Doomed For Metal Reviews

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...

  Coscradh is a blackened Death Metal band from Ireland that formed in 2015. Their latest album, “ Carving the Causeway to the Otherworld ” is their second full-length album; they have also released a demo, two EPs and a compilation. This is my first experience with the band, but it isn't one I will soon forget. It's fast, tightly played, and vicious. It might be a ripping solo, a blackened scream, or a riff that delivers the final blow, but this album will eventually knock you on your ass. But it’s also steeped in an ancient veil of mysticism, something ancient and profound but also horrific beyond modern understandings. “ Carving the Causeway to the Otherworld ” can be a scary album too. When the band plays inside their considerably deep pockets and finds a groove, they chill straight down the spine before ripping it out. What makes all this so convincing is the band's songwriting skills and the musicianship that fuels them.  It takes a lot of talent to play extreme met...

Haissem is a one-man black metal band from Ukraine, who formed in 2014.  “ Aeon Citadel ” is the project's 10th studio album; two EPs have also been released. Andrey Tollock (who also has an incredible doom project called Sunset Forsaken ) handles all the instruments and vocals. He's had a long time to hone his craft and “ Aeon Citadel ,” proves that he only gets better as time passes. I've reviewed several Haissem albums in the past and “ Aeon Citadel ” may just be the band's best.  The album has a really good flow. It's just four songs but none of them are less than 8 minutes and just one is under 10. These songs definitely don't feel long as they are written very smartly, pieced together by daring moments of creative passages and memorable melodies.  It dives fully into its blackened sound, but it is adventurous and uses the time well to provide each song with reasons to not only keep listening but also a reason to return.  Each song fits into the overall ...

Perdition Temple is a blackened Death Metal from Florida who formed in 2009. Their latest album, “ Malign Apotheosis ,” is their fifth full-length album; they also released an EP and a split. “ Malign Apotheosis ,” is pretty much what I expected from this band—and that isn't a bad thing at all. This album finds the band zeroing in on being as fast, abrasive and nasty as possible. Sure, it isn't reinventing the wheel but it does fucking destroy it. And that is all it needs to do. The production is a little more muted and dismal than previous efforts but it works better for their sound this time around. With a band like this, I don't expect (or even want) crystal clear production. The songs are riff based, riding the often thin line between the extremes of black and death metal. But the genres may share extremity are different—but this album definitely balances the two styles well. The drums are absolutely insane and compliment the songs—bulldozing with a purpose. Much can...

Eximperitus is a death metal band from Belarus, who formed in 2009.  Their latest album, “ Meritoriousness of Equanimity ,” is their third full-length album; they have also released two demos, an EP, and a compilation.  The band used to have a really dumb long name and I’m not going to waste my time typing out because it would take as long to do as it does to listen to this album (just under 34 minutes).  I’d much rather listen to this album because it is an absolute hellride.  If every death metal album released after this one is even half as good, then the genre will have a legendary year. It’s so easy yet so hard to describe what exactly this album is.  On one hand, it’s death metal (or noise, if you hate death metal).  Easy, right? On the other hand, it’s beyond death metal into realms of brutality that some bands labeled as brutal death metal can’t even touch.  It’s also technical.  It has ambient/atmospheric sections.  There are even s...

Eigenstate Zero is a one-man progressive death metal band from Sweden, formed in 2018 by scene veteran Christian Ludvigsson.  The latest album, " A Thousand Blind Windows ," is the project's fifth full-length album. Muted fury and strange spoken words open the song “ A Thousand Blind Windows ,” but it feels more like being exhausted from trying so damn hard yet still willing to back down. The project isn't any stranger to unconventional structures and guitars that are seemingly thrown against the wall just to see what sticks—and somehow making it work in strange favor. Much remains the same, yet the band continues to act as a force of nature…so change is still constant.  It feels in these early moments of the album like a bit more focus has been found but it's more like the wild animals have been cornered instead of tamed. Nothing is more dangerous than an animal with nothing to lose not because it's at the end of the line but simply because it has zero fear w...

  Graves For Gods is a death/doom metal band from Australia who formed in 2020.  Their latest album, “ Last Light Fades ,” is their second full-length album.   I missed out on their debut but I’m glad “ Last Light Fades ” made its way to my inbox.  As the cover art suggests, this album is one born of pure darkness and all the unseemly things that come with it.  However, it is also filled with surprisingly catchy moments and can be quite melodic when needed. The first song, “ Prepetua Fell ,” is a great example of this, particularly in how the lead guitar adds flavorful layers to the songs and helps steer it in and out of dark territories. The heavy riffs from the rhythm/bass are simple but earworms within themselves while the harmonies stick out in the mind.   I like how the song is slow enough to let the music seep into the spaces between, but it doesn’t languish or meander too much—the band knows exactly where it wants to go.   The vocals are f...