Underrated bands
Another solid Slumber-related project Slumber’s 2004 death/doom metal masterpiece “Fallout” created quite a trail of bands, not only through its influence on other musicians. Most of the band members went on to form more or less similar sounding projects. It also seems that some of their collaborators started making music Read more…
Lying Figures is a French death/doom metal band signed to Naturmacht Productions. “The Abstract Escape” is the awaited full length debut, featuring eight fresh songs of pure melancholy. The style is similar to their previous material: strikingly sorrowful death/doom highly influenced by Katatonia’s “Brave Murder Day” and “Sounds of Decay” Read more…
I came across this band while checking out the many death/doom metal releases from 2016. Self-Hatred is a Czech band with a strong focus on atmosphere. The competition in the death/doom field seems to get tougher by the day, with new acts popping up everywhere. It’s becoming a game where Read more…
Many bands are playing death/doom metal these days, and it’s spreading far beyond the standard geography of Sweden, Finland and England. It’s nice to hear a Dutch band beyond Officium Triste trying the genre out. “Departure” is Treurwilg’s debut, and it sounds very professional for an independent band. The production Read more…
The previous Junius album “Reports From the Threshold of Death” hit me like a bomb a few years ago, and completely dominated my playlist for a long time. The blend of post metal ambience, strong hooks, Katatonia nods and Chino Moreno style vocals was obsessive and addictive. Every song was Read more…
Finding and supporting the unknown bands in the death/doom metal spectrum has become a mission of mine. Marianas Rest is a Finnish band that fittingly couldn’t sound more Finnish. “Horror Vacui” is the band’s full-length debut. The melancholic melodies draw heavily from fellow Finns Insomnium and Mors Principium Est. This Read more…
The Wounded is an underappreciated gothic metal act from the Netherlands. I’d describe their sound something like this; The Cure’s Disintegration with a metal backdrop and more overt sorrow. It’s a glorious concept that works in practice as well. I got into them through 2016’s “Sunset”, but this album is Read more…
Sometimes long-running acts just pop out with a great album like they’ve been hidden under a rock. Dutch gothic metal band The Wounded is one of those, playing for nearly 20 years without finding its way into my playlist. It’s weird how the band has been unknown for so long, Read more…