Plaguewielder - Plaguewielder [EP] (2013, Self-released)

Luxembourg is not known for its wealth of metal bands. As a matter of fact, Metal Archives states that the small European country has had as little as 76 metal bands, under half of which are currently active. I don't remember ever having heard of a metal band from Luxembourg, and yet here we are, talking about Plaguewielder, a band formed by Discordant System members Maxime Weber and Nicholas O'Connell.

Crushing guitars and a varied take on drumming, plus a sharp and heavy production are mainstays with the sound of doom aswel as with Plaguewielder. Their take on the genre through their debut self-released EP of the same name casts light on how to alleviate the insufficiencies of many other upcoming bands within the genre. Keyboards, organs and choirs aren't at all new to the genre, but Plaguewielder's keyboardist utilizes his instrument to its fullest when adding atmosphere to the tracks. Lurking in the background with the synths are the painfully whispered screams that are the vocals, while drums and guitars take the helm. A classic approach, some may argue. Some do it better than others. Mostly I'd say Plaguewielder barely resembles any metal band. Their music swirls around post rock elements, and the most metal song on the EP is arguably The Funeral March.

There are many great doom bands out their that master the art of atmosphere, and Plaguewielder's music is indeed just that - Atmospheric. Their music features some interesting use of eerie synth, but with long stretches of tedious melodies and meandering riffs their music often borders on becoming generally uninteresting in nature. The flow found in the songwriting on Plaguewielder's debut isn't always up to par, and as such the EP feels very ambivalent. On the opening track, Drowning, one minute we're listening to a crushing tune that fades into a passage of thinly veiled synths, and the next thing you know a bland guitar chimes in with a whiney melody. Where exactly are they going with this? I get song progression is key, especially in songs of extreme length like with Plaguewielder's take on atmospheric funeralesque doom metal, but the whole latter half of Drowned is barely even rock music as much as it is just a 6-minute wank fest of arpeggiated "solo" pieces set to a seemingly unrelated drum track with a few screamed vocals joining the keyboards in the background once in a while.

Luckily the remaining two tracks are of superior quality. Though very different from each other, they present the band from its best sides. Casket of Dying Flesh shows their capacity for drive, passion and zest with its use of pumping 70's organ-keyboards and catchy melody. The Funeral March is a testament to the great old ones of the genre, a true set-piece of doom, and portrays savage intensity, eerie piano passages and maddening screams.

Plaguewielder's debut album/EP/whatever is a lengthy one. At times it serves best merely as background music, but once in a while they take a step forward and force their way into your consciousness. But these moments are a bit too far between. Realistically this is what will separate the bands of tomorrow. But the band from Luxembourg has definite potential hidden away within their music. More force, less tip-toeing around. 6/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Drowned
2. Casket of Dying Flesh
3. The Funeral March

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Uncoffined - Ritual Death and Funeral Rites [Full length] (2013, Memento Mori)

The mix of doom metal and death metal has arguably been around in some form since some time in the 80's and has since been perfected by notable and influential bands like Asphyx and Autopsy. The Finnish scene especially is known for it's gloomy ways in death metal, and much in the same way we find the British band Uncoffined, who've subscribed to the old ways of down-doomed metal of death.

Spanish label Memento Mori heeded their growling calls and released their debut album "Ritual Death and Funeral Rites" in the autumn of 2013. Treated to a few classic quotes from the British school of horror flicks, we're sent on a journey through heavily distorted and down-tuned guitar melodies and roaring, cavernous vocals. The whole thing is set at a murderously slow pace, showing no signs of ever halting its forward momentum.

The churning chugs mixed in with a few darkly melancholic melodies are adequately accentuated by a powerful bass. One can only guess whether the immensely simple yet compelling songwriting is the result of one man's effort or the orchestrated endeavor of the entire band, but the musicianship in itself speaks of a band seasoned in the arts of metal. Indeed, all the members of the heavy quartet have play in several bands of varying nature - Something that is highly evident on Ritual Death and Funeral Rites.

Were I to compare the accomplisment of Uncoffined to a more established act, it would be Finland's shooting stars Hooded Menace. However, this is also where the British band's shortcomings are revealed. Hooded Menace are a result of the international death/doom scene booming in these last few years, probably reaching its all time high in popularity. And by that standard, Uncoffined have joined the movement in the eleventh hour, almost completely missing the boat. Were it not for the great craftsmanship with which their material is presented, they would by now already feel very dated, like a band seeking to cash in on a trend.

What Ritual Death and Funeral Rites really lacks are more tempo changes. The distorted convulsions of guitar are of the essence in this manner, but without even slower or some faster passages to emphasize their meaning and effect it's hard to fully appreciate the crushing broadsides of sluggish overdrive and fuzz in the long run, which in this case of just above forty minutes of murky horror-worship. 7/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Twisted Shape of Creeping Terror
2. Night of the Witch Childe
3. Ritual Death and Funeral Rites
4. Blasphemous Execration of Holy Ground
5. The Devil and the Old Cursed Tree
6. Frustrations

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Asilo - Comunión [Full length] (2014, Self-released)

Turmoil breeds frustration and anger, which in turn breeds outlets for that frustration. South America has had a rich history dating back to the early 80s of metal bands expressing their anger through their music and lyrics, and like those legendary and trendsetting bands from the days of yore, the four-man group Asilo from Argentina presents a lyrical universe revolving around themes such as politics and the suffering it can bring, set to a soundtrack of furious and often dangerously calm mix of doom-laden drones drenched in grimey sludge.

Pure aggression is one of the mainstays of Asilo's music, of that there can be no doubt. In a hardcoresque style, lead singer Manuel Platino practically screams his lungs out to the sounds of harshly distorted bass and thunderous percussion. Comunión's structure as an album is also one of the strengths that underline the band's style. The way it fluctuates between insane cacophonies and inky pools of fragile pianos - or even saxophone at one point - is what makes listening to Comunión as an album interesting.

However, aggression necessitates some kind of structure and form. Were it not for the disciplined interludes of classical piano set regularly throughout the album to provide some sort of contrast, Comunión would appear to be a harsh collection of discord. There are a multitude of examples of bands that do this unhinged, rambling musical lunacy all too well, but Asilo lack the intensity and groove that those bands utilize.

The vocals, though wholy authentic and honest, come off as a bit too immusical to me. In grindcore, the gratingly raw vocals are an essential part of the whole expression, complete with that intense wall of distortion. But in Asilo, the vocals take up a lot of space in the mix, and needlessly so. Coupled with that is a lifeless overall sound which so lacks that concentrated emission of sound. This isn't the first time I've had the (dis)pleasure of listening to guitarless music, using instead a fairly driven bass. But to be succesful in that endeavour, you better make damn sure the bass has drive and punch enough to take the guitar's place.

The main highpoint of Comunión was, to me, Miedo y Curiosidad from the latter part of the album. This track feels somewhat out of place, although not entirely. It features the same harshness as the rest of the album, but is graciously garnished with the haunting sounds of a well-played saxophone, adding a thick atmosphere of eerieness that the rest of the album sorely needs. Elaborating on what I mentioned earlier, Asilo's first actual album since their spawning in 2010 is an honest affair where they stay true to their own values - Something that many bands could learn a thing or two from. But that particular style does nothing to me, other than fill me with a wish of listening to something else. The saxophone melodies in Miedo y Curiosidad committed that last shred of reason to the insanity that made it a more easily digestible portion, but the rest of the album remains a bothersome clutter of confusion. 4/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Geografías
2. Pichiciega Fe
3. (epidemia mundial del desencanto)
4. La Paciencia del Cuchillo
5. Arquitectura del Silencio
6. (anti voz)
7. Dinámica del Cambio
8. Mideo y Curiosidad
9. (no a la vida)
10. La Ultima Voluntad

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Licrest - Misery [Full length] (2014, Music for the Dead)

I've had my hands on a good portion of Armon Nicholson's material. For those not initiated in his cult and dogma, Nicholson is an American musician with quite an astounding body of work. In the last few years he's recorded and released six albums, seven EPs and an assortment of other releases under various monickers, exploring virtually every sub-genre in extreme metal, all without any significant lapse in quality. The guitar-wielding metalhead's trademark is immensely powerful compositions and top notch production, usually set to a crisp guitar groan.

Misery is the second album Nicholson has released under the name Licrest. While the first album, Devoid of Meaning from 2013, was pretty straight forward in its execution, the second album is less so, though still keeping close to the almost symbolic and iconic branches of immaculate doom that permeated the debut. Misery is a slow burner, never hurrying anywhere lest you miss the churning rhythms found within. The album in itself is constructed in just the same manner as the songs, with a few intermissions giving room and air around the lengthier main tracks, and it serves as a way of building tension for those songs.

I've found that most bands playing a mix of death and doom metal fall within one of two categories: One is laden with rot, relying heavily on death metal and Autopsy-inspired riffs set at the churning pace of doom metal. The other is the kind where almost gothic melodies and finer tunes play the leading role, with the doom parts resounding more heavily. Armon Nicholson's Licrest project falls outside this sentiment, and belongs to that minuscule quantile that is different from the rest of the bunch. It neatly balances the uncompromising nature of death metal with the sombre essence of doom metal, pertaining to the ominousity of both genres in equal amounts.

On Misery, Nicholson firmly establishes his rightful place among the big shots as an accomplished songwriter with flair for multiple genres. Other than the fact that the lyrics can sometimes come off as a bit whiny, there's really not much to complain about. And this is what makes a great album. 8/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Into the Abyss
2. Regret
3. Forever Lost
4. Like a Flood of Anger
5. A Starless Sky
6. I Want to Watch You Die
7. Misery
8. Make Up
9. Fading Away Into Nothing
10. The Heart of Winter
11. Exhale

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Rozamov - Of Gods and Flesh [EP] (2013, Self-released)

In 2011 a gathering of four created Rozamov, and since then two EPs have been released. Since the release of the latest offering, Of Gods and Flesh, the group has been reduced to a trio with guitarist/vocalist Liz Doom no longer being a part of Rozamov.

Atmosphere ranks highly on the list of aspects to the EP. The massive walls of distorted guitars, bass and drumming provide the solid core of the manufacture, formed with mood-setting gusts of ethereal vapors around it. Rozamovs boons of bountiful distortion are like sludgy mires of doom metal infused with the thick musk of stoner metal. The simplicity of the songwriting doesn't reflect a lack of talent or will to play within the band, but is moreso a statement bent on dense heaviness. No, their craftsmanship as musicians more than adequately becomes apparent through the massive appeal of the mastodontic nature of their cro-magnon riffs.

Even so the EP is more or less the very definition of hit-and-miss. Basically what you've got is four tracks, two of which are fantastic doom-laden sludge-mounds, the other two being easily written off as boring fillers. Rozamov convinces even the most elitist sludge freaks with their beseeching hymns of disaster, but take a few unnecessary detours down Tradition Avenue on the way there. They're not reinventing anything, nor are they trying to. In that way their 2013 EP is a well spent 20 minute experience into Sludge Country. 7/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Famine
2. Empty Sky
3. Shadow of the Vulture
4. Of Gods and Flesh

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Drug Honkey - Ghost in the Fire [Full length] (2012, Transcending Obscurity)

Drug Honkey evolved from the 1997-project "Chronic Illogic" with Paul Gillis and Adam Smith at the helm, handling vocals and drums respectively. The band was designed to merge together several musical currents, most of which would be considered metal. Ever since the first album, the self-titled 2002 release, electronics in the form of excessive sampling and abrassive synths as well as an industrial, sludgy death metal sound have been the heart and soul of Drug Honkey. Through lineup changes and live performances the band from Chicago has endured to see the release of their fourth album in 2012, and have a new EP coming out in 2014.

When it comes to heaviness, bands like Triptykon, Conan, Hooded Menace, Sunn o))) or Coffins often come up as prime examples. But those that have witnessed the gospel of Ghost in the Fire know that Drug Honkey are giving all these acts a serious run for their money. The loathesome American quartet grudgingly strikes up an atmosphere of a psychedelic inclination, carved from a body of fuzz and reverb. More than once the speakers threatened to give in under the stress and booming rumble of the downtuned strings, the paranoia-inducing ambience adding reality-shattering depth to the otherwise lonesome drones of the bass and guitars.

Describing Drug Honkey's sound means reaching deep into a vocabulary that seems almost dried out of adequate adjectives. The cavernesque vocals sound at times like Asphyx's Martin Van Drunen being firmly pressed through a rusty grate. The drums eeriely accompany every track like the ever-present stalker haunting his victim. The album comes to a steadily paced halt on the second-to-last track "Twitcher", which is also where it is at its most far out stage. The stygian darkness of this psychedelic track builds up to the grand finale: Saturate/Annihilate, the culmination of everything shown thus far by Drug Honkey. The contrast between the two is where the mix becomes most volatile and seductively dangerous, being both the highest and lowest point of Ghost in the Fire. Every "song" is in itself a parody of life and a mockery of sentience, yet I couldn't imagine listening to Ghost in the Fire for the sake of a single track. The album works best as a whole, each track providing its own element to the final result. A fine specimen indeed. 8/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Order of the Solar Temple
2. Ghost in the Fire
3. Weight of the World
4. This Time I Won't Hesitate
5. In Black Robe
6. Dead Days (Heroin III)
7. Five Years Up
8. Out of My Mind
9. Twitcher
10. Saturate/Annihilate

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Stone Magnum - From Time... To Eternity [Full length] (2013, R.I.P. Records)

The state of Indiana has a reputation of being mostly devoid of any metal in regards to large touring circuits, and in terms of internationally known metal acts the state doesn't fare much better. I had previously heard of Stone Magnum from Michigan City last year when they released their first album more or less out of nowhere. Only one and a half year later they've released their sophomore album effort, From Time... To Eternity.

Though I never got around to listening to the band's eponymous debut, upon listening to the follow up I find it safe to say that Stone Magnum bring to the table doom metal of the highest calibre. It stands as a solid display of musical craftsmanship with heavy, melodic guitar riffs with a thick backdrop of thrumming bass lines creating a bridge between the gruff but epic vocals and the deliberate pace of the drums. The riff-smiths of Stone Magnum have done a great job creating amazing doom-hooks for just about every track on the album - a feat that is only further emphasized by the uncommon delivery of the vocals.

Stone Magnum is most definitely a product of several decades of doom metal evolution. Sticking to the roots, the band's style is best described as a mix of all the great old ones within the genre, mixing together elements from both the American, British and Scandinavian scene, and it's nice to hear a modern doom metal band that isn't a complete Black Sabbath ripoff. The vocals themselves sound like Tom G. Warrior punching Messiah Marcolin in the face, and every riff - not just the main riffs, mind you!! - are well thought-out audile delicacies. I've been listening to From Time... To Eternity since it came out in June, often finding myself returning to their epic melodies for another dose of doom, and I can safely say that the album holds up in the long run. A problem that many newer bands within the genre face is a lack of variation, often mucking about with their noses in the same riff for minutes on end. From Time... To Eternity is almost 50 minutes of doom metal which may seem like a lot, but there is incredible amounts of variation in structure, temperament and speed while holding an iron grip on their gloomy atmosphere.

It seems futile to go into details with every great aspect of the album because the good far outnumber the bad. The fuzzy, warm feeling of the production suits the style of Stone Magnum magnificently, but some of the riffs and the drums in particular could stand to gain a little punch to really accentuate the power and dynamics of Stone Magnum's formidable songwriting. Together with Devil's follow up album to the modern classic Time to Repent, "Gather the Sinners", these make up the back bone of the best doom metal albums of 2013. Stone Magnum stands as a monument to the fact that good new music doesn't have to come from a bunch of adolescents. Doom metal in particular just sounds better coming from seasoned old dudes. 9/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. From Time... To Eternity
2. Lonely God
3. In Tongues They Whisper
4. The Gallows of Ohrdruf
5. By An Omen I Went
6. Uncontained
7. In the Garden of Beasts

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Nonsun - Sun Blind Me [EP] (2013, Breathe Plastic Records/Drowning)

Slowly, the ponderous, stoned out riff of Rain Have Mercy tunes in, accompanied by the soft yet intense sound of an organ. As the riff gains momentum the drums come in until finally culminating in a full-fledged clamor of heavy, sludgy, droning doom metal at the 4 minute mark. Goatooth's moribund vocals emerges from the shadows, and soon after the track slows down to a slower, jamming tempo until lurching into motion again, exposing the consortium of what could be a trippy organ piece or almost psychedelic guitar solo that has been lurking in the many layers of Nonsun. Alpha's drumming betrays a fascination for post-rock atmospheres that Goatooth's ethereal riffing over the originally heavy main course enhances. This is just one way to describe the alluring musical intimacy that emanates from Nonsun's music on Sun Blind Me.

I like drone. And for you to like Nonsun you have to like drone too, even if this isn't the main piece de resistance of the Ukranian duo's music. This group isn't a drone band in the same sense that Sunn O))) are a drone band. While there are long stretches of unmelodic drones followed by nothing but feedback for minutes on end, the duo presents a style with additional influences from sludge and stoner metal at times, resulting in parts that are essentially like incredibly slow and groaning sludgy doom metal, and this variation results in a less inert and inactive type of drone. Like described above, the entirety of Nonsun's music is not the well-known ambience-influenced droning that many other bands in the scene partake in. Vocals are a seldomly occuring thing on Sun Blind Me,but whenever they're there they are executed in a raw style contrasting nicely with the rest of the music.

Sun Blind Me is the second release from Nonsun, an EP of four tracks like the first one, Good Old Evil. However, the first two tracks have been re-used from the old EP, and as such the only new material on Sun Blind Me are the two parts of the Alphomega track, Sunlit Darkness and Upward Blindness. The interesting thing about the 2013 EP is the way it progresses deeper and deeper into drone territory. From the stoned, half-psychedelic Rain Have Mercy we emerge into a more nightmarish soundscape wtih Frogotten Is What Never Was, a track with funeral tones fit for a crypt or funerary procession. With the first part of Alphomega we descend into yet darker domains, bordering on dark ambient. The second part is the most droney part of the EP, the dark rumbling of a black hole underneath a cavernous guitar being the main foundation for the track before being substituted by a bleak guitar piece which rings out for the duration of the track. Upward Blindness is also the shortest track on the EP being only slighty over 8 minutes in length.

Liking Nonsun and Sun Blind Me took some time. You have to take the time to sit down and listen thoroughly to catch all the details. Sun Blind Me is kind of short for a drone doom release, and I suppose that's why the band classify it as an EP rather than a full length album. I originally felt that continuety was a weak point with Nonsun, but after having listened to the release a few times I came to appreciate the progression that I described earlier. If you're expecting mindnumbing heaviness and cosmic emptiness like in the music of Sunn O))) you will be disappointed, because this is not where Nonsun's strengths lie. The autumnal hymns and tenebrous canticles are a beautiful soundtrack to the fall, and I think fans of Om and Earth should be pleased. 8/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Rain Have Mercy
2. Forgotten Is What Never Was
3. Alphomega (Part 1: Sunlit Darkness)
4. Alphomega (Part 2: Upward Blindness)

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Visit the official site of Drowning and download the EP for free
Breathe Plastic Records official site

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Anatomia - Dead Bodies in the Morgue [Compilation] (2013, Memento Mori)

Anatomia. The very name reeks of death and gore. To connoisseurs of Japanese metal and death/doom Anatomia should be synonymous to great metal. Though not as widely known as Coffins they have for over 10 years now - since 2002 - produced some of the heaviest, most filthy death/doom in the world with a couple of albums and quite a few splits, demos and EPs under their belt.

For those too late to pick up their demos or those just hungry for more gut-wrenchingly sick death metal in the most gory doom-laden way, Anatomia's two demos - Demo 2003 and Human Lust from 2009 - as well as a few songs from various splits and a few live tracks are collected on the 2013 compilation "Dead Bodies in the Morgue".

The music on Dead Bodies in the Morgue are every bit as brutal as other well known bands like Autopsy, Asphyx, Undergang, Coffins and early Carcass. It's churning, heavy death metal with the gory aesthetics of Carcass' Reek of Putrefaction and the putrid, crawling atmosphere of doom metal. If you can't tell, I'm loving every second. The songs picked are probably more aimed at collectors rather than people wanting to get to know the band, and in that way the tracks might scare some people off. They are mostly pretty low quality, and while some dislike this element I think it only adds to the gruesome putresence of the music.

Knowing the band's other material I can't help but feel that this compilation doesn't really do them justice, but then again Dead Bodies in the Morgue isn't a greatest hits kind of deal, but rather a collection of rare tracks for gorehounds already familiar with Anatomia or the Japanese death/doom scene. Also given the nature of the release there are huge gaps in recording quality between some of the songs, but it all fits together to form a picture of the band. 7/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Morgue of Cannibalism
2. Funeral Feast
3. Drowned in Sewage
4. Suicides
5. Dead Body Art
6. Human Lust
7. Dying Agony
8. Carnal Mutilation
9. Severed Infant Waste
10. No Way to Live
11. Oozing Child
12. Charred Remains
13. Fiend for Blood

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Narrow House - A Key to Panngrieb [Full length] (2012, Solitude Productions)

Hailing from Ukraine I can only imagine what bleak and desolate place spawned Narrow House into existance. 4 man and 1 woman strong the band's lot in life is creating godforsaken funeral doom metal focussing on atmosphere, and in 2012 the world would hear the first eldritch groaning that the band has to offer.

Like the strange creaking and moaning of a long-abandoned house the 4-track album slowly blunders into life with the opening track. The mental images created by Narrow House at this early point are those of complete desolation, abandonment and horrid lonesomeness - As it turns out these themes of eerie atmospheres and tenebrous matters are frequent on the album, and definitely one of the band's strongpoints. Their incorporation of classical instruments such as the cello fits the style of funeral doom metal perfectly and gives the music a destinct feel of authenticity and hints toward the filmic, making it almost sound like the soundtrack to some long forgotten black and white silent horror movie.

Narrow House have put the funeral in funeral doom metal with A Key to Panngrieb. Though I don't understand a word of their lyrics or song titles the music speaks its own language. A language of death, ragnarok and darkness. To some the music of the Ukranian band may seem uneventful or bland, but to me it seems to have great depth and particularly well thought through. Add to this that the production is as clear as it needs to be with this type of music. It leaves every aspect audible and yet making it possible for the band to have certain suggestive themes that make their music excel in creating atmospheres.

I like how the funerary procession guitars aren't actually the main focus of the band. The droning chords of guitar and bass go perfectly in unison and are crucial to the music, but without the vibrant cello-work the album would be incredibly boring. The tracks are generally speaking very lengthy, and this serves both as the main attraction and annoyance of A Key to Panngrieb. As most funeralesque graveyard bands the length of the tracks can make it hard to stay interesting, especially when there's so little going on. But again, this is both the thing that makes this type of music work and the thing that makes it tiresome to listen to for prolonged periods of time. But all in all A Key to Panngrieb is a prime example of great funeral doom metal, even if it isn't the heaviest of sorts. 8/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Poslednee Pristanishe
2. Psevdoriatunok
3. Steklianniy Bog
4. Pod Maskoy Etoy

NARROW HOUSE official site
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Solitude Productions official site

Soliloquium - When Silence Grows Venomous [Demo] (2012, Self-released)

Soliloquium (say it five times fast) started out in Sweden in 2011, and already by 2012 they had released this demo. The band consists of two people, Jonas Bergkvist and Stefan Nordström from the death metal bands Ending Quest and Desolator. For Soliloquium they have kept some of the death metal elements, but chose to mix it up with melancholic and cold doom metal much in the same vein early Katatonia, Swallow the Sun, Ghost Brigade and October Tide. The thing these bands have in common other than the music style is location - All of them are from Northern Europe, and like them Soliloquium has that very destinct melodic and desolate sound.

The demo is rather short with only two songs, but the songs are well-composed and pretty lengthy. Often with doom metal the songs become too long and tedious because the band simply hasn't got enough to offer, and the songs just become bland repetitions of the same two or three parts. With that in mind I was at first reluctant regarding the whole demo, but I quickly found that the two tracks are more than worthwhile getting into. Once you sit down and really listen to Soliloquium their music will grow on you and you will notice the duo's skills in writing.

As with many other doom metal bands Soliloquium has one problem: The music has a tendency to feel unclimactic. Garden of Truculence and Autumn State never really build any momentum and thus you can never really tell how far along in the track you are. Some might argue that momentum and climax has nothing to do in doom metal (especially death/doom metal), but in the end this element is what makes a song come together and gets it from a 9 to a 10.
However, the slowly churning double kick drums in Soliloquium trustily forces the compositions onward, and helped along by the gloomily melodic guitars "When Silence Grows Venomous" isn't a half bad effort. Soliloquium are succesful in creating a truly doom-worthy atmosphere along with perfectly murky production. If there were 20 years earlier they would've been among the most known bands of the genre today. 8/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Garden of Truculence
2. Autumn State

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Download the demo for free and listen for yourself HERE
You can also download their newest EP "The Concept of Escape" HERE

Edge of Haze - Mirage [Full length] (2012, Self-released)

Finland has long been the country of esoteric death, gloomy doom, upbeat folk and symphonic and/or gothic power. Along comes a band such as Edge of Haze that follows none of the current trends of their nation; Edge of Haze presents itself on their 2012 album "Mirage" as a powerful quintet with influences beyond count. They've been described as progressive metal, symphonic doom metal aswel as going under numerous other terms, but in reality the Finnish band is one of those bands that is hard to categorize.

Where do I even begin with such a release? Mirage holds 7 tracks to a total playtime of 37 minutes, which in itself may not sound like much for a band with doom metal influences, but I found that 35-40 minutes is actually very fitting for an album with this amount of different inputs. I think most people will think Mirage is too pop-ish for their metal tastes, and in all honesty Edge of Haze's first album is an acquired taste. For me it was hard to get properly into their strange mix of progressive song structures and solos, power metal influenced riffs, gloomy atmosphere, gothic focus and particularly their mainstream predisposition.

Somehow the Finnish quintet has carved their own niche from these materials, and they play their rather unique style pretty well. I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy some of it. However, it does have that feeling of mainstream rock music, and a song such as the annoyingly catchy "In the Place Where I Belong" especially sounds alot like something you'd hear on the radio or something similar.

Edge of Haze is no doubt a band with ambitions. Their album is well produced and well thought through, and their myriad of influences provides the album with enough variation to not become boring. It's not entirely uninteresting, and the final product is actually pretty memorable, if not of the most heavy material. 7/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Mirage
2. Certainty
3. Attitude
4. Inside
5. In the Place Where I Belong
6. Auguries
7. Black Lakes

EDGE OF HAZE official Facebook site

Black Chalice - Submission [Demo] (2012, Contaminated Tones Productions)

Black Chalice. The name reeks of dying, depression and burdening, imposing matters. Black Chalice is the name belonging to an American one-man black/death/doom metal band, a band that I have been acquainted with for some time now.

With Submission Black Chalice are trying out a new approach with the album intro "Deluge", which features something very atypical for the band. Normally it's straight on and forward with chaotic, gritty guitars groaning under the stress of the player's hand, but Deluge is all about flowing acoustic guitars, thusly building an atmosphere not nearly as raw as on the prior demo material of Black Chalice. While the sound of Black Chalice hasn't changed much Hasson's approach to songwriting has changed a lot since the beginning back in 2011. On Submission he favours more melodic riffs and dredging speeds rather than the fast, unvaried drum-powered tremolo-riffs on the early demos. A change that I for one am happy to hear as it provides the music with a whole new level of detail to peak the listener's interest.

In context with the acoustic intro the last song on the demo, Submission, also starts out with simple acoustic playing that puts you into a false sense of comfort until it slowly fades into the raw guitar-dominated soundscape that I've come to link with Black Chalice. A thing that especially struck me on Submission is the accustomed use of layers that wasn't present on the earlier material. This is evident in all the tracks but in my eyes works best on the track Regret where weeping guitars provide a nice contrast to the groaning and coarse string-play of Patrick Hasson. Another thing that makes Submission stand out compared to Hasson's earlier releases is that the drums and rhythm section in general have been severely downplayed; Where monotonous drumming dominated the early demos, drowning out most of the other parts of the music, on this demo it's much easier to hear the details in Black Chalice's music.

The music of Black Chalice could always be best described as "discordant" and "rough around the edges", and while the previous releases also seemed rather unrefined the same things go for Submission. But Hasson has found a more suiting focus for the band which makes the album a much more interesting and welcome experience than Years of Flame and Prayers for Our Lord and Saviour. Though all the releases are very organic in their sound and composition Submission is by far the least mechanical-sounding, and even though Hasson's chosen style of black- and death-infused doom metal mostly focusses on depressive themes and desolate soundscapes he has still found room for epic compositions and gloriously melodic parts. 7/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Deluge
2. Regret
3. Cornea
4. Submission

BLACK CHALICE on Bandcamp
BLACK CHALICE on Facebook
Contaminated Tones Productions

Black Chalice - Prayers for Our Lord and Saviour [Demo] (2011, Self-released)

So here we are again. This is the second time I'm reviewing Black Chalice, the first time being the second demo "Years of Flame". This demo, "Prayers for Our Lord and Saviour", is Black Chalice's first demo and was unleashed upon mankind in 2011. Black Chalice is but one of many projects by Patrick Hasson, who is also behind the atmospheric black metal act Auspicium, which I have also reviewed in the past.

In my previous review of Black Chalice I noted how the music, though often being labeled as death/doom metal, bore significant hints of black and funeral doom metal, especially in the long, drawn out sequences with little variation. Though the same can generally be said about Black Chalice at this earlier point I detect a much more distinct nod towards death metal than I did on their later material, even if the two demos share one track, Infallibility of Semen.

Though Hasson has been musically active years before the creation of Black Chalice and this demo it does have that certain tinge of uncertainty. You get the feeling that you're not quite sure what the idea of the band is, what kind of music Hasson wants to create. This creates room for a few surprises here and there, but in the end most of the demo consists of guitar tracks distorted beyond belief and unvaried drumtracks. The speed of the drums and tremolo-picked guitars gives the music a lot of momentum, but it sort of lacks the intensity that I would normally associate with such speeds, and often I see this momentum wasted on sudden stops that annoy me immensely.

My last encounter with Black Chalice yielded a score of 6/10. This time though we're ending up with a 5/10 score. This is simply because the music doesn't sound very cultivated, and when you've listened to newer material by Black Chalice you know that this is merely a prototype for the music yet to come. It's easy to see how the band moved from this gritty, heavily distorted sound to its newer, more ripened state, and I got to say that I much prefer the newer material to this.

Tracklist:
1. King of No World
2. Infallibility of Semen
3. A New Earth and No Heaven

BLACK CHALICE official facebook

Diseased Oblivion - Portals of Past and Present [Compilation] (2012, Contaminated Tones Productions)

From the dismal darkness of some obscure, long forgotten chasm in the depths of the earth came Diseased Oblivion in 2009. With them the duo brought ominous duo brought several incantations of enigmatic, arcane droning metal in the forms of black- and funeral doom metal. The sixth incarnation of Diseased Oblivion's music is found on the 4-track demo from 2012 entitled "Portals of Past and Present", which features songs from the very initiation of Diseased Oblivion in 2009 to some of their newer material from 2011.

The four tracks on Portals of Past and Present feature everything you could expect from a band of this type: Winter-like funeral soundscapes, eerie black abysses and abstruse ambience from the vastness of space. By pairing highly distorted guitars with profoundly cryptic noises the band achieve the bizarre atmospheres that their songtitles such as "Ghosts of Nuclear Winter" and "Blackhole Funeral III" paved the way for in the mind of listeners, and  throughout the retrospective experience of Portals of Past and Present does indeed see an interesting evolution in the band's sound.
As we progress back in time through the increasingly eerie, murky waters that are the sounds of Diseased Oblivion, the imposing blackened doom tracks grow ever more filthy, tenebrous and oddly threatening from the newest track "Unquenchable Hurt" through Blackhole Funeral III and Ghosts of Nuclear Winter and ultimately coming to a grinding, funeral-like halt with the death/doom-ish Reclusa Eternus, which is also the oldest song on the demo.

I recon that Diseased Oblivion are succesful in creating effectively mind-invading black-laden doom metal. The demo gives a fulfilling look into the still short career of the american duo and their compelling but very traditional take on the genre, but through competent songwriting (if their is such a thing in funeral doom metal) they manage to keep their music, all 3 years of it, convincingly decent to make it worth listening to. 7/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Unquenchable Hurt
2. Blackhole Funeral III
3. Ghosts of Nuclear Winter
4. Reclusa Eternus

DISEASED OBLIVION official facebook
CONTAMINATED TONES official site

Nyarlathotep - The End is Always Near [EP] (2008, Self-released)

Like drugs doom metal require a certain setting and mindset to be most effectful in terms of musical enjoyment. Doom metal and all its subgenres to me are some of the most atmosphere-creating subgenres of metal and so the things that the music brings to life in my mind are very important when I listen to it. I found that the American black/doom metal band Nyarlathotep, while their name isn't exactly the most original, brought to life visions of dusty, desolate and dystopic wastes thick with the scent of impending doom and coming apocalypse.

Black/doom metal and funeral doom metal isn't well known for huge attention to detail or variation, so it may seem a bit nit-pickey to say that I found "The End is Always Near" to be a bit uneventful and unoriginal. A pitfall that many bands in this genre fail to avoid is the tendency to more or less sleepwalk through songs, and my first impression with Nyarlathotep was that they were such a band, but upon further listening I found their music to actually be pretty fascinating and enthralling. Never judge a book by its cover, I suppose.

I had prepared myself to write that Nyarlathotep's music didn't have a very good atmosphere compared to how much the genres relies on just that, but the gritty, fuzz-driven cacophony that make up the bulk of their EP has a certain claustrophobic effect rather befitting of the lovecraftian name. The droning instrumentation and void-like vocals really come together and form the very sound of the apocalypse.

I was originally content on giving Nyarlathotep's EP a 6/10 guitars, but I have actually grown to enjoy the sublime slices of dementia that make up The End is Always Near to such an extent that I have decided to give the EP 7/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Rivers of Blood
2. The End is Always Near
3. Through the Gates of the Silver Key
4. Waiting for the Sun (The Doors Cover)

NYARLATHOTEP official myspace

Take my word for it or listen for yourself. You can download the EP free of charge on the band's bandcamp profile right HERE

Hedon Cries - The End of the Path is Nigh [Full length] (2011, Self-released)

Melody and brutality aren't necessarily direct opposites. While most brutal death metal bands aren't very melodic, some heavy death/doom bands are known to be very melodic and include the harmonies in their attempts to create a focused dark atmosphere.

The Greek sextet Hedon Cries, who've already released albums twice before, set a definitive example on how to create simple yet powerful death/doom metal with a melodic focus. Fronted by growler-in-chief Christos Aidonis, who's vocal efforts could be compared to those of Amon Amarth's Johan Hegg, the yet-to-be-signed Greeks prove the above-mentioned thesis that you can have melody and brutality in the same setting. The nine tracks of 2011's "The End of the Path is Nigh" is ridden with effective melodic metal for fans of Amorphis and the like.

With some of the best production I've heard from an unsigned band this third effort from Hedon Cries misses only few things. If you want your mix of death and doom metal to contain incredible technicality, this album isn't for you. The drums aren't very varied and the songs are rather predictable. That being said the general composure of the tracks are filled to the brim with convicingly executed vocals and good riffs.

The End of the Path is Nigh is also a good example that doom metal doesn't have to be slow and crushing. Tracks like Your Morbid Figure feature an altogether fast paced structure, both on the drum- and the guitar front.

Wholesomeness and flow are things I value highly on albums and Hedon Cries are masters of both. Comprising of only very few weak tracks the mighty The End of the Path is Nigh can boast a fine 7/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Like Snow in Her Hand
2. In Deep Red
3. Your Morbid Figure
4. Four Tears, Four Daemons
5. I Hate You
6. Forgotten Beauty
7. Never Again
8. In a White Page
9. Touching the Void

Hedon Cries - The End of the Path is Nigh is available for free download HERE
Visit Hedon Cries on Facebook

Black Chalice - Years of Flame [Full length] (2011, Self-released)

The most disturbing metal genre of all has to be none other than the tenebrous, atmospheric subgenre funeral doom metal, mixing elements of black and occasionally death with the stygian pitch of doom metal. With lyrics often rooted in lovecraftian lore, depression and suicide and abstract subjects this genre of complete caliginousness is surely among the darkest and most deranged genres.

A perfect example of a band deeply nestled in the black pits of funeral doom metal with slight eldritch influences from death metal would be Black Chalice. The absolutely esoteric sounds of the 4-song album "Years of Flame" has a sharp focus on darkly atmospheric moribund funeral doom metal with a thorough emphasis on tradition aswell as the incorporation of death-like elements. Like the howling of an ancient beast Black Chalice have created a convincing release of solid, although a bit unimaginative, death/funeral doom metal.

While Years of Flame is generally haunting and disturbingly deranged with tracks like Chronophage and Infallibility of Semen there seems to be an overall problem with the mixing as the drums are often very hard to hear and the guitar's sound is quite boomy at times. Fortunately for Black Chalice, who have made other prior releases aswell, the lacking quality of the mixing does not overshadow the escatonic simplicity of this fine release.

With a total length of almost 31 minutes Years of Flame by Black Chalice is by no means a lengthy album. The four wholesome tracks (all of more than 6 minutes in length), however, make for a fairly interesting journey through the disturbing soundscapes of Black Chalice. 6/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Empirical Solitude
2. Chronophage
3. Infallibility of Semen
4. Years of Flame

Black Chalice - Years of Flame is available for free download HERE
Visit Black Chalice on Bandcamp and Facebook

Viraga - Walk the Path / Death of a Second Kind [Tracks] (2011, Self-released

Though the term "gothic" originated in regard to the East Germanic tribe "the goths", the term has later been used to describe a multitude of things, like the gothic art and architecture of medieval times and most recently, regarding music, gothic rock and gothic metal. The whole gothic outlook has been used with a few different genres through the years, some more succesfully than others. The veritably ancient genre doom metal is one of the styles that has since seen its combination with the gothic mindset, and to great avail. Bands like Katatonia (even if they started out as death/doom metal, even death/doom sometimes has the same shudderingly melancholic atmosphere as gothic bands like Bauhaus and the Sisters of Mercy) and Type O Negative of the late Peter Steele have had great success in the world of metal and rock music.
The Finnish one-man project "Viraga" could probably - from the tracks "Walk the Path" and "Death of a Second Kind" - best be described as an eldritch mixture of the progressive tones of Opeth and the gloomy gothic sounds of Katatonia. These two tracks that have both yet to be put out on a record sport a semi-fresh take on metal in the sense that Viraga utilizes time-tested elements of various genres and puts them together to form these fine pieces of progressive gothic doom metal.

Like both Opeth and Katatonia Viraga can proudly boast uncountable different parts that range from submissive and dominatingly heavy to sombre and quiescent acoustic fragments. Though obviously those of a drummachine, the drums are masterfully programmed with a boat load of variation and well thought-through fill-ins and hooks. What "Walk the Path" and "Death of a Second Kind" lack in riffing they certainly make up for ten-fold in interesting structure of these two lengthy tracks. And honestly, when has gothic doom metal ever been about catchy riffs?

The two tracks - in which's direction I hope Viraga will continue - are perfect examples of the advantage that lies in long tracks. In both cases there are so many different fragments for you to discover that you will keep listening to them for more for a long time, and with every listen they get better and more eerily interesting.
Viraga produced an overall wholesome experience of fairly standard quality with a low-fi vibe that suits the tranquillity of the gothic atmosphere perfectly. Aside from some moderately uninteresting vocals, these two tracks together have gathered 6/10 guitars.

Viraga - Walk the Path and Death of a Second Kind are available for free download HERE
Visit Viraga on Soundcloud

Kon Hex - Magnetic Sun [Full length] (2011, self-released)

Drone, the genre of the masters of patience. If you listen to drone you better be prepared for tracks in excess of 30 or even 40 minutes. To me drone is a genre best suited for background music like ambient, but I find that few bands play drone without any influences from other genres like doom metal, funeral doom metal or even stoner rock. Drone is mostly thought of as a monotonous and boring genre in which the musicians don't require any actual skill, but I disagree.

The Canadian one-man band Kon Hex is a young band with a number of releases up it's sleeve. With the release of the full length "Magnetic Sun" after the full length "Charge V" and the EP "Expanse", Kon Hex has aimed for a standard approach to drone but with a twist of the abovementioned influences from funeral doom metal and ambient. It seems the focus of this solo project has been on atmosphere rather than riffing, as is the case with much drone doom metal.

If you like drone with a twist, check out Kon Hex's material. The Magnetic Sun full length features classic drone with occassional drums, bringing with it a slight dash of funeral doom metal. With a total length of more than an hour there're lots of details to notice and explore in this interstellar journey known only as Kon Hex.

The material on Magnetic Sun, even if it contains only 4 tracks, has a wide range of atmospheres and feelings. From sinister and evil atmospheres like of an ancient grotto or cavernous cathedral to something out of this world, eldritch and lovecraftian. Kon Hex manages to really set the mood, in no small part due to the magnificent intro track that does exactly what an intro should: Set the atmosphere for the rest of the album. The crushingly dark focus of Magnetic Sun is the perfect soundtrack to deep space and is a fantastic example that drone doesn't have to be boring and uneventful. The sluggishly heavy chugging riffs have something utterly alien and intergalactic about them.

Some of the chugging parts of Kon Hex - Magnetic Sun even have hint of Tom Warrior's new band "Triptykon" about it. Magnetic Sun sets an example for drone as a vast, black monolith in a dark and desolate ocean. As proof that drone is easily combined with other similar genre. As an example that drone isn't necessarily monotonous. If you're a fan of Sunn O))), Nortt and Urna this is definitely worth checking out. 7/10 guitars.

Tracklist:
1. Intro
2. The Uncharted Notice
3. In the Seas of Darkness
4. MSun

All Kon Hex releases can be downloaded HERE
Kon Hex - Magnetic Sun is available for free download HERE
Visit the band on their official website