Doom Metal - Tumblr Posts
Happy Bandcamp Friday!
Just treated myself to Remnants of the Vessel, by Faetooth, and Call down the Sun, by Konvent, two of my favourite albums from 2022, and two amazing (but very different) doom metal albums (hoping to talk more about them soon). Honestly, if that sounds like it's remotely within your musical wheelhouse, they are both well worth a look!
CheapSweets Pick 'n' Mix - Best of 2022
What is it?
Remnants of the Vessel, first full album from Los Angeles experimental doomsters Faetooth (Jenna - Bass and vocals, Ash - Guitar and vocals, Ari - Guitar and vocals, Rah - Drums, plus guest cellist Ari Bone).
What is it like?
Fairy Doom Metal. What does that mean? It's an album that is by turns etherial, moody, and absolutely crushing. The guitars and bass have a great sludgy, fuzzy tone, the drumming (much like the album as a whole) ranges from subtle to brutal as the songs demand, and there is a real mix of vocal styles that work fantastically well together. Oh, and there's some great cello on some of the tracks. More cello in doom metal, please :)
It draws from myth and folklore, it's fae, witchy, and deeply melancholic, and it's easily one of my favourite albums of 2022.
You might like this if you are a fan of:
Thou, Sleep, My Dying Bride, Messa, Mrs. Piss...
Lyrics such as:
Futile is the work of men
Metal, stone, and words will all bend
On thy knees now
We fall with what we build
Don't just take my word for it:
Spin magazine ranked it their (joint) best album of 2022!
Also highly rated by A Spooky Mansion from Toilet Ov Hell
Standout tracks:
Echolalia, La Sorciere, Saturn Devouring His Son
Where can I find it?
Youtube;
Bandcamp;
Physical releases from DuneAltar;
And, Spotify;
And of course, if you are in the LA area you might get to see them live (in which case, colour me jealous :D )
CheapSweets Pick 'n' Mix - Best of 2022
What is it?
Call Down the Sun, second full album from Danish blackened death doom band Konvent (that's Konvent with a K, thanks).
Konvent is;
Rikke Emilie List - Vocals Sara Helena Nørregaard - Guitars Heidi Withington Brink - Bass Julie Simonsen - Drums
What is it like?
Having a wall fall on you. But in audio. And in a good way. I think ;)
This band has a truly massive sound, skirting the edges of epic funeral doom, but they are very much their own thing. The bass and drums are uncompromising throughout, but there's also an underlying groove to the bass and guitar that means it's more than just a (glorious) wall of noise.
As for the vocals, Rikke List is one of my new favourite vocalists; it's deep and fierce and powerful, and listening to her reminds me of the first time I ever heard Angela Gossow.
Finally, some of the tracks (particularly Harena, the album's closing track) have that certain something that gives me a shiver when I listen to it.
Also, guest cello (and violin) by Feliz Havstad (more doom + cello? I'm starting to think I have a taste :D )
You might like this if you are a fan of:
Ahab, Bolt Thrower, Cult of Luna, Yob
Lyrics such as:
The will is just a grain of dust The will is just a grain of dust But I find that when whirlpools replace the grasp of desert storms Then each grain of sand is just as clear as day, how it forms! Eyes on the horizon, I stand right where I fell And here she comes, the shining orb I know so well
Don't just take my word for it:
Carcharadon from Angry Metal Guy thinks highly of the album;
![Konvent - Call Down the Sun [Things You Might Have Missed 2022] | Angry Metal Guy](https://64.media.tumblr.com/7e312888e576b8daef557105fad7d617/883e51319ecf3dd9-b9/s1280x1920/12d80b7c4d7c363dce7e92190385c77380955710.jpg)
Toilet ov Hell has an interview, and thought the album was great;
Revolver magazine talk with the band about some of their influences;
Standout tracks:
Pipe Dreams, Never Rest, Grains, Harena
Where can I find it?
Youtube;
Bandcamp;
Napalm Records;
And, Spotify;
I feel there's some stuff I need to check out in here...
Think my top 5 albums of the year are probably...
Remnants of the Vessel, by Faetooth
Call Down the Sun, by Konvent
Violate Consensus Reality, by Psychonaut
The Saberlight Chronicles, by Fellowship
and...
Shunka Ryougen, by Haru Nemuri
Honourable mentions to Cool it Down, by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Myriad by Gaupa, Where's the One? by Congotronics International, making it! by Montaigne, UGLY DEATH NO REDEMPTION ANGEL CURSE I LOVE YOU, by Ada Rook, Tlazcaltiliztli by Tzompantli, Rakshak by Bloodywood, and the self-titled albums by Lybica and by Zeal and Ardor.
I tend to come to albums a bit late, so a lot of my listening in 2022 was catching up on albums from the last few years. I have finally listened to Ordalies by Véhémence, which is rad as heck :)
Véhémence - Ordalies Crisix - Full HD Dragged Under - Upright Animals Dynazty - Final Advert An Abstract Illusion - Woe Soilwork - Övergivenheten Lorna Shore - Pain Remains Saor - Origins Ghost - Impera Shadow Of Intent - Elergy
Juist finished reading Moby-Dick
Feels like I need to lie down and listen to one of my favourite bands for a bit...
imagine being the gf of that doom metal singer writing the most heart-wrenching dark esoteric ballads about you
So, you want to get into Italian Metal?
Who the fuck has ever asked for that? Anyways, here’s some recommendations:
Mortuary Drape
Old School Black Metal band, I highly recommend the albums “All the Witches Dance”, “Tolling 13 Knell”, and “Secret Sudaria”.
Sadist
Excellent Progressive Death Metal. Extremely technical and yet soulful.
Death SS
Despite the unfortunate name, they are NOT Nazis. The “SS” is short for “Steve Sylvester”, as in “The Death of Steve Sylvester”. Now since that’s out of the way, their music is more in the vein of traditional heavy metal with a tinge of doom, that sonically wouldn’t be too unbefitting next to First-Wave Black Metal.
Abysmal Grief
Doom Metal that’s heavily reliant on the “Church Organ” setting on keyboards. If you’re looking for something slow and yet spooky, this might be up your alley (although personally I’d just listen to some of the doomier Type O songs).
Cultus Sanguine
Doom Metal. I like to think of this band as a cousin to Abysmal Grief, in that they’re instrumentally similar with the main difference being the anguished vocals. Same appeal as Abysmal Grief, although the songs do get a bit same-y.
Gargoyle
A mix of extreme metal and traditional doom metal. Would definitely highly recommend. Unfortunately they’re not on Spotify, so I can’t put them on my playlists as much as I’d want to.
That’s all I have for now! You might ask, “Wait, where’s [blank]! They’re widely known and important to the Italian metal scene!” and the answer is they probably suck ass (I’m looking at you, Lacuna Coil). This is mainly just my personal taste, anyways.
Non-Goth Music that Goths might enjoy
Along with what the title says, I will be elaborating on each. It’s mostly going to be metal because that’s my current interest but there will be non-metal recommendations, such as industrial rock or electronic music.
Epicus Doomicus Metallus - Candlemass
Not my personal favorite Candlemass album, that would be Nightfall, but it’s what I think would be most interesting to a Goth looking into other genres. To elaborate on why I think that, it’s the use of the vocals, subject matter, guitarwork, and keyboards. The vocals do an incredible job at communicating both storytelling and extreme emotions like anguish. The subject matter covers things like witchcraft, sorcerers, and wanting to die alone. The guitarwork and tone doesn’t sound anything like post-punk but it’s the way it complements the feelings of doom and anguish that might make it interesting to someone looking into other kinds of dark music.
TL;DR They’re slow, heavy, and dramatic.
I would like to highlight “Solitude” as my best recommendation to a Goth Rock fan, and “Under the Oak” as my personal favorite track.
Ministry
Not recommending any specific album, but specific songs from them. Hell, you might even consider some of Ministry’s work borderline Goth, but the overall genre is Industrial Rock/Metal, at least since they stopped making synthpop.
The tracks I’m recommending are as follows: “Every Day is Halloween” (single), “Golden Dawn” (from their album Land of Rape and Honey, which despite the name is actually referring to a plant and not the reprehensible act), “Cannibal Song” and “Dream Song” (both from The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste).
The first song is already kind of a goth music staple but I thought to include it anyways because I love that song.
DAF (Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft)
This one might be a little hard to justify just because of how all over the place they are, but personally I think they really have that post-punk attitude when it comes to their music. They’re basically this really experimental electronic band, hell their early stuff even has noise rock elements. If you’re into the more industrial experimental stuff and don’t need conciseness or melody then this might be an interesting band to look at.
I would like to highlight the tracks “Kebab Träume”, “Ein Bisschen Krieg”, and “Muskel”
King Diamond
I’m going to be blunt, you’re not gonna like this one if you don’t like traditional heavy metal. Along with that, you might not like King Diamond’s vocals. Yes, the band is named after the singer. Anyways, if you like Gothic Rock for the “spooky” Halloween-esque aesthetic, you might just fall in love with King Diamond. He’s an acquired taste for most, due to the unusual falsetto he displays all across his career.
Personally, I fucking love King Diamond. I think instead of recommending any specific song I’d rather recommend whole albums due to the storytelling aspect that King Diamond weaves into most of his discography. To paint you a picture, most of King Diamond’s discography is concept albums that tell horror stories, cleverly using vocals to switch characters, and using keyboards to really give that cheesy but lovable Halloween Horror feel, along with some of the coolest guitarwork in metal, done by the likes of heavy metal legend Andy LaRocque.
Onto highlights, I would like to highlight Fatal Portrait, notably one of the few albums not to be a fully concept album, particularly the tracks “The Candle” and “Haunted”, and Them, a concept album with my personal favorite story, and Conspiracy, the sequel to Them story-wise, which is my personal favorite album.
Celtic Frost
This one might be an odd recommendation if you’re only familiar with their popular stuff, but I’d like to highlight a few tracks that may be of interest.
“Mesmerized” (from their album Into the Pandemonium)
Recommending this one mainly because the vocals are very reminiscent of Rozz Williams from Christian Death, at least in my opinion.
“Os Abysmi Vel Daath” (from their album Monotheist)
This is kind of a risky recommendation, since this song and the album in general is just experimental extreme metal. It’s mainly the vocal performance here makes me want to recommend it, though it might be a bit of a stretch. I love this song but I know it might not be for everyone, though if it gives at least one person a new song to listen to then I’ll be happy.
Zoon - The Nefilim
Industrial Extreme Metal, by the same people behind Fields of the Nephilim. This one is a bit of an oddball in the discography of the people who made it, but personally it’s the only album I like by them anyways. Unfortunately, this was the only album they did in this style and under this name. They do, however, still occasionally perform songs from this album as Fields of the Nephilim. My personal favorite track being “Shine”, which is honestly a bit of a power ballad.
The Downward Spiral - Nine Inch Nails
C’mon. You knew this one was coming. It’s an industrial rock album, and if you haven’t listen to them already you’re most likely going to LOVE “Closer”.
Sacrificed - Edge of Sanity (from The Spectral Sorrows)
It’s a straight up Sisters of Mercy-esque Goth Rock track that’s towards the end of a Death Metal album. The vocalist would go on to start a Goth Rock band, Nightingale.
I’m Going Slightly Mad - Queen (from Innuendo)
You may be confused. That Queen? Yes, same one that made “We Will Rock You” and “Bohemian Rhapsody”. This song is called Gothic Rock on wikipedia, but I’m including it anyways because Queen is not a Goth band.
Surprise - The Garden (Single)
This one might confuse you if you’re familiar with this band. From the instrumentation, to the vocals, to the subject matter, it just screamed to me “put me next to Goth music”. Listen to it for yourself and tell me if you get it. For some strange reason it was taken off streaming platforms unfortunately.
Deinonychus
This one is a black metal band with doom metal influences. Another riskier recommendation, what gives me the impression that a Goth might love this is a mix of the use of keyboards, the anguished harsh vocals, and the deep clean vocals. The best example I want to give is “The Weeping of a Thousand Years”, it’s like a bearded vampire speaks the clean vocals and someone tortured in the dungeon of a castle screams the harsh vocals.
Call from the Grave - Bathory (from Under the Sign of the Black Mark)
Another Black Metal band, this one even harder to justify. Bear with me, listen to the song and pretend that a zombie is the one singing. The song starts with this spooky ambience and then goes into this evil groove and later on has a solo that sounds like a funeral dirge, it’s awesome. I have no idea if anyone’s going to get why I’m putting this here along with the others, but if someone does that’ll be awesome.
Give Me Your Soul - Countess (from The Book of the Heretic)
Another Black Metal one, yes, but hear me out. This song is literally goofy spooky Halloween music, and it’s literally from the perspective of a demon who kidnapped someone. I fucking love this song, I just think if you kept an open mind you might love it as much as I do.
Floods - Pantera (from The Great Southern Trendkill)
Okay okay, hear me out again. This is literally borderline Southern Gothic, at least thematically, and topic aside it’s one of the best power ballads out of all of metal with one of the coolest solos literally ever.
Buried Alive - Venom (from Black Metal)
This song is hard to describe, it’s not quite a power ballad, but it’s definitely some sort of ballad. It’s catchy, it’s got a dramatic build up and it’s got groove (it has one of my personal favorite solos ever). Tell me what you think!
Black Sabbath
I find it a little funny that Black Sabbath had a literal “Living in a Box” moment by naming their first song on their first album after themselves. Anyways, this song, “Black Sabbath”, is dramatic and evil. It’s basically the first heavy metal song, and yet it has more doom in it than a lot of modern doom metal bands. Side note, Type O Negative has a fantastic rendition of this song, I could not more HIGHLY recommend giving it a listen.
I also recommend “After All (The Dead)” off of their album Dehumanizer. It’s got the doom and gloom but with that heavy metal oomph to it, so I hope you appreciate this song as much as I do.
Black Mummy - Death SS (from In Death of Steve Sylvester)
I must clarify again, the “SS” part of the name has nothing to do with the Nazis and is short for the singer Steve Sylvester. Anyways, this song has a more traditional heavy metal sound but in a bit of a spooky horror approach. You might ask if it’s anything like King Diamond, I can assure you it’s not.
Scream of the Butterfly - Acid Bath (from When the Kite String Pops)
This one is a bit of a ballad in an otherwise Sludge/Doom Metal album. Unrelated, but if you’re into metal with interesting textures I would definitely recommend this album.
Ghosts - Japan (from Tin Drum)
It feels like cheating to put a New Wave artist on here, but they’re still technically not Goth so I’m putting them anyways.
Filth - Swans
Noise Rock, it’s extreme music that isn’t metal. I’m including this one for a similar reason with DAF, because despite its genre it definitely has a bit of a post-punk attitude to things.
L’Eau Rouge/Red Water - The Young Gods
Industrial Rock with Dark Cabaret elements, oh my god this album is my baby I fucking love it so much. The fact more people don’t know about it feels like a crime.
Gloomy Sunday - Billie Holiday
This is technically not her original song but I enjoy her version a lot. Thematically it’s very dark, so if you are into darker music I would definitely recommend this.
The Devil is an Englishman - Thomas Dolby (Single)
Again it feels like cheating to include a New Wave artist but there’s no way in hell anyone considers Thomas Dolby “Goth”. Though I will say this song was composed for a movie called “Gothic”. Regardless, I would definitely recommend this, it’s dark synthpop.
Auburn and Ivory - Beach House (from Beach House)
Feels like cheating to include dreampop, but why not. I have this song on a playlist with music that makes me feel like a French mime, if that helps give you an idea of the kind of song it is.
Kate Bush
That’s all.
Anna - K.U.K.L. (from The Eye)
This is from one of the bands Björk was in before. Very experimental rock, I would personally recommend the music video version that’s up on youtube instead of the Spotify version.
Einzelhaft - Falco
This album is mostly known for “Der Kommissar”, but I find that there’s other good songs on this album, particularly “Ganz Wien” and “Auf der Flucht”.
An Angel of Great and Terrible Light - Uboa (from The Origin of My Depression)
I’m gonna warn you, this song along with the album this is from may be a very emotionally heavy album for some. However, I’m built different. Anyways I fucking love this particular song from the album.
End of Recommendations
That’s all I have for now, if anyone has any suggestions I’d love to hear them! I hope this helps someone find new music to love!
My Favorite Metal Bands
As the title suggests, I’m going to be talking about my favorite metal bands and WHY I love them and specifically my favorite album/release from them. This isn’t in any particular order, though Death and Type O Negative are my absolute favorite.
Death
My favorite Death Metal band ough I love em this band is my baby. There’s so much variety and so many fucking hooks. He always managed to make each album interesting in their own way. I love all the albums, my favorite has to be Leprosy though.
Type O Negative
This shit here is my jam, literally so many good songs from each album. My favorite is October Rust, personally.
Black Sabbath
I know this might be kind of a sin but I love the Dio-era most. Listen to “Heaven and Hell” and “Dehumanizer”
Candlemass
Literally one of the greatest doom metal bands ever, I love “Epicus Doomicus Metallus” but my personal favorite is “Nightfall”
Bathory
EEEEEEEE oh my god i think this might be my favorite black metal band. My favorite from them is “Under the Sign of the Black Mark”.
Sanctuary
Those first two albums are so fucking good, honestly I recommend both “Refuge Denied” and “Into The Mirror Black”
Venom
Oh my god their first two albums are so fucking good, please give them the song “Buried Alive” a listen off the album “Black Metal”.
Control Denied
This has to be my fav progressive metal band (even if they only lasted one album), I HIGHLY recommend “The Fragile Art of Existence”.
Root
Specifically, Zjevení bc I don’t really care much for their other stuff. Shit is just my jam, this is the kind of Black Metal I fucking love.
That’s all I can remember right now! These are definitely up there in terms of what I think are the greatest metal bands.
I wanna marry her
Liz Buckingham of Electric Wizard… fucking in love.
I am in love with Liz Buckingham...
![Electric Wizard Live [x]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/8779e349e47963d5ad60ca92e59bdaee/tumblr_msvwf6Ao7F1rao8peo1_500.gif)
Electric Wizard live [x]
Liz Buckingham / Witchcult today
best song ever
Haunter/Crawl East Coast Tour 2018
Two of central Texas' finest extreme metal outfits will be touring the East Coast in December.
Haunter are ritualistic black metal with hints of death metal, plowing through the soul and bellowing through the hells. The bassist is also a member of newer supergroup Entheogen.
Crawl is abyssal sludgy blackened noise of hate and despair, a sonic ritual in honor of the failings of mankind. He remains one of the best live acts I've witnessed, offering a transcendental auditory experience for lovers of all things extreme.
Absolutely a tour worth seeing if its coming to a city near you. More information will be made available as the time draws closer.
Reminder this is coming soon!
Haunter/Crawl East Coast Tour 2018
Two of central Texas’ finest extreme metal outfits will be touring the East Coast in December.
Haunter are ritualistic black metal with hints of death metal, plowing through the soul and bellowing through the hells. The bassist is also a member of newer supergroup Entheogen.
Crawl is abyssal sludgy blackened noise of hate and despair, a sonic ritual in honor of the failings of mankind. He remains one of the best live acts I’ve witnessed, offering a transcendental auditory experience for lovers of all things extreme.
Absolutely a tour worth seeing if its coming to a city near you. More information will be made available as the time draws closer.
My 2018 Album Of the Year List, pt. 1
This is a ridiculously long list, so its split up. Its still long. It might be overdoing it. I don't care. Believe it or not, I even left several releases off. I cannot emphasize it enough, there was a ton of superb music to be heard this year, and my goal is that maybe you'll find something new to enjoy. Read it or don't, just keep loving music.
75)IDLE HANDS - PDX- Don't Waste Your Time
- Heavy metal with a sort of goth rock bend to it that's just an enjoyable listen
74)IAMX- Alive In New Light
- electro goth rock of a sort. Still his own thing. The main single, Stardust, is fantastic.
73) Sniper 66- Annihilator
- Austin punk rock that gives no quarter. They just get better and better.
72)Lunaform- Lunaform
- absolutely beautiful debut prog/djent EP from the Dallas area.
71)Convulsing- Grievous
- Punishing, melancholic black/death metal hailing from the Land Down Under
70)YOB- Our Raw Heart
- I'm actually not generally a fan of loooong, plodding doom metal, but personal taste aside, this is probably one of the best metal albums this year. It is aptly titled, and emotionally rewarding.
69)Pious Levus- Beast of the Foulest Depths
-Grimey Death metal from some of Texas' finest, here to rip you open.
68) Marid-VVVVVVV
-Beautiful Saharan atmospheric black metal that makes me feel calm, so always a good thing.
67)Craft- White Noise and Black Metal
-Black metal to napalm your ears with. Just napalm. Burn.
66)Carn Dûm- Shadow and Fire
- Tolkien black metal that roars like a Balrog and hits like one too.
65)Whoredom Rife- NID-Hymner av Hat
- Yeah, Norway still makes excellent black metal. Enough said.
64)Cultor Noctis- Demiurg
- A great little black metal EP that jumped out at me on Bandcamp, looking forward to more.
63)Krigsgrav- Leave No Path to Follow
- These Texas fellows are back with a somber, weighty black metal outing that'll trap you like a quagmire.
62)Lifted Traces- Akira
- Seeing this performed live with the film might have resulted in bias on my part, but tackling one of my favorite film soundtracks with a superb interpretation is just amazing, so full kudos to the fellows at Switched On.
61)Morgengrau- Blood Oracle
- Roaring Texas death metal titans return to crush your ears. And ribs. And face. And soul.
60)Tamerlan Empire- Age of Ascendancy
- Symphonic black metal mixed with Middle-Eastern musical elements, without the overdone death metal aspects so many bands insist on having when doing this kind of sound. In other words- Heck yes!
59)Erebos- Peste Kommer
- While I ultimately enjoyed Faded Into the Shadows from last year more, this is still a mighty good black metal release that perfectly achieves Burzum synth worship.
58)Tvaer- Old Gods Whom Chaos Knew
- Raw melancholic black metal that I'm really hoping there will be more of.
57) Anders Manga- Perfectly Stranger
- Just stumbled on this darkwave project this year, very glad I did. Absolutely top-notch.
56)Dispirit- Enantiodromian Birth
-I really hope I spelled that right. The album is great and so was their performance at Red River Family Fest.
55)Therion- Beloved Antichrist
- Because why not just make a massive rock opera? Their skill never ceases to amaze me.
54)Elderfrost- The Beautiful Voice of Shadow
-If more dungeon synth sounded like this I'd listen to more dungeon synth. I wish more dungeon synth sounded like this.
53)Nocturnus Santurnus- Nocturnus Santurnus
- Immortal worship of the highest caliber, with so many riffs.
52)Magoth- Zeitgeist: Dystopia
- This didn't quite catch me the way last year's album did, however it's still a very solid album with more sweet riffs.
51) Immortal- Northern Chaos Gods
- A return that did not disappoint in the least, this album could freeze Hell its so frigidly raw.
50)Mare- Ebony Tower
- This is dark and beautiful and sucks you in so well.
49)Iskandr-Euprosopon
- Its mellow, odd, cold, and wonderful black metal, and should be given a listen.
48)Sargeist- Unbound
-Unbound is a good title for this, like a raging black metal beast set loose.
47)Spite- Antimoshiach
-Speaking of raging black metal beasts, yeah, this one too.
46)Cultum Interitum-Temple of Triumphant Death
-Dark, roaring black metal that I was quite pleased with, and definitely want more of.
45)Judas Priest- Firepower
- Bow to the metal gods, because they definitely still rule.
Part 2 & 3 incoming.