Doom metal comes in all shapes and forms. And, often, the most peculiar of them are the most intriguing. Enters Five the Hierophant, a trio from London that makes doom their very own way. The most striking aspect of the band’s sound is, of course, the use of instruments seldom heard in metal music: djembe, Tibetan horn, violin, saxophone (though this last one is now rather common sight)… Beyond this, they also take a heavy leaning on drone passages, spoken word excerpts, and a natural sense of song progression and structure. All of this can be found on their … Read more
Tag Archives: doom metal
Squalus – The Great Fish
Bass, drums, keyboards, and vocals. Those are the building blocks of California experimental death metal band Squalus. Their debut album, The Great Fish, walks the line between death and doom metal, with a lot of atmospheric tendencies, some sludge, and synthwave, I guess, into a somehow cohesive whole. Bass-driven metal acts are not a new thing by any means, but there are many pitfalls on the way to make them interesting and appealing, into which many of the contenders inadvertently get trapped. Two of the most obvious ones are the frequency range and the timbral diversity. Squalus hopefully … Read more
Ehnahre – The Marrow
Ever since Douve came out, in 2016, I’ve held the Boston avant-garde doom metal quartet Ehnahre in the highest of regards. Earlier this month, they released their newest experimentation on The Marrow, a four-track, fifty-three-minute slab of slow, heavy, and unbridled contemporary music. Yes, Ehnahre swims pretty close to modern classical music with their compositional approach, a feeling reinforced by their use of contrabass and piano. The band’s long, drawn-out pieces are very atmospheric and even entrancing, often relying on slow, repeated motives and spoken word passages to build a ritualistic summoning of heartfelt and mystic music. The outstanding … Read more
Ex Eye – Ex Eye
We’re not new to the name of Colin Stetson, decidedly one of if not the best saxophone player of recent history. Although his works have been a lot into the ambient spectrum, his recent Sorrow: A Reimagining of Górecki’s Third Symphony is where he brought himself into the lands of metal. Being now part of the new band Ex Eye, his fast, relentless, versatile, and innovative playing style is a perfect match for the blackened doom they spew out. Whether they drone on in drawn-out atmospheric passages or tempestuously stampede during blast beat parts, Stetson is at the forefront, … Read more
Orthodox – Κρέας
‘Orthodox’ is a rather antithetical name for such a band as this one. Indeed, the Sevillan experimental doom jazz trio don’t play by the rules, and don’t like to follow traced paths. Their most recent works are a melting pot of absurdly low and distorted bass guitars and twirling saxophones playing what they call experimental doom metal influenced by religious folklore and jazz. With their latest release, the twenty-seven-minute single Κρέας (Kréas), they push the formula even further by it being a complete improvisation. There is no understatement in calling this a free jazz record, but that description alone would … Read more