SIX – FÓRN Weltschmerz

Once more like clockwork, Fórn returns one year after their debut full-length to unveil their second EP, entitled Weltschmerz (roughly translates as “world-weariness).” The band’s newest offering will see the light of day (darkness of night, depending on your point of view) through Gilead Media around December. Featuring two long movements, “Saudade” and “Dolor,” Fórn travel through darkness and weariness in order to find a sense of solace.

The core of the band is obvious and it lies within the doom/sludge domain. The sludge dirt is employed throughout the EP, with its weight heavily coming down and causing havoc, as the circular progression of the songs, the deep vocals and thundering snare reveal the volatile nature of Fórn. “Saudade 1” follows that path, but there are also slight switches towards a more minimal sludge concept in the track, with the lead work complimenting the solitary scenery. “Saudade 2” sees the band taking on a more doom metal pessimism, rather than a sludge form. The guitars alone in this instance are able to lift the doom identity on their own, unfolding at the same time its melodic elements. “Dolor 1” takes on a more old-school manifestation, as the heavy groove comes in, reminiscent of the great doom acts of the ’90s.

Read the full review HERE…

Weltschmerz by Fórn

FIVE – SKEPTICISM

Skepticism’s new album Ordeal, out now on Svart Records, is a beautiful and majestic offering of funeral doom that deserves the world’s attention! This band knows how to construct songs that speak to the hidden parts of our humanity and empower us to get through this thing called life!

Ordeal by Skepticism

FOUR – HOODED MENACE Darkness Drips Forth

When it comes to doom/death it is quite easily to fall into one obvious trap. Some bands will just think that as long as they play slow and their guitars are heavy they will be successful within the genre. Hooded Menace know better than that, and all of their works have revealed as much. The first quality that the band employs is their construction of sceneries. That can be in the form of an ambience, as is the case with the start of “Blood For The Burning Oath,” or through switches in the structures of their music. Take for instance the clean part in the second half of the opening track, on one hand showing a slight equilibrium and a delicate balance, and on the other retaining the stomach turning essence of Hooded Menace intact.

The second quality is even more obvious, and Hooded Menace seem to be masters of it. Keep the songs interesting with your lead work. Darkness Drips Forth stands on two pillars when it comes to its lead parts. The sorrowful quality is obvious, resulting in great moments filled with anguish and despair. The beginning of the opening track signals the pessimistic view of the band and at the same time lets on the imposing nature of their music. “Elysium of Dripping Death” follows the same mantra, with the mournful leads taking on a more twisted form this time around with some nice additions, such as the discordant guitar parts. But sorrow is not the only emotion that comes through the guitars of Hooded Menace. The majority of their work lies on the infernal domain, and on that they are truly exquisite. The opening track first exposes the hellish quality, but it is the spiralling lead work in “Ashen With Solemn Decay” which really sets the tone. Especially on that track, everything seems to be clicking, even reaching for a schizoid twist with a solo. And then there are more obscure parts within Darkness Drips Forth, as is the case with the slithering parts of “Beyond Deserted Flesh,” with the rotten core of Hooded Menace exposed and the doom enhanced.

Read the full review HERE…

THREE – BELL WITCH Four Phantoms

Suffering and despair are emotions that each and every one of us has dealt with – either in the past, or in the present – and Four Phantoms succinctly creates the atmosphere of dread and solitude that sadness often brings. Bell Witch already have a stunning record in their catalogue, Longing, yet Four Phantoms takes everything that that record has and increases it tenfold. Longing was heavy, it was weighted in grief in and anguish and it spoke to the heart and its failings. Four Phantoms steps further into doomed territory and lays utter honesty down for all to see. Bell Witch bare their souls and the fear and dread that is found within is terribly beautiful.

The simple progressions are borne from naught but bass, drums and voices, and the horror that is expelled through Bell Witch’s members is difficult to comprehend at times. Dylan Desmond and Adrian Guerra create music that is cloaked in shadows, that casts out all light and strikes at the very core of your humanity. Despondency is the key emotion here, and Bell Witch filter that through gorgeous, sorrowful bass leads that wrap the heart in a constantly tightening grip that delivers pain and suffering and darkness. First track, “Suffocation, A Burial: I – Awoken (Breathing Teeth),” bears all the hallmarks of Bell Witch – gorgeous movement from heavy passages to more solemn, quieter moments; vocals that writhe with hurt; and agonizing, soaring bass lines that become almost unbearable in their haunting elegance.

Read the full review HERE…

Four Phantoms by BELL WITCH

TWO – AHAB The Boats of The Glen Carrig

Beautiful audio magic that will enchant you with majestic heaviness…only begins to describe the new AHAB album entitled The Boats of The Glen Carrig. I fucking love this band and the way they weave fragile melodies into mammoth valleys of riffdom! This is the kind of Funeral Doom that makes every sunrise and sunset seem better than ever!

Read the full review HERE…

ONE – TYRANNY Aeons in Tectonic Interment

Tyranny’s Aeons in Tectonic Interment features five epic tracks of funeral doom/death with fitting song titles such as “Sunless Deluge” and “Preparation of a Vessel.” Find an abandoned tunnel and light some candles for this descent into distress. There’s nary a blast beat or uptempo thrash riff in this slow, aural decomposition of an album. Dark Descent Records strikes again!

Much is said of the vaunted label’s preference for the deepest, darkest and sometimes slowest death/doom on earth. The ritual is alive and unwell on this five track ride into the abyss. The vocals sound impossibly cavernous. The hypnotic dirges down pick or squeal into nightfall. This is quintessential funeral doom/death replete with bells, cymbal-crashes, howling backing vocals, and keyboard segments. The beat slogs to the slow transmogrification of the flesh from life to death, touched with black-blood-curdling heaviness.

Read the full review HERE…