Doomed For Metal Reviews

The Medea Project is a doom metal band with origins from South Africa, although according to their Metallum page, they are now based in England.  I first discovered this band way back in 2020, when I reviewed their debut full length album, “ Sisyphus ,” for Metal Temple.  I’ve always wondered what happened to this band—apparently, I missed the fact they have released two EPs since then.   I was certainly eager to make up for lost time and dive into “ Kharon ,” the duo’s second full-length album.  It was worth the five year wait—this album is fantastic!  The sound is rooted in doom but death, black, sludge, and even some folk elements are used in combination–it’s an eclectic sound with its own signature atmosphere.  Their press release calls them “Dark Primal Gothic Doom.”  I’d say that is pretty damn accurate.   The production is impressive—it has a raw DIY feel to it but still manages to sound professional.  The mix is on point as ...

Byzantine are a metal band from West Virginia, who formed in 2000.  Their latest album “ Harbingers ,” is their seventh full-length album.  Over the years, they have also released four demos, a compilation, two EPs, and a split album. I’ve been a fan since 2005’s “ ...and They Shall Take Up Serpents ,” and have very impatiently waited on a new album since 2017’s “ The Cicada Tree .” I really liked the album and it still contains my favorite song from the band, “ Verses In Violence .”  So how does “ Harbingers ,” measure up?  Worth the wait?  Fuck yes it’s worth the wait.  The band has dialed back the progressive elements from “ The Cicada Tree ,” in favor of a much more intense, heavy approach.   The best thing about this album is that it actually gets better near the end.  Even albums where every song is good still tend to be front loaded—this one starts off as a banger and turns into a roaring supernova by the end.   I suppose the over...

Matraque is an extreme metal band from Belarus, who formed in 2023.  Their new release “ Nature Morte ,” is their debut full-length album. Their sound combines doom with death metal and sludge.  All their lyrics are sung in Belarusian, but that doesn’t matter because no one can understand what is being said anyway—good, just how I like it.   This is a really dark, extreme album.  If you don’t like abrasive music, then look elsewhere.  Have fun, you giant whining bummer.  For the rest of us with actual taste, this album will provide endless nightmares in the best way possible.  The tempo is, overall, a slow roll of sludge laced doom that sounds like it was scooped out of a bin for throwaway organs at a hospital.  The guitars and bass are both the kind of sweltering heaviness that borders on surreal in a hypnotic, desperate way.  The drums are loud, rising above the blood drenched muck without being overbearing.   The album opens...

Alukta is a doom/black metal band of international origins from both France and Belgium.  “ Merok ,” is its full-length debut.   The band is actually a duo, consisting of the ever impressive Déhà on all the instruments and Marie ( 1927 , Brouillard , Sphere , Transcending Rites , Vertige ) on vocals. Blackened doom seems less prevalent in the doom scene than some of the other sub-genres so I’m always hungry to discover more.  Alukta is an interesting project, offering a unique twist through a tribal and ritualistic musical path.   According to the press release, the band was formed out of a mourning period mixed with a need to explore old tribal customs.  It’s also inspired by the Toraja people and their special funeral rites in addition to cults and death in general.  After (briefly) researching the Toraja and their death rites, I view this album as a sort of soundtrack of the death process.  The Toraja believe the souls of the departed ling...

  Lights of Vimana is a doom metal band of international origins, hailing from the countries of Italy, Belgium and USA. “ Neopolis ,” is their debut album. The band is new but the members have a lot of experience in the field, so to speak. Déhà (from so many bands/projects that I can’t name them, just do a quick google and dive right in!) provides vocals. He is joined by Jeremy Lewis on bass/guitars ( Mesmur , Pantheïst ) and Riccardo Conforti ( Void of Silence ) on drums/keys.   This trio has created an album that is unique and truly special. They take such adjectives like “atmospheric,” and “sprawing,” and push to levels that no one else has reached this year. The weight of doom metal meets free floating textures to create passages of mystique and mystery, both serene and harrowing. It’s progressive—not in a flashy way but because of it’s dynamic changes and willingness to not even have a box to step outside of in the first place.  Throughout the album, I...

Destruction of Orion is a one-woman funeral doom metal band from Bulgaria. The project was formed in 2023 by musician Tehina Spasova (also of Silent Deep Ocean ), who wasted little time in gracing the scene with the debut album “ Decreasing Brightness .” She has returned to drop unfathomable darkness into the underground in the form of the second full-length album, “ States of Horror .” I was a fan of the debut but “ States of Horror ” is on another level. It takes the elements of funeral doom, elements that were already represented to a stark degree in that debut, and pushes them to a new level of darkness. Can something be darker than black? Can the most depressing, despondent metal genre get even more lost in the void? And while it further sinks, grasped by the tendrils of death itself, can it still present itself as an album with an overall concept that still hits on every level and each song? The short answer? Yes. The long answer? Yes but keep reading. ...

Row of Ashes is a post metal band from the UK. Like a lot of post metal bands they do have a strong hardcore influence but I found this album to be much more groove oriented with a strong punk rock energy within it.  I haven’t heard them before but their latest album, “ Tide Into Ruin ,” is fantastic!   These elements pair very well with the vocals which have a desperate abrasive approach to the yelling and screaming that straddles a line between hardcore and extreme metal. I enjoy how their sound is successful at teetering between a raw, straight forward sound and a dense, atmospheric one. The interplay between these dynamics makes for a compelling listen.  The production is great—it’s tight enough to capture the songs’ details yet open enough to let the band’s insanity shine through without anything to really hold it back other than the finality of knowing it can’t be held back.   We can’t be hurt if we accept it, right?  Wrong. This album will shre...