Dolorian - Dolorian

Dolorian, an obscure finnish act part of the italian Avantgarde Music label. Dolorian have always been somewhat of an enigma and this also reflects itself in the music. To classify Dolorian isn't an easy task. The music they produce on their self-titled album is again oppressive as fuck, a trait which also the two other albums share, but perhaps not as much or as clearly present as on this one. Looking at the lyrics and listening to the music require a certain ability to think in abstract forms and to think outside the traditional confinements that the doom or black metal genre generate. Describing the music of Dolorian is an impossible task due to it's abstract nature. To recommend this simply to anybody would be unwise, because in reality Dolorian haven't got the usual aspects of Heavy Metal that we have all come to love. This is some damn inaccessible metal and yet it's not that extreme at all. A band like Wormphlegm is inaccessible due to the extreme nature of it, but such is not the case with Dolorian. The thing with Dolorian is, you won't find any catchy choruses, riffs or melodies. There are no upbeat parts to be found and no singing whatsoever (there are vocals however). And yet words cannot describe just how awesome this is. Like on When All Laughter Has Gone they play a slow, dark and evil type of doom metal with mystifying keyboards; the blackish screams that were present on their debut have been replaced by haunting whispers, giving the music an oppressive sound that is unrivalled. Dolorian wave psychedelic soundscapes with complex and avantgarde song structures and slight ambient touches while never forgetting the heaviness. The result is a deranged and psychotic piece of music that has got the most evil vibe going on and will leave you empty, alone and inhuman. Many will be put off by the abstract and inaccessible nature of this beast, however...

"Therefore, it is recommended that you attempt to forget all the initial unconsious and conscious preconceptions that you might have – try to destroy the fixed patterns of your personality and eventually the material will reveal its ultimate form to you – the most primal and fundamental form." -an extract from a rare Dolorian interview with French Metallian magazine

Dolorian - Dolorian

Cruciamentum - Convocation of Crawling Chaos

This is a living proof that not everything that is old in metal rules! Cruciamentum is a band hailing from UK, and boy they deliver one of the best demos of black/death that I have listened to in recent years. This is not your typical modern black/death band that only talks about worshiping the devil and so on, these guys took a lot of time and effort to do this. This can be felt through their riffs, which deliver an atmosphere comparable of bands lie Dead Congregation's demo, it might not sound as evil as them, but sure as hell is good. Another interesting aspect of them is the use of synthesizer to create an even more haunting experience, the vocalist kicks ass, the growls are exactly the kind that I enjoy, long, deep, and "gassy." The music is pretty much mid paced, sometimes it gets very slow others extremely fast, this doesn't bother me, the tempo changes are always interesting, and it's always good to see how a band would sound and if the musicians can do it with no problem. The production is pretty flat, which is good for a demo, every instrument can be heard with no problem. I recommend to listen to this band with earphones, why? The reason for that is pretty simple, the atmosphere just gets better and better with them, with speakers there is too much space between the actual music and the listener. Enjoy and lets hope for a full length somewhere soon.











Cruciamentum - Convocation of Crawling Chaos

Marblebog - Forestheart

Marblebog are a relatively well-known and highly praised entity in the black metal underground scene. Active since 1998 and since then released 3 full lengths and a plentitude of splits and a lone demo in the beginning of their existence. Marblebog have achieved the creative peak during this album suitably titled Forestheart. The type of black metal they play is one that's rather repetitous (in a good way) and hypnotic, creating tremelo picked riffs that flow naturally into one another and will evoke images of lone forests and mountainous regions. Marblebog excel at using the repetitive nature of the music to their advantage and as a consequent of this Forestheart is very consistent, with little to no faults. What attracts many black metal fans to Forestheart are the excellent riffs that aren't out there to create a frostbitten, grim or cold atmosphere, but more one of solitude, nature and everything relating to introspective themes, almost sounding ambient-like at times especially during the longest track Closing where Marblebog make use of droning ambient backed up the gutwrenching vocals that reek of despair and hatred. Forestheart has an almost ritualistic feel to it, often making use of typical samples such as wind, birds, etc. that are tastefully added. To keep the entire hypnotic feel going, it's necessary for Marblebog to make frequent use of blast beats, therefore the drumming isn't technically much interesting, but sometimes it's better to sacrifice technical proficiency and to go for a certain element of your music that you feel like highlighting, in this case the entire feel of the record. Some slower moments are however present as well as for example during Flame Of Wisdom. I would recommend Marblebog to those who can appreciate a sound similar to Velvet Cacoon, but performed a lot more consistent and well...more interesting or to those who have enjoyed the shoegazing quality of one-man band Trancelike Void, who were also previously discussed here (july 2009).

Marblebog - Forestheart

Ocean - Pantheon Of The Lesser

Ocean have taken the sludge genre to extreme forms and have injected a heavy dose of doom in their sound. As you might expect Pantheon Of The Lesser starts off with quite a bit of feedback, making the listener slightly uneasy and wary of what is to come. Ocean may be a very heavy band (quite a statement), but they remain however interesting enough in the riff department. They break the earth-shattering heaviness with a strangely melodious approach that makes the music at least a bit pleasant to the ears and somewhat accessible. There's no doubt that Pantheon Of The Lesser is all about the atmosphere that the heaviness manages to create and puts the listener into a hypnotic state where repetition and well....heaviness form the main ingredients. This repetition gives the album a very ritualistic setting and to add to that the guys of Ocean have chosen to include Bloody Panda vocalist Yoshiko Ohara who also adds to the entire mystical religious feel. The percussion is as to be expected minimalistic and simple. At certain times you will get the impression that the drummer speeds up a tiny bit, but that will only last a couple of seconds. Then it's back to bashing your head into a bloody pulp. At certain times the massive distortion will make way for a cleanly played melody, providing for a nice variety and relieving the listener for a short while from the gutwrenching heavy guitars. Ocean manage to not exaggerate with the feedback during the entire playtime and tries to keep it to a tasteful minimum and instead focusses on perfecting the couple of riffs that are present here. As previously stated, don't expect a rifffest or just another headbang session, no, this is a record that should be played when you have the time to fully emerge yourself into a particular sound and atmosphere. Only then will Pantheon Of The Lesser fully reveal itself to you and prove what it's capable of.

Ocean - Pantheon Of The Lesser

Deadbird - Twilight Ritual

Deadbird are an off-spring from the established slugde masters Rwake. Deadbird is similar to Rwake because both of them can be placed under the sludge category and both of 'em are heavy. There ends the comparison. Deadbird has more similarities with bands like Thou or Minsk. It has the basic heavy-hitting sludge sound, but mixes it up with more introspective post-rockish melodies without coming across as homosexual in any way and the ocassional lonesome punk riff. What Deadbird seem to have mastered is a quality that is also shared by a band like Minsk; they produce songs that have a perfect and well thought out build-ups that reach epic climaxes that will blow your mind. Despite the ocassional post-rock influence, Deadbird remain a sludge band that is out there to help us get rid of any anger or frustration that may dwell in our heads and therefore remains aggressive to the core, which for me still remains the major appeal of the sludge genre. Like no other genre, it manages to bring across hatred, disgust and anger perfectly and this is also what Deadbird does. Another not so far off comparison would be Burning Witch. While Deadbird certainly doesn't reach the uncompromising heaviness of said band, they are pretty damn heavy nonetheless. Deadbird are clearly influenced by Eyehategod and obviously Rwake. What I appreciate about them is their straight-forward approach and skipping all the technical and at times experimental touches that Rwake have made part of their sound and as such created their own identity, one that is almost completely detached from Rwake and gives its own interpretation of the sludge genre.

Deadbird - Twilight Ritual

Nehëmah - Light Of A Dead Star

Nehemah are part of the established french scene and have been around since the early nineties. In 1995 they released the demo Light Of A Dead Star, which featured roughly everything present on this full length. The official debut album was then released 7 years later. If anyone wants an idea of what the french scene is capable of then continue reading. I'm fortunate enough to have seen these guys live at UTBS fest and together with Urfaust they were without a doubt the best bands of the entire weekend.

Nehemah are typical french black metal. This mysterious touch surrounds their music and was also present during their performance. They incorporate keyboards very tastefully in their sound, without going to far. This entire atmosphere is even further enhanced by some sections where the bass guitar shines. The guitar tone they use is incredibly vile and certainly one of the most vicious I have had the pleasure of hearing. Production-wise everything is almost perfect, raw, but not to the extent where some instruments simply become inaudible. A good variation is provided with the difference in paste, some songs have a slower approach to them, while others just furiously and unrelentlessly blast away like the opener Light Of A Dead Star. Nehemah are at their best when they incorporate both the slower as well as the faster aspects of their music in one song; slowly building-up to a climax that usually ends up with devestating blast beats blowing your brains out. Nehemah mostly excel at producing some eerie riffs that linger somewhere in mid-air and keep repeating itself. For some it might be a little repetitive, but that's the strongest aspect about this album. The constant repetition of certain riffs allows the music to fully develop and obtain a rich texture. At times the distortion makes way for a cleanly played guitar riff, such as during the intro of Nehëmah In Vulva Infernum, after which an incredibly thunderous, chaotic riff is played which immediately reminded me of the same memorable passage at the beginning of the song Akyr Zaman by Darkestrah. Definitely an album highlight.

Nehemah have also added some clear vocal lines to Light Of A Dead Star, they only appear twice and rather briefly. For a lot of black metal bands clear vocals are "not done", because they are either totally misplaced and just there for the sake of them being there or the band in question is too ambitious and uses the vocals constantly turning an entire album into a complete travesty, but luckily here we won't find the type of homosexual excesses you would find on an Agalloch album. No, the cleanly sung lines here are epic and incredibly gloomy. Nehemah are a band that are firmly rooted in the french scene and with Light Of A Dead Star they continue to help establish France as one of the best black metal countries out there.

Nehëmah - Light Of A Dead Star

Bloodaxe - Bloodthrone

3 years prior to releasing Raping The Ancient, Bloodaxe produced their debut Bloodthrone. Again the same formula is present, but a little more extreme perhaps. Allow me to clarify what I mean by that. Production-wise Bloodthrone is a lot rawer than Raping The Ancient. Amidst the distorted sound we hear the typical Bloodaxe whirlwind riffs that are highly effective and create that cold atmosphere perfectly, something which a lot of second wave band have tried to achieve. Vocals are again completely distorted, making them sound like someone who is lost in a destructive, cold blizzard. Bloodthrone is a lot blast heavier than Raping The Ancient. This is in fact an album that basically blasts away from beginning to end. It's true that the drumming isn't very inspirational and technically interesting, but all of that has been sacrificed to enhance the cold atmosphere that is present on Bloodthrone. Besides the occasional acoustic parts, there's only one song 1030 that doesn't blast away all the time, but still manages to have that freezingly cold ambiance. I feel the acoustic parts (they only appear twice on Bloodthrone) don't add much, instead I feel they make the entire concept and atmosphere on this album less consistent, than I would have perhaps liked. Despite this small point of criticsm Bloodaxe have again released an album that should appeal to all second wave supporters and those who are looking for an atmosphere similar to Pure Holocaust. Cold, freezing and frostbitten!

Bloodaxe - Bloodthrone

Previous Bloodaxe review: Bloodaxe - Raping The Ancient

Pale Divine - Cemetery Earth

Pale Divine have been gracing the doom scene with some of the best contemporary doom metal since 1997. Cemetery Earth their last effort was released on the quality label I Hate Records. Cemetery Earth seems to be totally focussed on bringing one thing; producing riffs that are some of the best in its genre and this for the entire duration of 60 minutes. To say you don't like this, is to say you don't like riffs and then I suggest you stay away from Heavy Metal. When they released their first album Thunder Perfect Mind, they excelled at creating some of the most epic hymns, by combining solid riffing with amazing gang type of vocals. They even had Bobby Liebling himself doing some guest vocals back then. Cemetery Earth is not as epic as their debut, but goes for a slightly different feel. There's little use in me pointing out several key riffs in the album, because basically it's crammed with 'em and they are all as awesome as the last one. Personally I think they are at their best during Broken Wings, a song which contains one of the best main riffs found on Cemetery Earth and a general nice build-up towards an epic climax which for a brief moment will remind you of the epicness of their debut and this is mainly thanks to the incredible singing capacities of Greg Diener. Or the self-titled song, a little darker and a little slower as well with some great bass passages and a bunch of solo's that will no doubt amaze you. Yes, Cemetery Earth offers plenty of solo's and they really feel like they are part of the complete package and never feel out of place, everything flows naturally, like it was destined to be this way. Broken Wings is again a good example of this. The recipe which Pale Divine have exploited to their advantage remains the same like they've ever done. Mindblowing in the riff department, often preferring a mid-paced progress and incredibly catchy choruses and it never gets dull at all on the contrary I guarantee you that will be bobbing your head to the groovy sound that Pale Divine manages to produce and perfect again with each coming album and this for the entire duration. Cemetery Earth is a psychedelic journey through death and decay that brings hommage to the great legends Pentagram, Black Sabbath, Witchfinder General and will no doubt make these old geezers proud of their legacy.

Pale Divine - Cemetery Earth

Fall Of The Idols - Womb Of The Earth

Fall Of The Idols have been shot as the true heirs to the finnish throne of Reverend Bizarre. Stylistically there are certainly resemblances between the two, but Fall Of The Idols makes the difference, by performing very consistent and bringing quality again with each release, something which can't be said about Reverend Bizarre. I would place both Womb Of The Earth and The Séance on the same level as the monumental In The Rectory Of The Bizarre Reverend. Fall Of The Idols have mastered the same quality as Reverend Bizarre, by using a postive rock 'n roll vibe to their advantage, so that it in the end the truly gloomy moments that grace Womb Of The Earth turn out to be a devestating and emotionally exhausting journey. The strongest aspect about Fall Of The Idols are undoubtly the heavy guitars with no less than 3 guitarists. This shit is heavy and without compromise. Womb Of The Earth is crammed with memorable riffs, solo's and moving guitar leads. Atonement For The One is for example a typical Fall Of The Idols rifffest, where one badass riff follows the other and in the background you'll constantly hear another riff developing until it reaches a stunning climax by the end of the song. Another random highlight would be Keep Wandering The Night with its terribly catchy chorus and stunning guitar lead. A good thing about Womb Of The Earth is that it's constantly varying between more mid-tempo parts and slower segments. On The Séance they didn't use this particular change of paste as often and was just one piece of total blackness, that might be a little inaccessible for the untrained doom ear. Jyrki (vocalist Fall Of The Idols) has a suitable voice for Fall Of The Idols and has a decent enough reach to change his tone when necessary. Don't be expecting a Messiah or Rob Lowe, though. In the end Fall Of The Idols remains a band who worked their way up the ladder the old school way. They began by releasing a multitude of demo's before bringing out full length albums. Over the years they have gotten more and more recognition and now that Reverend Bizarre is no more, it's time these guys get all the recognition they deserve, because as far as i'm concerned they are one of the true masters of finnish doom.

Fall Of The Idols - Womb Of The Earth