Doomed For Metal Reviews

Welcome to the first interview I've ever done for this blog!  I can't think of a better band to do it with than Sad Whisperings !  This legendary doom metal band recently returned with a great new album called " The Hermit ." I sat down with the band’s mastermind, guitarist & vocalist Alexander van Leeuwen .  Actually, I did it through email but let’s pretend it was highly professional.  At the end of the interview, I will talk a bit about the band’s history and offer links to their pages.  Please check them out if you don’t know them, especially if you’re a doom metal fan.   So, I’ll get the two most obvious questions out of the way: Why was the band gone for so long and what inspired the return? We were gone, simply ‘cause things didn't work out at the time...no shows etc etc. What inspired us was that at once we were featured in a book ( Streams of ancient wisdom by Steve Willems ) about the scene in Holland and Belgium with a chapter and Vic R...

Oldowan Gash is a one-man black metal band from Los Angeles, California, that formed in 2016 by musician The Forlorn Spirit ( Ablazen Winds , Baphomancia, Desert Eagle ).   His latest release under this moniker, “1000 Dreams of War,” is the second full-length album; two EPs, a demo, and a compilation have also been released. Guest musician Longinus provides the drums.  There is a raw, profane energy to this album that cannot be ignored, or denied.  From the opening second to the final scream, this is a black metal album that is pure hellfire and fury.  But it isn’t just endless tremolo riffs and incoherent madness that is raw for the sake of it.  The anger, the hate, the aggression…it’s controlled with a surprisingly dedicated precision and is a musical weapon brought up from the underground as a living, breathing creature.  The songwriting is something to behold.  Each song has a lot of different part and pieces, varying degrees of extremity formed t...

Medussa is an instrumental band from Santander, Spain.  Their latest release, “ Mueran Las Ideas ,” is their fourth full-length album.   Medusa and “ Mueran Las Ideas ,’ have a sound that is hard to pin down—this could fit under the categories of rock and post to metal and prog, perhaps even doom and atmospheric. Their brand of music is very fluid, and it isn’t easy to tell what will happen next.  With that being said, none of the songs are disjointed or jarring.  The band plays with incredible synergy and offers a very natural and smooth sound, no matter where it leads to.  I’m going to speak about a few of my favorite songs on the album, but every song is a journey unto itself.  The album opens with “ Palabras ,” and I think that is a good choice for the introduction—and a great song for new fans (such as myself) of the band to start with. It begins clean and dreamy, like a post-morning daze after waking up.  As the fog begins to clear, a dee...

Archaic Oath is a black metal band from Belgium, who formed just last year and are already dropping their full-length debut album, “ Determined to Death and Beyond .”  And what a debut it is.  Considering the pedigree involved, however, it isn’t really a surprise.  The band is actually a duo composed of Lykormas ( Rituals of the Dead Hand , Hemelbestormer ) playing all the instruments and Arneriach ( Marche Funèbre,   Hail Spirit Noir ) on vocals.  The album’s overall sound is riff based but offers up a lot of melodic moments and a cold as ice atmosphere.  It’s far catchier that black metal usually is without being so melodic and atmospheric that it feels floaty or stretched too thin–the tone of the instruments a real meaty tone to them and there is more than enough speed and aggression to balance out its lighter moments.  I do like how open the songs are too.  There is more than enough room to hold the often simple but majestic keys, killer gu...

In Ruins is a Romanian death/doom band that formed in 2021; their latest release, “ We Are All to Perish ,” is their full-length debut; they released their debut EP, “ Ruthless Portrait ," in 2022.  I’ve said this before, but I really like when a band knows who they are and what they want.  In Ruins clearly knows it's a death/doom band and they want to play some nasty, grimy shit.  As of the time of this writing, this is definitely up there for one of my favorite extreme doom metal albums of the first half of 2026.   The mix of tortuous emotions and a sense of finality are very potent across the album’s 4 song, 43-minute runtime. But that’s a relatively short runtime for a doom metal album so, as one can imagine, there is no filler here.  Every painstakingly slow note, every smattering of drums, every bass line, every growl all leads to the bigger picture.    This is music to get lost into.  This isn’t background music you put on when yo...

Golgotha is a Gothic doom metal band from Spain, who formed in 1992.  Their latest album, “ Hubris ,” is their 7th full-length album; they have also released three demos, four EPs, and a live album.  I’m a new fan of this band—I discovered them with their previous album, “ Spreading the Wings of Hope .”  As good as that album was, “ Hubris ,” is even better.  Gothic doom was my first foray into the genre and, as such, I’ve always been fond of the “beauty and the beast,” approach.  I’m aware the style is very tried and very true but some things are timeless…and why fix what isn’t broken? María J. Lladó has a unique style to them—her inflection and tone is epic with a lot of expressive power behind them.  Bassist Andrew Spinosa ’s death growls are on point: brutal but intelligible. “ A Simple Life ,” takes the Gothic doom blueprint and throws in a catchy chorus.  I like how the keys/ambience sink into the very fabric of the song yet allows plenty of ro...

Dead Void is a doom/death metal band from Denmark, who hit the scene in 2017 with their first demo.  Their latest album, “ Cranial Devastation ,” is their second full-length album; they have also released three demos. Having never heard of them before receiving the “ Cranial Devastation ,” promo, this album is a very nice surprise for me.  This is a 5 songs and 35 minutes of some of the more raw and disgusting doom I’ve heard in this first half of 2026.  Things aren’t going to great for this year, or the world in general, but doom like this can fuel the world.   It fuels me, at least.   The mix and production are absolutely fantastic and the MVP of the album.  Every instrument can be heard equally but each piece is also covered in a sweltering tone of sickness.  The vocals match the instrumentals head on, colliding together, and coming out the other side as a big, nasty, wall of sound.   It isn’t all doom though—-those who don’t like a ...