This article is a combination of my original “The Fall of Hearts” review, also available at rateyourmusic.com and Metal Archives, and my follow-up track by track analysis. Original Katatonia – “The Fall of Hearts” review I was perplexed the first time I heard this album. Katatonia has been favorite band Read more…
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…
Which 20 Amorphis songs are the best? Amorphis is a long-running band with many different eras, so there are a lot of songs to choose from; everything from old school death metal and doom metal to accessible folk and progressive. Here you can find my two cents, hopefully an interesting 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…
I haven’t enjoyed the last few albums from Novembers Doom, making their growing fanbase has been a bit of a mystery for me. There are certainly a lot of better options in the death/doom and melodic death metal genres. Despite high end production, and that Paul Kuhr is one hell Read more…
Kaunis Kuolematon hit my playlist like a bomb a few years ago with the debut “Kylmä kaunis maailma“. The Kaunis brand of death/doom metal combines familiar melodic Finnish aesthetics with a more urgent sense of angst. They don’t hold back on the raw emotion. “Kylmä kaunis maailma” was not as 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…
Hamferð’s debut EP is one of the biggest surprises of the last few years. Quite an original doom/death metal band that really differs from the typical genre “schools” formed by Katatonia, Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride.. from the Faroe Islands?! This review is also posted at rateyourmusic.com. This is Read more…
From Autumn play highly melodic death/doom metal with a classic doom edge. The songs are slow dirges, and uptempo moments are rare. There’s a depressingly anthemic feeling in this release that sticks with me. I’m unsure what the scene looks like there, but I was a bit surprised to learn Read more…