Doomed For Metal Reviews

Cryptic Shift ’s “ Overspace & Supertime ,” is a planet. It’s a living, breathing world rife with discoveries and stories. Across its long journey if 5 songs that run 1 hour and 20 minutes , the deep dive that is required to listen to this beast is insane. I don’t know if listening is the right word…this is exploring. Or being. This isn’t a death metal album that you put on for a few minutes at a time as you blow through the tracks on a piecemeal basis.   This is the epitome of progressive death metal and you must give it a lot of your time because even if you devote your undivided attention to its length, not everything can be absorbed in one setting. This could be a very good thing or a very bad thing, depending on your perspective.   But I’m a big fan of doom and prog so the long songs don’t bother me but with that being said, this is an esoteric experience and not everyone is going to be able to handle this. But if you’re willing, nothing here is a...

Dwellnought is a blackened doom band from Italy, who formed in 2023. After a demo last year, they have now dropped their full-length debut album “ Monolith of Ephemerality .” The word ‘ephemerality’ actually doesn’t have a single definition but it is most often seen as a concept of things existing only briefly and, academically, it describes a diverse assortment of things and experiences.  “ Monolith of Ephemerality ,” is an experience and then some. Its concept may revolve around transitions but the darkness is here to stay. This is a raw album, a concept in of itself that graces black metal often but something I feel we need more of in doom. However, as raw as it is, isn’t to the point of determinant. If anything, it makes the album better. If this darkness is a part of ephemerality then it needs to be as massive and bottomless as possible—and those elements work best in this style as a rough presentation of the dangers.  The mix is still on point too. The bass ca...

Necrofier 's “ Transcend Into Oblivion ,” is an album that balances a classic, straightforward black metal approach with the more melodic side of the genre with plenty of atmosphere, without going overboard with any one of these elements. Throw in some good ol 'heavy metal influences on top of all that, and what is presented here is quite dynamic, with a lot of details and depth. It's a hefty album too– 12 songs that come very close to hitting the hour mark. I'm a doom fan so long albums aren't anything new to me but the album does require patience if you aren't used to the long winded side of the genre. But I appreciate this aspect. Not every album is meant to be dived into for a quick fix and picked up later. I love albums that require attention to pick up its own attention to details and this album delivers on that notion. The album is divided up into three sections, with two interludes to separate them and then a final song to cap it all off. The songs in ...

Ennui is a funeral doom metal band from the country of Georgia, who formed in 2012.  Their latest album, “ Qroba ,” is their fifth full-length album; they have released two splits. Where has this band been all my life?  How did I miss them until now?  This album is goddamn fantastic.  “ Qroba ,” has the length and depth one would expect with funeral doom, but it doesn’t plod, or spend too much time trapped in its own world.  It’s slow (as it should be) but every second, every song, has a purpose that moves the songs ever forward. I’m feeling the production/mix a lot too.  It’s open and dynamic, allowing the changes within the songs to not only be hurt but also FELT.  The bass sets perfectly amongst the other instruments too—bass should be the most important instrument in any genre but especially for doom and on this album, it is enthralling and monolithic.  I love the natural and effortless flow to the songs.   Just check out the opening song...

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...