Realmbuilder - Fortifications of the Pale Architect (2011)

Realmbuilder is a rather strange band whose music style I won't try to define, but as far as I am concerned, the epic metal tag fits them the best.

What do I mean by 'strange'? While most epic metal bands I can think of have either very high-pitched vocals, very often reaching falsettos, trying to sound as dramatic as it gets with a "don't worry sweet princess in high tower, I am coming to kill this dragon" kind of attitude, these guys sound way more majestic and real-balled. Probably most people's first association with epic metal is also Manilla Road and while I don't find many similarities, Realmbuilder is just like the formerly mentioned - one such band that bears the flag of the genre without pissing on it.

As you would suppose, everything in the world of this album is imaginary. Your modern world doesn't have a place in it. From the very introduction of the album you get a horse galloping together with a fast melodic guitar and a marching drum. The soldiers are riding behind their commander on a quest. Seriously, I have no idea what the song is about, but this is how it sounds to my ears. Its music exists in its own empire created by the band. The overall sound of the album is rather quirk and not absolutely to my liking. It smells like low budget production, but in a bad way. While sometimes this gives a more romantic old-school sound to a record, the guitar here sounds somehow "cut". I don't pretend to understand a lot from production and all, but it sometimes bugs the whole experience of the fortifications of the pale architect.

Another plus for these guys is that they don't have heart-melting, cheesy ballads. The whole record is more about weaponry, iron sieges, savage man attacking one another rather then pink-coloured love stories. And while the band consists of only two man, it does sound full-blooded. Of course, if you forget the weird sound, which is kinda hard to forget, because it clings to your ears the whole time. I was recently thinking of what to listen to while I read some of the epic Robert Howard tales I found lying around and now I know. This album is great soundtrack to anything that you would need if you want to pretend you live in another world. The great guitar solos are also a huge helper to get soaked in the old-day like atmosphere. Also, while many might dislike the vocals, I do dig them. Not all epic/power metal has to be fronted by someone whimpering. The powerful riffs are strong and convincing. I don't want to evaluate their originality, but they sound brave enough for me to believe the guys.

It's good to hear some good epic metal these days, as most musicians tend to waver towards the clean production and generally appealing power-pop metal bullshit that big companies would sign.

Reverend Bizarre - Thulsa Doom (2006)

Firstly, the sad news. I don't believe that any doom metal band that is about to be formed would ever be good enough to reach the rectory of the Reverend Bizarre. This EP is a perfect example of how the purest doom does sound in its finest moments. Whoever finds "Thulsa Doom" sucky can just get out of my sight. Unless you're Conan the Barbarian, of course. I could buy that.

A lot of doom has been passing by my ears these days and finding bands that are worth the listen gets tougher each day. I needed just one listen of Thulsa Doom to distinguish its quality from the litter. These two songs on it are just miles ahead, not only of most doom that is produced these days, it is just better than most doom metal ever recorded by someone.

It is totally out of question whether to listen to this if you're already into Reverend Bizarre. And even if you're not, I think this EP is a good way to start with the band as both tracks are not longer than ten minutes, very well-packed and absolutely finalised. The only material that is more catchy in my opinion is on "Crush the Insects". Nota bene - maybe my scale of catchiness is not very proper for a general use. If I could remove or change something about this record, I wouldn't touch a single note. It's just damn perfect.

Everything here seems to me like a reference to Robert Howard's most famous work. "The tree of suffering" starts with the agonising cries of a man being nailed to a tree. The cries are accompanied by the pounding drums of Void, which prove to be the actual hammer nailing. One of my favourite Reverend Bizarre riffs crushes in, strangely melodic and perfectly harmonised with the monologue of the tortured subject. The man tells his gruesome tale and unfortunate destiny as the guitar towers higher and higher. It's hard to define the actual guitar rambling as a solo, but it sure as hell is fucking good.

Lee Dorrian once said that for him doom metal is not depressing, just the contrary, uplifting and majestic. I really loved that as I've always felt the same. "The tree of suffering" is one of these especially epic and heroic tales that really strikes a chord with me.

Albert is one of these vocalists that always presents music in a very realistic manner. It just never sounds fake. I can hardly think of any other man that could sing those lines like that, as righteous as it gets:

"I feel like I'm drowning in my own bloody sweat
Well, I used to love sunlight, but now it's peeling my head"

Favourite lyrics are favourite lyrics.

Side B, "The Children of doom" (I should make a survey on how many doom songs actually bear the same name) is the weaker part of the EP, if there is something weak. I'd rather say, less awesome. The songs structure is like the one of many Reverend ones - very slow begging, a lot faster second part. The drumming at the beginning is so slow, it will make most of you change the song. What should be noted is the main riff, which is unusually mythical about the band, or maybe let's say exotic. Maybe because I've seen the setting of the Conan movies many times, but the first association I get is about sitting in a blurred room filled with candles, many people dressed in ceremonial gowns passing around. Even if you don't read the lyrics, you know that this song is a serious ritual of blood. Into light comes once again the ability of the guys to present musically what they want to present verbally.

Black Oath - Ov Qliphoth and Darkness (2013)

The famous saying "Don't judge a book by its cover" should not be applied to our case here. Black Oath's sophomore album is represented astonishingly well by their cover artwork. It might be more suitable for a funeral doom band or something in the likes of Gallow God, but I like it very much nonetheless. It makes you aware of the music that would follow - traditional doom metal inspired by the days of old.

"Ov Qliphoth and Darkness" starts with a song named "esbat" and it indeed sounds like one - you can hear the numerous chants followed by a mournful guitar and a slow regal drum. It's a great intro and to be honest, I like it better than the track that follows. It's one damn great dark album opener. The second song (first if you exclude the esbat) reminds me in sound of the new Black Sabbath album, it's neither too "touched" nor does it sound very primitive. A good song, but nothing that special or memorable compared to some other songs on the album, which are undoubtedly better - I don't know why the band put it so early in the playlist. It wouldn't be my choice for a first track anyway (oh stop it, you forget your place damn reviewer). What doesn't really strike a chord for me are the vocals - the singer is not some annoying wailing prick, he is not a falcetto battle warrior, but there's still something missing for me. That little thing that makes a record your favourite.

All songs on this release possess a very gloomy and troubled spirit. Whether you hit song two or five, five or one, you'd still hear this sorrowful mourning that seems to have soaked the whole of Black Oath's second work. I think of myself as a person that always “understands” most music from the first listens, but I can freely say that this album has to be listened several times before you can "pick" the songs up. In the beggining it might sound quite dull, but it isn't. As gloomy as they are, songs like "Sinful waters" became quite catchy after the third listen of the album.  

Compared to the first Black Oath, this one is better. Maybe not something ultra different or supreme, but a little more coherent. Their songwriting is more developed  and the ideas flow clearly. The album sounds like one whole big piece, not like very well-began, but lacking at some places material. You can still easily see the potential of the band on their debut, of course. What is true about both releases is that they need some time to get under your skin.

For good or bad, Black Oath sing in English, not Italian (their mother tongue) and this at least is good for your clear understanding of the song topics - cheerful and sunny themes like death and departing with the ones you love. From the first listens this release sounded too poor on the matter of riffs and rather empty, but it's not like that. I am really glad I gave it several listens, ‘cause it’s worth it.

Black Oath’s second album is not a representative of my favourite wave of doom. It sounds neither very angry/willing to break things up, neither as sorrowful as I love to hear. However, it still is a very decent traditional doom release – check for yourself.

Jex Thoth - Blue Moon Rise (2013)

Some time ago, a bit after Jex Thoth's self-titled album was released, I was complaining to a friend that doom metal bands with female vocalists suck - well, you guessed right - that was before I actually heard Jex Thoth's actual recording. The first second my ears were touched by Jessica Bowen's voice I was mesmerised and all my previous doubt on the matter of female-fronted doom vanished into thin air. However, I have to correct myself - for Jex Thoth is not about doom as you would suppose - it's more of a fairy, folky hardrock messing with the doom from time to time rather then Conan-like sound of tectonic plates collision.

The s/t album from 2008 is a true masterpiece, there's no denying it. Start with the ultra mythical cover artwork and the moment you hear 'Nothing left to die' you know there's no joking here. Wherever you look it upon, it's a great album. It's not a secret for anyone that the best of this band is their lady's astonishing voice. Seriously, I've heard this and that, but nothing matches the mighty vocals and live performances of this woman, she knows perfectly well how to use her tools of the trade.

So, when you have released such a well-received and flawless album, what do you do to top it? I am not sure whether they have topped the s/t with Blood moon rise, but at least it's not bad in any way. The one thing that I think is obvious from the first listen is that it sounds a little more mellow-hearted. You can literally play songs like "Keep your weeds" to grandmother and she would find them enjoyable if she's not a sour granny.
On the other hand, there are songs like "The Devide" which stand out like a lot heavier and sour.
I like this album loads, because at one moment it sounds like a sweet forest lullaby, it would make you take a nap around the fallen autumn leaves, smell the pine spruce in the air and walk in peace, at other times it  is so much darker, from the lighted forest your enter the dark cave. Blood moon rise somehow managed to find the perfect balance. Not to mention that Jex's voice would easily be mistaken for the one of a forest priestess. Truth is, I am sure that if they exist, they sound like her.

The reason for which I mention the presence of doom metal in Jex Thoth's sophomore are songs like "The four of us are dying" and "Psyar". There are the characteristic grim moments and unlike bands like Jess and the ancient ones, the heaviness is not entirely lost. Also, while there are many fashionable bands these days in the like of Jex, the music here really lives in a world of its own. You just wouldn't mistake this record with the thousands of others female-fronted hardrock bands. Witchcraft's debut reminds me of this in a way, only that the folk influences here are even more massive.

If you loved the previous Jex Thoth, you would find the sophomore at least appealing. There's no need to dig in it with a thousand listens, it's potencial is revealed from the very beginning and starts to grow with every listen.

 

Note: FULL ALBUM.

Gallow God - The Veneration of Serpents (2013)

 

Gallow God play this mixture of very dark, "down"-sounding, heavy and streaming with bass lines doom metal. In 90% of the cases, you can sense the general sound of an album by looking at its cover. "The Veneration of snakes" suggested to me well-produced extreme metal. This is partly true, but for me the cover artwork doesn't really do favor to the band, because I expected something like new Behemoth (regarding production) and that's not true, because apart from the good sound (not crystal clear) there's nothing mainstream about this music.

What can you expect on the album? As I said, very heavy, (non-sludgy) doom with very neat, non screaming, clear, but not perfectly audible vocals as one would hope to find in proper doom metal. A bit too heavy traditional doom. There are many great riffs present, but unfortunately at times they get too repetitive like in the title song, which changes how many, like two riffs? Delightfully, there are quite some changes in the pace, therefore less boredom for the weak-hearted. And actually, there really ARE many diverse riffs in the other songs too. I can say that many doom bands these days can envy Gallow God for the diversity. The London based band brings me to the Middle ages in a remote village where the plague devastates all the people, it's how fucking dark this album sounds. Bang, The Veneration sounds as if My Dying Bride are no longer romantic in any way and hammer tenfold more heavily their instruments. I really like the way the instruments are mixed, you can perfectly hear what each of them has to say. These guys have to be extremely proud if this really is an independent release. 

This album is good if you're a doom purist, because there's nothing in it that you cannot like. The vocalist sounds miserable and wretched as hell. No baby wailing. I was absolutely impressed by the opener track, one of the finest doom songs I've heard recently. The confusion and misery in the voice of this man give me the chills. The solos are well-mastered and what I like most is that the vocals are used like another instrument, so perfectly fitting the instruments, all the music on this record is in perfect harmony. Also, the drums sound like a giant mighty hammer and are so pleasantly audible, not buried under the other instruments like often happens, which is one more thing that helps for the post plague feeling I seem to have about this album. One of the songs stand out a bit as little weird, but that's because it is a cover. Scarborough fair might be a cover, but it's done in such a perfect way that I really have nothing bad to say about it, on the contrary - it's a fine thing that the guys have included it.

It really makes me happy to see bands like Gallow God flourish these days. Now I am armed with their new album and waiting for upcoming concerts. 

Exhumator - Atrophy of feelings (Атрофия на чувствата)

Ексхуматор (Exhumator) is a fucking obscure band in every aspect that could ever be. This band hails from the underground of Bulgaria in the 90s and is the project of one man's crazy mind. It's a little difficult for me to label this band and album, but I can honestly say one thing - this album is damn sick. Start with the cover - a few stitches on an obviously wounded flesh. The concept of this whole creation is to sound evil and sick and it does.

To begin with, there are elements of thrash and black metal in this album, but in my opinion it comes nearest to death metal. The singing is not a typical growl, nor is it grunting, more likely some weird mumbling that at moments becomes very angry and fast, but never high pitched or screaming. It's average death metal singing and I would normally dig it and not put so much emphasis on it, but the production is so terrible that you can hardly hear distinguishable words. I know that death metal is not normally the genre in which you will hear clearly every word, but with a better production this could have been a lot more enjoyable. Take for example, Bolt Thrower, songs like "The IV Crusade" would never have been so rad if you couldn't hear Karl's words. I read once that he was a mediocre vocalist and it pains me even now when I think about it...

There are thousands of death metal albums that you could find lying around under the dust of time and you can ask me - why should I check out this specific album? Well, what makes it cooler than the average technical copy-paste death metal album is that in "Atrophy of feelings" there is some soul put into it. You can easily tell so by listening to the solos. Take for instance the opener track, there are some really perfect and touching guitar solos that cut off at some points of the song, but instead of sounding out of place or too artificial, the solos fit very well and sound more than great. What is more, the tape sounds fucking old and real, maybe because it was made with such a small budget and not professionally in a bright and swept off studio, I have no idea, but it sounds pretty authentic, which I believe is very important for this genre.

The guitar sound is really great and works in perfect harmony with the drums, there are occasional slow downs, almost doom-like, which makes the whole album sound so much gloomier and evil. The low tuning and basement feeling really makes me feel as if I'm not in my room, but in a rather darker and colder place. 

The lyrics are as brain fucked as one could expect. They concern happy and gay topics like crematoriums, the day on which one dies, deadly lands and abnormal places. On the "tape booklet" the dude behind the music can be seen pictured in a morgue so yeah, he really takes this shit seriously. The lyrics are not sick in the exactly Carcass morbid kind of way, but in certain aspects they're even worse, because mental collapse and the process of losing your soul might be just as depressing as picturing decomposing meat. I like this kind of art, it shows that not everything is roses and sunshine and something valuable can be made out of misery.

Of course, there are some things to be wanted. For instance, the drums sound pretty weak - not in skill, but in tone. The drumming and bass guitar should be more audible and as I already said - the vocals could be fixed a little. But all in all, I think that this is one stinky and awesome tape. 

Witchcraft - Legend (2012)

Witchcraft have undergone some changes since their debut album, that currently reflect their music. The self-titled record started a fantastic musical legacy and the band continued to write songs in that doomy/psychedelic/folky sort of way in their second album “Firewood” as well. According to many people, the third full-length “The Alchemist”, which was released two years after “Firewood” sounds in the same analog minimalistic way, but for me it is not as magical as the first two, even if the analog sound is not wiped away. However, on Legend the change is more eminent and the folk motives so characteristic for the debut are not so easy for one to hear. Not to mention the modern overtone of the sound that has been (in my opinion, again) forced by Nuclear Blast. I know that most people don’t give a fuck about labels, but as a huge doom metal lover I don’t see the future of a psychedelic/ folk rock band under the wing of this modern metal label. 

For those of you who have not had contact with the lovely tales of Witchcraft – this band comes from Sweden and though Sweden is not particularly famous for that kind of rock these guys don’t find that as an obstacle. Along with their former band peers Graveyard, Witchcraft play that vintage sounding, soft hard rock, characteristic for bands like Pentagram. And since I already mentioned Pentagram, some people say that the first Witchcraft album sounded like a tribute to the formerly mentioned guys. I don’t know if Witchcraft tried hard to sound old and folky, but they certainly created something unique for our time that left its mark. To come to the word, if you have already done so – don’t get me wrong. Witchcraft still write these catchy rock’n’roll songs. Legend is in no way a “letdown” regarding catchy riffs and choruses. Most songs on the new album will easily become ‘live hits’ and if we speak of “catchiness” this is the catchiest Witchcraft release. Only the debut can’t compete with it in that aspect since it is very memorable even from the first listen. The moment you hear the first two songs, you know that this album is not going to suck one little bit or bore you in any way imaginable. Each song flows perfectly, there are no fillers there. The new band members – two new guitar players and a drummer don’t affect the old sound in a noticeable way, with the only audible change being the more modern sound and production. What is really good is that Magnus still sings with his dreamy and characteristic voice that makes Witchcraft so memorable and different from the many in that scene. What should be mentioned is that now he focuses only on the vocals whereas in the previous albums he also played the guitar. 

Legend has varying songs – some faster paced, some that can be classified as ballads – in that aspect there is no big change from the other albums. I won’t discuss each one on its own, what I think I should point out is that the album doesn’t sound as one big whole river that doesn’t end, every song is different from the other so don’t fear potential boredom. The opener track, which is also one of my favourites, starts with that super catchy even metal riffage supported by some of the heaviest vocals on the album. What I think is a big minus is the slow down a bit before the end where the vocals also become too slow and eventually cheesy – I mention it because this is present in not one or two songs – it makes the song sound cheesy and dumb. I know that some people like such softness to be inserted at certain times, but I think it needlessly softens the music as a whole. And this is what bugs me at times – Legend is TOO light. If someone tries to lie to you that you’re listening to doom metal, don’t believe them. This is really classy and varying hard rock, but in no way doom metal. One more minus is the fact that while the first albums had some atmospheric feeling to them, a feeling that could transport you to another time and place, the one we hear in 2012 lacks that ability. Fortunately, the guitars still do these solo tricks here, in that specific Witchcraft way, so the familiar awesomeness is still present to a big extent. 

It is not true that if you like the first Witchcraft albums, you will instantly fall in love with this one, however, it is likely that you will dig it. For even if these guys now look a lot modern and certainly sound like that, I guess that was pretty normal and can be counted as a "natural evolution" of their former success. 

Stangala - Boued Tousek Hag Traou Mat All (2011)

Stangala is this very strange stoner rock, trippy doom-like band from France. By saying 'strange' I really mean strange and the fact that I don't understand a single word from their songs makes them even weirder for me. These guys from France have decided to name their album and songs in Breton, which can cause a big confusion if you're a foreigner like me. Apart from my confusion, I think that singing in such a language creates a very intimate and magical atmosphere. The Celtic influence can be seen on the very awesome cover picturing the guys wearing robes in some hazy odd place. The colours used and the Celtic motives serve fantastically to present the music to someone who hears the band for a first time and actually this is how I decided to check these folks out.

The first song "Doom rock glazik" is this very catchy, almost disco hard rock *don't throw a stone at me* with its folk dancing atmosphere. I don't mean ''catchy'' in a bad mainstream way, it's just very pagan and rock'n'roll at the same time. You can almost picture a coven dancing around a smoking cauldron. "Al Lidou Esoterik An Dolmen Hud" is perfect mixture of some of Electric Wizard's most obscure instrumental songs. I'm not a big geek on gear, amps and all that, but the sound is just as vintage as in "House on the Borderland" from the EW/Reverend Bizarre split. The vocals are not as buried as in typical Wizard songs and the fact that the guy is singing in Breton really makes the songs on this album sound kinda strange and different. In some of the songs you can hear something like a pipe. The pipe and the vocals are what makes these guys stand out and in my opinion add an "exotic" feeling to the band. The pipe playing along with the guitar solos creates a really cool "high" effect.

There are heavier songs on the album, for example, "Langoliers" which has pretty heavy almost black metal pounding drums and one of the most stoner rock riffs on the record. The odd combination of a stoner riff and such strange drums creates a hazy feeling and makes this instrumental almost impossible to classify. There are also other weird songs on this album, like "Bigoudened an diaoul" with Queens of the Stone Age guitar sound and very slow stoned vocals. Some of the last songs on the album are also instrumentals with the common mushroom, psychedelic, crazy prolonged solo. There are these very doomy songs and the psychedelic feeling and then there are more stoner songs, which is very cool for it makes the album not boring at all. Let me be clear - by saying that the songs are doomy I mean doomy not DOOMy, not anything too heavy, slow or too distorted.

Indeed, I've heard hundreds of stoner and doom bands in the latest years and very few of them sound as weird as Stangala. I can't really explain why - may it be the unexpected mixture of sound, vocals and amps, but all these songs sound very different. Someone might find this as a downfall, because it makes the album not so "complete" but rather "mixed" and too diverse, but I think that's cool. The fact that I enjoy an album that is not written in English is also quite rare and speaks very well of these guys, it means that there's something more to the music since I can't be impressed with the lyrics and fully immersed in the idea behind the music.