Album of the Month (s)

Album of the Month - July 2025

Patristic - Catechesis

Review Link:  https://doomed4metal.blogspot.com/2025/07/patristic-catechesis.html

It is dense, layered, and dissonant.  Even the production is a monster:  it’s thick with atmosphere yet manages to capture every little detail.  It’s your ears that will be the problem:  human beings just can’t listen to this much awesome in one setting and get everything needed.  “Catechesis,” needs multiple listens—which is good, because this album more than deserves those extra spins.

I don’t want to give too much away about this album—this is music that is better to be experienced before reading reviews because there is nothing I can say that can really accurately depict what is going on.  “Catechesis,” has so much going for it, so much to explore, that listening to it could be considered a hobby.  If you like music with a lot of depth and a lot to offer the listener, this album is going to blow your mind.  

Album of the Month - June 2025:

Byzantine - Harbingers

Review link: https://doomed4metal.blogspot.com/2025/06/byzantine-harbingers.html

So how does “Harbingers,” measure up?  Worth the wait?  Fuck yes it’s worth the wait.  The band has dialed back the progressive elements from “The Cicada Tree,” in favor of a much more intense, heavy approach.   The best thing about this album is that it actually gets better near the end.  Even albums where every song is good still tend to be front loaded—this one starts off as a banger and turns into a roaring supernova by the end.  

Byzantine made the wait for “Harbingers,” worth it and then some.  They are one of the more underrated bands in the entire metal scene but I’ve no doubt this album will gain them many new fans and bring back the old ones.  This is possibly their best album but it is definitely a good starting point for new fans. 

Album of the Month - May 2025:

HellLight - We, The Dead

Review Link:  https://doomed4metal.blogspot.com/2025/05/helllight-we-dead.html

As with any funeral doom band, their music is about as slow as glacier–maybe even slower. But, for me at least, that is the appeal of the album; I love the way it slowly unfurls itself, like the last vestiges of sunlight fading out as time gives way to the ever approaching night. The riffs lay very heavily upon the atmosphere—they are quite intense and depressive but offset by Gothic melodies that lace the songs with melancholic dirges. All this makes for a compelling listen because it’s heavy yet gentle all at the same time without focusing too much on either one.  

The album’s use of keys is impressive too and can’t be discounted—the instrument is just as important to the band as the others. They aren’t flashy or sweeping but their subtle use is clever. 

Album of the Month - April 2025:

Red Moon Architect - October Decay

Review link:  https://doomed4metal.blogspot.com/2025/04/red-moon-architect-october-decay.html

Personally, it has been hard to stop listening to this album. I have other albums to review, and things to listen to for my own pleasure, but it has been difficult to put this one down although I have no doubt I will continue to return to it.

It’s such a beautifully put together album. It’s tragic yet darkly adventurous in ways that only doom metal can be. Each song has a near bottomless depth, the individual players and vocalists coming together to build up a little world within.

Red Moon Architect’s blend of melodic textures and the dismal heaviness has never been more potent or engaging than it is on “October Decay.” As far as I am concerned, this is an example of a perfect doom metal.

Album of the Month - March 2025:

Ghostsmoker - Inertia Cult

Review link:  https://doomed4metal.blogspot.com/2025/03/ghostsmoker-inertia-cult.html

This album is fantastic! I had, and still having, a really good time with it.  Their doomed out sound is mixed with sludge and blackened elements, resulting in a massive and abrasive album. It's more catchy than music of this weight caliber usually is—it is full to bursting with low riffs and sweltering grooves. 

I love how atmospheric it can be as well, using clean tones to expand the songs or push them in a different direction.  Unlike most bands that inject heavy doses of atmo elements in their songs, Ghostsmoker doesn’t really ebb and flow like a pendulum going back and forth.  Instead, they only give the songs just what they need.  The songs aren’t overly long but neither are they short so in many ways they are to the point, with crisp, tight songwriting without being simple or complicated.  Everything is just right. 

Album of the Month - February  2025:

Havukruunu - Tavastland 

Review link:  https://doomed4metal.blogspot.com/2025/03/havukruunu-tavastland.html

This is an utterly engrossing album with so many great things going for it.  The cold, blackened feel that makes the genre so good in the first place is present.  Raging drums, razor-sharp guitars, and abrasive vocals round the elements that would already make this album a solid experience, even if these were the only things it offered. 

Album of the Month - January 2025:

Inborn Suffering  - Pale Grey Monochrome

Review link:  https://doomed4metal.blogspot.com/2025/01/inborn-suffering-pale-grey-monochrome.html

Being the band's first release since 2012, this is a return from the grave story for the ages!  The band sounds as fresh (and depressing!) as ever, as if many years never went by in the first place.  This is doom metal how it is meant to be.