathless Kings. The album is highly consistent and My Dying Bride only breaks character momentarily on Loves Intolerable Pain and at the end of The Blood, the Wine, the Roses to go from their usual mournful tones to delve into flashes of rage that come as quickly as they go.

My Dying Bride lives up to their subgenres namesake and the poetic lyrics will be a treat for fans of the macabre but for those wanting something to smile about are better off looking elsewhere.

June 16, 2013