Doomed For Metal Reviews

Sleeping Giant is a stoner/doom/sludge band from Reykjavík, Iceland who are dropping their full-length debut album, “ The Beauty of Obliteration .”   This album fucking smokes. Riffs for days. No, wait. Riffs for years. And groove. And bass that could shake apart Mt. Doom.  Sleeping Giant has a very accessible sound, and I don't mean that in a bad way. But it is instantly infectious and takes doom/sludge/stoner to heights that can be as blistering as they can be hazy. I love it when bands of this style have an old school approach with the instruments but an extreme approach with the vocals. The death growls/screams are fantastic and their contrast with the more classic passages of the band brand of doom/sludge/stoner sounds GREAT. The album has more than a few moments that lean towards an aggressive nature—the tempo can hit whiplash speeds when you least expect it. The production/mix is on fire—every instrument has a pocket universe in which they live, and thrive, while ...

Silent Deep Ocean is one my favorite doom bands/projects in modern doom. Initially a one-man project of Gregory Ritchey , he has since been joined by the equally as talented Tehina Spasova , who had her own doom band in the form of Destruction of Orion (who are badass and have been reviewed on this blog as well).  “ Essence of Existence ,” is the band's sixth full-length album—and I'm comfortable saying it is the best one yet. “ Essence of Existence ,” reminds me a lot of something The Howling Void may release. Much like that band, the music is laced with symphonic textures but not in a bombastic way. They act more like an atmospheric river that carries with it beautiful and subtle Gothic tendencies with regal, smartly written arrangements.  Gregory creates the music he writes with the technique called Endtroducing,” a technique that was revolutionary in the electronic music world, developed by a composer named DJ Shadow, who used it to create  an instrumental hip-h...

Invictus is a death metal band from Japan, who formed in 2015.  Their latest album is “ Nocturnal Visions ,” and it is their second full-length album; they have also released a split album, two demos and a compilation.  Even though February isn’t quite over yet, I’ve already heard quite a bit of death metal in 2026, and I have no issues proclaiming this is one of the better ones I’ve heard this year so far. It doesn’t reinvent any wheels, but those wheels roll nonstop with the perpetual motion that is death metal.  “Nocturnal Visions,” is more along the lines of an old school approach.  It has a tone of groove, and the guitar tone is menacing as hell.   The bass is pretty important on this album too, making it even heavier and having a tone that matches the guitar in intensity and ability to conjure up hellish grooves that provide optimal impact.  The vocals are what one would expect on an album such as this but that isn’t a bad thing. I actually found...

Evig Natt is a Gothic doom metal band from Norway, who formed in 2002.  Their latest album, “ Vaketimen ,” is their fourth full-length album; they have also released a demo.  The band’s sound also has heavy elements of death and black metal.   Their sound is both visceral and cerebral.  I’m a sucker for metal, especially anything under the doom pantheon, that is comfortable living in worlds that are beautiful and dark —this album nails this niche.  It is also the first album I’ve heard from the band—color me surprised and also dumb for not having them on my radar before now. “ Vaketimen ,” is a dynamic album, ebbing and flowing between tempos and even vocal styles.  The cleans from Kirsten Jørgensen are lithe, expressive, and breathtaking.  There is a moment of her presence where she isn’t engaging and emotional. Bassist/keyboardist Stein Roger Sund also provides the extreme vocals and (I’m assuming this is him) and cleans as well. Together, th...

Moonchapel is a black/death metal band from Maryland who formed in 2024.  Their latest album, “ Three Faced Trinity for a Two-Faced Existence ," is their third full-length album. Oh man, this album is bestial.  It’s raw, depressive and full of aggression.  The atmosphere and production work together, creating an album so dark that it seems like nighttime when I listen to it in daylight.   It’s frightening in the best way possible and is straight up one of those albums that will be hard for anyone outside of the understanding of the genre to get into.  But if you know, you know—and you’ll definitely want to check this out.  The riffs are groovy, grinding, and suffocating all at the same time.  The layer of evil grim that lays heavily over the music doesn’t hurt it but instead enhances it.  “Three Faced Trinity….” is an album that absolutely does not need shiny, happy production.  It needs hell itself and it has arrived—and burns hard for...

  Mortal Blood is a one-man doom metal band from Baltimore, Maryland that began with its debut EP “ Unholy Feast ,” in 2022.  The musician behind all this is Dan Krell and “ Vigil for a Hallowed Earth ,” is the second full-length album. I reviewed the previous album, “ Harbinger of Chaos ,” and praised it because it offered a unique take on doom metal.  So how about this new album?  I can say it continues the band’s unique vision on doom and pushes the established sound even further out there.   “ Vigil for a Hallowed Earth ,” is a very extreme album, perhaps one of the more extreme ones I’ve heard this year.  I say not because it is heavy (it is, obviously) but because the atmosphere down to the very bones of the album is so goddamn apocalyptic and cult-like.  I said their previous album might be the soundtrack for such a disaster, but this album is the soundtrack for the end of the human race itself.  Maybe life itself.   Every so...

Orchid Throne is a one-man melodic death/doom band from Baltimore, Maryland who hit the scene with a demo in 2024. After releasing another demo, the band has graced us with their full-length debut “ Buried In Black .” The musician behind this project/band is Nicholas Bonsanto , also from Barren and Empress . The band’s ability to go from being as gentle as a breeze on a cool fall night to outright fast as hell fury is something to be commended. The songs do a lot, yet they don’t do anything they don’t need to be doing.  As they go through passages of clean instrumentals and cleans to blackened passages and all the way back down to crushing doom, the feeling of completeness was always there.   There just isn’t any fluff on this album even though it is stuffed to the brim.  This album is quite dynamic, especially for a doom metal album.  It has 7 songs and a run time of nearly 55 minutes so there is an abundance of time for these songs to present themselves.  Th...