A relative newcomer to the doom scene, Austin's Destroyer of Light have been turning heads – or rather, very slowly windmilling them into oblivion – since they released their self-tiled debut in 2012. The band has been touring relentlessly since then, blasting their worship of the almighty riff out of the amplifiers that grace the altar of the stage from which they perform. OK, hyperbole aside, Destroyer of Light rules hard – like, really hard – and we are SO stoked to bring you the premiere of their newly minted ritual of sonic devastation, Chamber of Horrors.

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This record sees the band really coming into their own as a doom band, and what separates them from the rest of the pack is their ability to streamline other subgenres of metal into what is a decidedly doom package, including dirges of death metal, flourishes of classic prog, and of course, good ol' fashioned rock n' roll. The writing process was a bit different for the band this time around, as guitarist/vocalist Steve Colca notes:

“We took a different approach to Chamber of Horrors the likes of which we hadn’t done before. After we wrote the songs, we did pre-production with our engineer, Matt Meli, and sat on it to make sure we were happy with the results before we actually recorded it. After that, we did a six day Texas Tour where we played the whole album front to back because we found that when we play the songs live, they take a different shape and add a different lick, drum fill, or riff. So, after that, we recorded the album live at Orb Recording Studios with Matt Meli in Austin, TX. Over-dubbed the guitars, did the vocals, added more bells and whistles…and there you have it. Chamber of Horrors.”

I defy any metalhead to resist the urge to headbang once that opening riff of "Into the Smoke" rings out; it's impossible. The record is filled to its rotten brim with irresistibly headbangable moments like this, and is rife with riffs that could raise the dead from an ages-old crypt. Indeed, Destroyer of Light manage to stand out in an already-strong year for doom metal, and they very well could have the best doom record of the year on their hands. Chamber of Horrors drops this Friday, July 14. Pre-order here.