War and Metal – It’s like peanut butter and jelly. Peanuts and beer. Peanuts and Chocolate. Peanuts and… uh… more peanuts? (I like peanuts. A lot). And generally speaking, while I’d prefer a world without war, I tend find myself gravitating towards metal bands leaning into wartime themes. Of course, some bands do the theme […]

Who is the mood for some awesome new U.S Epic Doom? Sign me up!   Being from Minnesota and friends of Brad Miller (Among the Serpents) I was extremely excited to hear he was assembling this group.  Come June 2021 here we are with Grief Collector’s En Delirium. I must say that recruiting Robert Lowe (Ex-Candlemass, […]

Holy poop on a stick – did you know Chicago’s Trouble have been around since the end of the 1970’s??   – Holy smokes I had no idea.  What we have here is the review/summation of the reissues Psalm 9/The Skull/Trouble/Manic Frustration Hammerheart has put out.  In order, this is the first, second, fourth and fifth […]

I am new to the Thronehammer camp of doom metal and their 2019 debut Usurper of the Oaken Throne was quite a display of monolithic heaviness and plodding doom-laden dirge.  The band gets into doom/death moments with some low vocals and man, Thronehammer are heavy, with a capital H. The band is an international act […]

It can be so easy to fall into a rut when it comes to discovering new music. You get comfortable in a certain lane, start seeking out a particular style of music, and next thing you know it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy where everything new you check out just ends up sounding really familiar, like you’re […]

What happens when you get members of Gravehill together, throw in some female vocals, keyboards and the drummer from past bands like Morgion and Crimson Relic?  Well you get a doom metal outfit called Stygian Crown releasing their self-titled debut album….and it’s heavy. This is a 2020 release and yes I know it’s 2021, but […]

Welp, that didn’t take long. Maybe things really are looking up? I know everyone had a shit 2020 – I won’t bore you with the personal details of my god-forsaken year – but while lots of folks have been ready to kick 2020 off a cliff and welcome the new year with open arms, I […]

My Dying Bride‘s 2020 album, The Ghosts of Orion, was an Ok release, not the best of the legendary UK doom act’s third act (yey growls!), but still a decent MDB release, with 3 or so really strong songs, which is always a good thing. So to keep us entertained during these covid times, the […]

Wow! Has it really been five years since Sweden’s Draconian dropped a new album on us? Five years to the date as a matter of fact. Man, it really doesn’t seem like Sovran was released five years ago, then again this past year of 2020 has been quite the rollercoaster, seemingly lasting an eternity unto […]

I don’t think there is any argument when it comes to the upper pantheons of early/mid 90s doom ( the gothic/funeral doom style). The holy British trinity of My Dying Bride, Anathema and Paradise Lost are the clear top acts of the style and era- but what bout that slightly below elite, second tier- ( […]

Ohhhhhhhh, yessssss! The new Paul Bearer record. Wait, that’s not right. Pallbearer. There it is. There’s no Undertaker here. Although, this album may make you sit up like him when you hear it for the first time. So, this is another mainstream metal release that probably has received glowing reviews in Pitchfork as well as […]

Göden is the spiritual successor to Long Island NY’s death/doom band Winter.  Never did I envision this possible and Winter’s 1990 debut and only album Into Darkness is my favorite death/doom album of all time.  I have seen them live prior to their debut and after their debut was released in NY.  So damn heavy […]

So I got three cassettes, the first 3 releases, from new label, Gurgling Gore. So rather than review the 12 songs individually, I thought I’d combine all 3 into a Cassette extravaganza!!!! First up is Wharflurch’s 5 song debut Lurking Doom EP. Hailing from Florida, the curiously named duo (a theme for these releases it […]

Epic doom isn’t really my thing. Well, it never used to be. Sure, one of my favorite vocalists of all time is Ronnie James Dio. I have no children, so the closest I have is my black cat and his name is Dio, so that’s the best tribute I can give. Side note: I picked […]

For a few albums now, England’s co-god fathers of Doom metal (along with My Dying Bride and back then, Anathema) have, like My Dying Bride, successfully mixed their old doom/death sound and their more commerical, mid era Depeche Mode plod, peaking with 2015s The Plague Within, where vocalist Nick Holmes even brought back death metal […]

Heavy metal sub genres are often pretentious, yet commonly essential. To an outsider, it may seem unnecessary and even ridiculous. Then again, it can seem that way to an insider, too. I’m sorry to offend the local post progressive blackened Swedish grindcore expert. I even had an appearance on a short-lived podcast in college where […]

If you’re like me, then the Fall and Winter seasons sees an influx in your doomy/gothic/rocking death metal listening schedule. Whether it be the colder temperatures, the dying/dead fauna, the colorless and cloudy skies, or the realization that we as individuals and as a whole are yet another year closer to our own demise, this […]

Occasionally, I need a break from the cacophony and brutality of black and death metal, and need a little respite from the more noisy end of the metal spectrum. Enter the UK’s long running, but hardly prolific doom act, The River, whom I have a very vague recollection of hearing back in my Digitalmetal/Metal Maniacs […]

At this point in My Dying Bride‘s 25 year career do you really need a review of album number 13? Let’s be honest, you are simply checking this review out to see if, 1. Aaron Stainthorpe is still growling, and if the 2 released singles  (“Your Broken Shore” and “Tired of Tears”) are the best […]

I love Type O Negative. Although I latched onto them kind of late around the time of World Coming Down I continued listening to every successive album. Of course, a real fan goes back and purchases their early discography, too. So, anytime Kenny Hickey and Johnny Kelly from one of my favorite bands do something, […]

What’s in a name? Are you the type to disregard a metal band due to a dubious moniker? Germany’s Fvneral Fvkk would probably fit into the category if you were so inclined to feel that way. Is this a lo-fi piss-take black metal act or novelty metal band? If you thought you had the band […]

I don’t listen to much traditional or classic doom metal, but two pure-ish doom records have crossed my desk lately, Church of Bones From Poland’s Monasterium, and this the second effort from Miami’s Nixa, and this by far is the better release and a solid mix of sludge and doom to boot. Horn of the […]

Buffalo New York’s smog spitters Yanari are some cool ass cats; if you email them they will send you a copy of their Marine Leg EP for free.  As TOTD’s resident sludge nut I had to jump on the offer and find out the scoop.  Free swill isn’t the reason this is getting a good […]

North Carolina heavyweights The Asound have been cutting a swath through the underground building a growing following with their tree-topping musical might, a string of consistently kick ass releases and plenty of action on the live-front.  Some of these crud riffers with shifty songwriting ideals are heathens that have served in cult institutions Seven Foot […]

I love Atlanta, Georgia’s doom n’ gloom masters Dead Register quite a metric ton.  Not only is the music powerful but if you just read the trio’s bandcamp bio you know that they’ve got a wicked, snarly smile going on behind all of their malice in the chalice bass riffs, heart-reaping vocals and molten percussive […]