Doomed For Metal Reviews

Godthrymm is a doom metal band from the United Kingdom, that formed in 2017; their latest album, “ Projections ,” is their third full-length full album; they have also released four EPs.  The band was formed by Hamish Glencross , who was in My Dying Bride and released quite a few really good albums with them.  Oh, and former Bride drummer Shaun Taylor - Steels is also a member.  Cool, huh?  So yeah, the man has immense talent.  But, for whatever reason, I’ve never been a huge fan of this band.  Why?  I can’t say for sure.  Sometimes music just doesn't stick for some ineffable reason.   All that has changed with the release of their new album, “ Projections .”  Hamish and co have finally grabbed me—and aren’t letting go.  The songwriting chops on this album, and the musicianship that allows us to hear it, is pure energy and fire. “ Projections ” dips into various styles of the doom genre, oftentimes sounding quite Gothic, parti...

Hecate Enthroned is a black metal band from the United Kingdom, who formed in 1995.  Their latest release, “ The Corpse of a Titan, a Lament Long Buried ,” is their seventh full-length album; they have also released a demo, two EPs, and four splits. This is their first album in seven years, so I expected them to make quite the statement…. but goddamn, they blew my already high expectations.  From the cover art all the way down to the last second of music in the final song, this product absolutely drips and bleeds quality.   This was obviously a labor of love with a renewed energy and focus—and the payoff is immense. I used to be a production whore back in the day…. I wanted (needed) every album to sound good.   But as the years went on, I realized there isn’t a blanket production job that fits every band/album.  Some bands, or bands within a certain genre, need a happy, shiny production and mixing job.  Other bands need something quite a bit rougher.  ...

I’ve been a fan of Faded Remembrance since their debut but have never reviewed any of their albums before so I’m honored to review their third full-length album, “ The Blessing of Downfall .” This is the album I’ve always wanted them to make, too.  Their previous two efforts, while no doubt solid, sounded so similar to Paradise Lost that if I hadn’t known who it was, I would have assumed I was listening to some sort of compilation of lost Paradise Lost songs.  “ The Blessing of Downfall ,” finally sees the one-man project of Tamás Albert finding its own sound while still honoring the influences.  Though those influences are worn on his sleeves, Mr. Albert’s outfit is all his own. So, what’s changed?  What has made this album different from the others?  Why has it grabbed me so much?  It’s because the songs are really fleshed out and fully formed. Each one has a lot of ideas and takes a methodical yet smooth approach to making sure that not only is it engag...

  Angellore is a Gothic doom/death metal band from France, who formed in 2007.  Their latest album, “ Nocturnes ,” is their fourth full-length album; they have also released two demos, two EPs, a split album and a compilation. I discovered this awesome band when I stumbled across their previous album, “ Rien ne devait mourir ,” around the time of its release in 2020.  It’s been a long six years or so but “ Nocturnes ,” doesn’t disappoint.  One aspect of Angellore I’ve always enjoyed is that they are heavy but not aggressive.  Between their usage of death girls, double bass, and a casket filled to the brim with riffs, they still retain this melodic sense of being regal that has always been part of their charm. Throw in flute, oboe, bass clarinet, cello and piano on top of all that and what Angellore has delivered with this album is a Gothic doom opus of towering might.   “ Nocturnes ,” five songs that are all unique but fit together perfectly.  ...

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 ...

Man, I love COC.  If you can stoop snickering long enough to listen to their 11th full-length album, “ Good God/Baad Man" , then you too can join in on that love.  I doubt Corrosion of Conformity needs an introduction at this point but a quick recap:  they are badass.  Review over.   Ok second review starting now.  COC has been around since 1982 (one year before I was born, damn!) and began as a punk band that morphed into some kind of Southern fried version of metal that includes many different elements from doom/sludge and everything else in between all the way to hard rock.  Members have come and gone; some have even passed away, including original drummer Reed Mullin .  But the founder of the band, Woody Weatherman , has kept the band going through the decades and doesn’t seem content on doing anything but continuing to be badass.     Pepper Keenan is at the helm once again, the guitarist who joined the band on their ...

Towering is a death metal band from France, who formed in 2015.  Their latest release, “ The Oblation of Man ,” is their second full-length album; they have also released two demos. Dissonance is a tricky thing for a lot of bands.  Sometimes it gets so dissonant that it sounds meandering and pointless.  Other times, it begins to blend together.  Still other times, a band gets so caught up on the style, they lose their heaviness and sense of urgency.   Towering conquers these dilemmas by taking what has become a familiar metal trope and forging a sound all their own. They have the dissonance factor nailed down—and it is atmospheric as hell.  But it never loses its crushing base of stark death metal.  The lead guitar is as important as the riffs and everything is formed up and focused by the bass and drums, both of which must surely be considered amongst the densest things in the universe.  Spearheading the charge are very urgent and depraved ...

Wrang is a black metal band from Netherlands, who formed in 2013.  Their latest release, “ Verwording ,” is their third full-length album; they have also released a demo, two splits, and an EP.  “ Verwording ,” is easily one of my favorite metal albums of the first half of 2026.  I like this album so much that the last time I played Super Smash Brothers, I named my character “ Wrang .”   I don’t know why that’s important to this review or what anyone is supposed to do with that information, but I felt the need to include it.   There are a lot of different styles of black metal these days, but Wrang have opted for this album to be built upon riffs, solos, and a sense of melody that never overpowers but underscores their need to do their own thing, capturing the essence of black metal without being afraid to be themselves.  I appreciate how much groove can be found in the songs.  Even when the speed kicks up and the melodic elements are riding upon ...