Abysmal Grief - Feretri (2013)

   If I was ever asked to name the ultimate doom metal album, that represents the style at its best, without thinking I would say it must be "Feretri" by Abysmal Grief. Even though for similar questions those bands used to be the best answers, who are one of the earliest of their styles and therefore the core basics are easy to distinguish. And Abysmal Grief's music is kinda mixed compared to '80s doom metal bands.

   However, even if decades have been passed and therefore slight changes might be needed for younger audiences to experience the same or similar heavy and down pulling effect nowadays like '80s audiences did in their times, the extra added influences didn't drift Abysmal Grief's music too far from classic or epic doom metal. That happened because the two extra music features they involved are quite relatable to the genre. First: the post punk-like gothic influence came by the singing vocal style and the atmosphere. Fits perfectly to both doom metal and to the occult, funeral-based main concept. It could also make the band a potential favorite for gothic audiences if they would bother to focus on music even half as much as they're focusing on their personal fashion show endeavours. Second: the stoner rock based noisy sound, that made "Feretri" probably the best sounding Abysmal Grief album. Stoner rock by its constant old school references is quite a doom related direction. Previously and after they preferred more ordinary doom metal sound, but they've never reached so heavy impression like on "Feretri". The involvement of keyboards and strings (most possibly cello) making great contrast with the distorted sound, and also creating some classic, elegant atmosphere, that's also melancholic the same time (dark aesthetics). Even if the band couldn't offer anything new and extraordinary that haven't been made in the genre before, compared to Abysmal Grief, no other bands have been able to highlight the essential features of the genre on such heavy level as they did. And did that without becoming a stoner/doom or death/doom band. Frequent switches to growling vocal style was also an absolute win, cause many things have happened since the '80s that couldn't allow clear or gothic styled singing as heavy or impressive as before, plus it just fits better to noisy sound. In total: by creating an alternative for a modern update that sounds "good as old", Abysmal Grief managed to make the impression that they play doom metal as it always supposed sound like, and "Feretri" is the heaviest aspect of their music. It's an all-round excellent record!

Horse Latitudes - Black Soil (2013)

   After the wider success of drone metal, plenty of bands tried themselves in the new style. Though it's kinda debatable if it was able to show anything new, but it was a new aspect of musical minimalism for sure. In more fortunate occasions, new bands didn't came with another noise based rehearsal sound check experiment, but embedded drone sound into their selected style, that was most commonly doom metal. Usually those bands survived longer who also changed their style step by step, trying further possibilities, and these experiments often led to something impressive (like in case of Conan or Dead Rooster for instance). And Horse Latitudes were no exception either, they gave a new, immeasurably dark tone to doom metal.

   On their first two albums they have been committed to the classic features of doom by occult topics, high singing, and extending their songs to funeral doom length and intensity - or to be more specific, by the lack of intensity. The classic sound of doom metal was completed with drone features, represented by the distorted sound of bass, therefore bass lines had highlighted role. On "Black Soil" the band went further both in influences and obscureness. Growling vocals appeared on the side of clear singing, the bass sounded way more ominous and threatening than before. The song structures were advantageous to highlight the dark and heavy switches that are eventually occuring on the album. Intensity also showed up occasionally like never before. Sometimes by middle tempo with heaviness that could be comparable to death metal, and even by high tempo, that recalled the sound of black metal. In total both the darker tone and the wider diversity in themes turned out to be pretty effective, and on the side of higher enjoyability, this mixed form led to something extremely obscure, depressing and sick, that couldn't be heard often on similar level. "Black Soil" is strongly recommended for the fans of doom metal and funeral doom!

Dream Death - Somnium Excessum (2013)

    Dream Death was formed in 1985, and during their short active period in the '80s they've released one full-length album, that sounded quite unusual at the time, especially compared to other coetaneous American bands. Their themes and sound strongly reminded to Celtic Frost, and their music in general was like a mix of hardcore/crossover thrash and doom metal. Even if "Journey into Mystery" didn't receive wide attention back then, with time the album got rediscovered by underground audiences and gained a cultic status because of its genuine sound. 

   Probably this outcome of events (on the side of the necessarily occuring nostalgia wave of aging musicians) led the band members to resurrect Dream Death two decades later. They've recalled their old style with success, but this time focusing more on the contrast of hardcore/crossover thrash and doom themes. The Celtic Frost influences are still there, but their importance reduced a bit. By this step, the narrative, shouting vocal style have lost its only validating holding ground, and it's ineffectiveness is floating above heavier than before. Especially since the '80s have been over since a long while. Honestly, this style mix have never been an absolute win, since these two styles are kinda difficult to merge and perform by leaving behind something unified and enjoyable. The song structures and musical solutions are interesting though, but the same time they just making the songs harder to go into. Back then the old Celtic Frost influences did have unifying role, while their strong presence took a lot from the band's genuineness, but by their reduced role, this unity was damaged. "Somnium Excessum" sounds like a less advantageous form of an early Carnivore influenced Type O Negative album, that was lost somewhere between two exaggerated points. For the fans of special and unusual music experiments it might be worth to give it a listen.  

Relentless - Souls of Charon (2013)

   Relentless from Chicago, Illinois was guitarist Tim Pearson's heavy/doom metal project. He recruited a quite efficient group of musicians to recall the feeling of the '80s. Their different musical background ended up advantageous, for instance former country singer Carlee Jackson's powerful voice was well-fitting to strongly heavy metal influenced ominous doom themes.

   To decide if it was only a nostalgia project to give credits to the classics of the genre, or was it supposed to fill a long time missing gap in the actual metal scene, is the listener's job to do. However, both perspectives could be correct, especially cause despite the former widespread popularity and current cultic state of the style, not many bands willing to play in it. These are the most defining roots of doom metal, influenced by big names like Witchfinder General, Pentagram or Candlemass. Therefore the catchy heavy metal themes having determining role, even more than in case of the mentioned classics, to keep the music more intense than usual by staying on the border of genres. A commonly occurring problem among the few young bands, who are enough stubborn to play '80s heavy/doom metal anyway, that most simply cannot drift enough far from the classics (it's mainly because of the narrow borders of basic heavy metal), and they ending up as quite evident rip-off bands. Fortunately this wasn't the case about Relentless, probably because of the diverse background of the band members. And even if the analogy is obvious, the the whole thing sounds very familiar, their themes and approach didn't lack genuineness. 

Orchid - Capricorn (2011)

   Amongst stoner rock bands there are plenty examples to find about the side effects of desperate Black Sabbath addiction, but Orchid gave a new and more accurate definition to that situation. 
  With their strongly Ozzy era Black Sabbath influenced music the band can offer relief to those who can't get enough of that specific style that inspired countless of others back then. Even the themes are like taken from exact songs, like if "Capricorn" was some alternative Black Sabbath remix album. The lyrics also strictly following the archaic doom metal traditions. The only difference could be that these lyrics are more unified; and to authentically recreate the the hard rock sound of the '70s, they didn't reach the level of heaviness that was usual at classic '80s doom bands. The interesting thing might be that even if mainstream influenced bands doesn't intentionally copying the style of their idols, the outcomes are similar. That's the main reason why there will be no more big hit hard rock, heavy metal, glam rock, ect. bands. But even if evereything was made that could have been made, and the possiblities proved to be way narrower afterwards than how they seemed back then, it's still possible to play good music, and to enjoy it's retro quality instead of waiting for the revolutionary style resurrections that will never come. And that's exactly what Orchid did. 

Abysmal Grief - Abysmal Grief (2007)

   If anyone may thought it's not possible to show anything new in doom metal that's different from the ordinary Black Sabbath, Candlemass or Cathedral influenced way, Abysmal Grief proved that it's definitely wrong. And they did it by not even showing up with anything extraordinary.
   Their debut starts with rain like if it was a necessary requirement in the genre, such as the strongly occult lyrical concept. But their way is closer to what occultism was in the 19th century, when similar "entertainment" didn't count as the opposite way of being religious, because they often involved Catholic mass features. On the side of short pray details, electric organ themes are leading the listener to a dark funeral mass that might end up in sacrilegious resurrection of the dead. The atmosphere of funerals are an important feature in their music, and they've mixed their feeling with doom metal in a genious way like nobody else before. All of these were made with such ease and simplicity like if pairing the two was the most evident thing on the world, and the question might stand in the listener: "Why nothing like this was made before? And even if something similar was made, why it wasn't so effective?" Occasionally stringed instruments are helping to wonder about the depths of passingness, and the ceremony master's high singing vocal style is often collapsing into mysterious whispering that foretells nothing nice about the afterlife, if there is any. The album is strongly recommended for the fans of the darkest doom metal and also in case of lonely cemetery walks.

Doomraiser - Lords of Mercy (2006)

   Doomraiser's concept and basics are definitely rooting back to the '80s classic doom metal, but similar to most new age doom metal bands, they also imported plenty of style features from stoner rock. Therefore it wouldn't be incorrect to call them as a stoner/doom band.
   The extended song lengths, repetitive riffings and the mystical, occult topics are quite old school doom references, but the stoner rock influenced groovy tendencies, the vocal style and the chilled touch neutralizing the effectiveness of these dark, ominous features before they would be able to form. With other words: even if doom have been raised, it suddenly took a friendly form. This instant style mixing became usual from the late '90s, and by more developed sound quality as an effective assistance it became a trend from the '00s. It happened slowly step by step, and since then it became difficult to find any new age doom metal band who didn't import any stoner rock features. But since the two styles are strongly related by having the same origin, they're easy to combine and this solution works so well, that not everyone notices. Also it's able to give a more modern touch to the classic sound of doom. Doomraiser successfully highlighted the advances and catchiness of both styles for their own favour by making their music diverse enough to have some enjoyable detail to discover for the listener for long term listening. "Lords of Mercy" is a potential favorite for the fans of doom metal and stoner rock. 

Agalloch - Ashes Against the Grain (2006)

     A timeless classic mix between melancholy gothic metal and doom, Agalloch created Ashes Against the Grain, an album with huge emotion, exemplified in the first three minutes of the album. Limbs, the opening song, gives us a glimpse of how the entire album flows. It opens melodically instrumental, with an almost upbeat emotion; followed shortly by a turn to melancholy acoustic, more aggressive instruments and vocals. Ashes Against the Grain is another one of those "apex" albums as I've mentioned before. It's the sound you want to hear from Agalloch over and over again. (spoiler, you can, with Mantle and Marrow of the Spirit).

     If you're looking to get into something more grim and ambient than what folk metal Agalloch may have been previously known for, Ashes Against the Grain is memorizing as far as composition for what it's worth. This is hands down my favorite Agalloch album. I was first introduced to this band when I was only 15 through an incorrectly named Limewire song when looking for some ridiculous Cradle of Filth song. For almost 10 more years, I never figured out what this mislabeled "Limbs" song was until a local record store buddy recommended me this album. What I mean to say is, this album is timeless and unforgettable.

Golgotha - New Life (2005)

   Golgotha was founded in 1992 by Vincente Paya, the guitarist of Unbounded Terror. Even though they are a doom metal band, the influence of their founding member left a notable sign on their music, cause they played always more intense than most doom bands.
   At the vocal style they didn't follow completely the classical trends of the genre, cause they involved shouting vocals too. On "New Life" they went further and therefore this became their most outstanding album. Their music became more unified, there was no sign of the experiments and other weird ideas they had previously. The themes turned heavier too, maybe to keep up with the growling that sounds uncommonly brutal for doom metal. If the rough, deep growls might sound familar, it's not an unexplainable déjá vu, because Dave Rotten (Avulsed) was invited to do the vocals for the album. By this step they've made a contrast with the strong melancholic atmosphere created by keyboards. And it's quite interesting to listen as Mr. Rotten growls about lovesickness and emotional breakdowns by his silky voice. Even though the result is unusual, this combination worked well and seemed effective. "New Life" is a brilliant album in it's own way and showed a new and very heavy perspective for depressive melancholy.

Aura Hiemis - Terra Umbrarum - Ruin & Misery (2005)

   The new, modern sound of doom metal was represented and introduced from an individual aspect by Aura Hiemis, a one man project from Chile.
    What makes it sound modern compared to ordinary doom? The diversity of course. The old heavy metal centric themes reduced and heavier influences took their place. Aura Hiemis preferred to use the contrast of melancholic melodies and death/doom referring heaviness, to operate with clear singing and deep growls the same time. However the melancholy stayed dominant and the sympathy for death/doom just minimally expanded to the themes. The depressive, mystical impression that just flows from "Terra Umbrarum" somehow seems to keep referring back to romance and lovesickness, so the main view isn't so desperately dark either to call for a priest urgently to administer the last rites. The unexpected intros cutten from "Lord of the Rings" also keeping the romantic touch. In the case of one man bands there is the danger that the outcomes will be too monotonous and unifacial, but Mr. Felipe V. really did his best. He played on guitars, bass, keyboards and did the clear singing and growling vocals too. The only weak point could be the programmed beats, that simply cannot offer even nearly the similar intensiveness that real drums could. The double bass doesn't sound more effective than tapping fingers on table. "Terra Umbrarum" is a double album, and the second part (Misery) is like another (and weaker) alternative of the first one (Ruin). By this extended lenght and diversity, the album coud be a potencial long term favorite for doom metal fans.

En las Espesas Nieblas - De memorias y destinos (2005)

   The influence of bands like Paradise Lost, Katatonia, Moonspell, Tiamat, ect. was very common to find in the main scene of the '00s. Especially at bands who played doom and death/doom related music. Even if some of them preferred to switch styles, their gloomy gothic or dark touch left a recognizable mark in the music of newer bands.
   The situation was not different in the case of En las Espesas Nieblas either. Like every worthwhile doom metal album, their one and only full-lenght release starts with rain too, and noises of flute adding some spiritual impression to the starting gloom. Their music definitely belongs to the modern sound of doom (with archaic recording quality and rehearsal sound), but they also involved plenty of classic influences. The depressive melodies and clear singing are longer lasting of course, but the heavier themes assisted by growling vocal creating some balance by their temporary and effective show up. The various catchy themes and occasional speed ups (only to middle speed) could be a source of excitement for those who don't find the genre totally boring. The extended song lenghts giving enough time and possibility to enjoy the dark and gloomy anguish. The songs were well composed and could be suitable as background music for long term depressive agony.

Averon - An Echo From Beyond (1999)

   The '90s sound of doom metal was mainly determined by bands who debuted by playing death/doom, but eventually softened their style and by gaining wider popularity, became icons of the late '90s metal scene. Bands like Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride and Tiamat. To this could be led back how and why the sound of ordinary doom metal became harsher than in the '80s.
    This tendency is quite spectacular at Averon, since despite being an epic doom metal band, they also sounded heavier than how it was usual from similar bands a decade earlier. And the harsher sound was also followed by harsher vocal style by the same influences. The traditional heavy metal compatible high toned singing didn't remain even occasionally. Except the mentioned classics, similar rusty toned singing is also usual in stoner rock, and by the combination of sound and vocal style analogy, the riffs also showing some similarities led by the intention to increase the diversity of the themes. So basically this is a great example how relatable styles that grew out from the same origin (from '70s) to find their own different sound and features, drifted closer to each other by natural processes 2 decades later. Averon's debut "Serenity" was mainly influenced by My Dying Bride and Tiamat, and on their returning album "An Echo From Beyond" on the side of the very dense melancholic atmosphere that spreads over the whole record, the probably unintended and indirect analogy with stoner rock also could be sensed. Strongly recommended for the fans of '90s doom metal.

Hazael - The Kiss and Other Movements (1998)

   Hazael appeared as a Scandinavian mythology inspired death metal band of the Polish underground scene in the early '90s. After one album and a split-up they returned with something different.
   While most older death metal bands turned progressive or into a popular direction, others tried gothic doom metal. Hazael chose the second path, but somehow things just didn't work out like at the big names in this style. Even though the concept is related to gothic ambitions, "The Kiss and Other Movements" was a heavier album, and reminded more of stoner/doom than ordinary gothic doom. The melancholic touch is very strong, but it's definitely not the emotional breakdown of dark feminine male love machines. The album sounds too badass for that, groovier than classic doom used to be, but lacks the psychedelic features to count as stoner rock. The vocals may sound weird and amateur sometimes, but fits to the music and together they created a raw main view. The old school touch is strong, so it's like a kind of extraordinary doom metal, a genuine experiment for the late interpretation of the style. The album is very enjoyable and instead of the gothic lovesickness or the stoned levitation includes a different feeling that may sound familiar from somewhere, but still  maybe it wasn't even made in this form yet.

Thorns of the Carrion - The Scarlet Tapestry (1997)

   Thorns of the Carrion debuted as a rough death/doom band, but from their second album they covered themselves into the fog of lovesickness and melancholic melodies.
   The change into this gothic influenced style was like to slip into the more popular alternative of death/doom, that took  the main role in the European metal scene already. And slipping out from the borders of the strictly beauty-less previous style the same time. The basics of "The Gardens of Dead Winter" were kept, but by the new features they sounded like a different band. Strong atmosphere creates the gloomy mist that softens the heavy, noisy death/doom features at one hand, but they opening new depths for melancholy the same time. Keyboards and occasionally short flute themes assisting to complete the circle of aesthetic suffering. On the side of the ordinary deep growling, clear singing and fading whisperings taking their parts too in convince the listener to find a suitable dark corner to live for self-tormenting ambitions. The combination of this singing style and the musical backbround reminds to old Cathedral. "The Scarlet Tapestry" includes very effective and catchy songs that are same motivating for self-pity and to drop tears silently in the chosen dark corner, like the biggest gothic doom bands of the late '90s.

Katatonia - Brave Murder Day (1996)

   "Brave Murder Day" by Katatonia is known as death/doom classic, that's interesting because of 2 reasons. First because it's quite late came to become a classic, and secondly because the album basically lacks death metal related themes. 

   The band's full lenght debut "Dance of December Souls" already introduced a different journey, that's more relatable to classical doom and to gothic tendencies, only the aggressive growling vocal style and the smaller focus on keyboard themes pushed them out to not take place amongst the line of epic doom bands. Their main tone was too dark for that, and the great outbreak that changed everything came by a way more unified and well composed album "Brave Murder Day". They have reached the very depths of melancholy with the strongly atmospheric sound, depressing melodies and netherworldish tone. The album sounds definitely heavier than ordinary doom metal, but the further style features more reminding to the toolbar of black metal than to death. The instruments doesn't sound too loud or noisy, especially the drumms are more powerless than usual in this style, and that gave the leading role for the melodies and the atmosphere. Therefore "Brave Murder Day" is not only heavier than most doom metal albums, but also more emotional. Still, none of these features could really refer to death metal except the vocal style, so the main style determination isn't completely correct. The album was a great milestone not only for the band, but also for the late development of the modern sound of doom. 

Type O Negative - October Rust (1996)

   After the mainstream outbreak of "Bloody Kisses", Type O Negative released "October Rust" to exceed the success of the previous album. They didn't even keep their intentions in secret, therefore "October Rust" sounded more smooth and melancholic than any other Type O Negative albums before and after.
   The other reason why it counts exceptional, is the complete lack of the exaggerated, once intense-once depressing switches. The Carnivore influences that still could have been sensed on "Bloody Kisses" were gone, and the aggressive, scandalous intentions also. This was leading to the most unified album of the band, though the word "unified" could be hardly used to describe their earlier albums (the Carnivore era included). The signs of inner and social struggles are seemed to fade. "October Rust" is way more relaxing, even though it's balance is like the mixture of pain and pleasure, melancholy and acceptance, sadness and passion, romance and passingness. So even though the main goal was probably to create a gothic sounding womanizer record and to rush the charts, the results were far over that point, and gave a modern, doom metal influenced interpretation for the gothic sound of the '80s. The other great achievement in this aspect was that it didn't sound like a copy of the old post punk bands, but something more effective and heavier, and that was basically because of the different style approach. 
On this field no other similarly significant album have been created since "October Rust", most bands who tried themselves in this style, usually ended up as a copycat of Type O Negative. 

Celestial Season - Solar Lovers (1995)

   Celestial Season formed as a unique formation that tried to mix death/doom with classical music influences. Nowadays it's sound like nothing new, but their second album probably belongs to the best  and earliest similar experiments that was ever made. Still "Solar Lovers" is a barely known and very underrated record.
   The way how they involved violin into doom themes creates a melanholic hamony that couldn't be compared to any similar tryings and it's far more effective than creating some simple atmospheric sound. "Forever Scarlet Passion" was a raw trying, but on the second album they found the perfect way how to compose together these definitely not related styles, and it fits well to their lyrics based on nature, sorrow and lovesickness. The other thing why the album is interesting is that they also involved stoner rock influences. That was a sign of their late style already, so "Solar Lovers" may count as a turning point too that predicted their late style. The album by this combination counts as one on the most genuine events even in the main metal scene and an evergreen masterpiece that couldn't be re-made.

Type O Negative - The Origin of the Feces (1992)

   Type O Negative was formed on the ruins of Carnivore, a quite experimental sounding crossover/speed/thrash band, that became later widely known outside it's local scene thanks to the outbreaking success of Type O Negative. Except that, it was also known about it's eclectic,weird experimenting-like tendencies.
   The early period of Type O Negative was more similar to the Carnivore era because most of their early songs were unfinished Carnivore leftovers. The weird thing was the mix of the intensiveness of the crossover/thrash themes and doom metal influences caused by desperate Black Sabbath overdose. This was more spectacular on the Type O Negative debut, and therefore on "The Origin of the Feces" too, that was basically a fake live album with nearly the same songs under different titles. There have been experiments that time mixing doom metal with other styles (with death metal most commonly), but these didn't reach wider success, since speed and intensity was the trend in the underground scene that time. Bands who experimented with that (for instance Paradise Lost, Katationia) became death/doom classic for the mainstream only after they changed style to reach wider audience. So basically when they didn't play death/doom anymore, that might sound like a paradox a tiny bit. Anyways, these bands and the several others who were the less known pioneers of the new sound of doom, mixed the styles way better than Type O Negative did, but lately the band softened it's style too, and that was leading (like necassarily) to great mainstream success. The raw mix that they've played in their early period sounded quite fun on this fake live record, that suspects great live performances in general. The doom influences are more effective here than on "Slow, Deep and Hard", though their music isn't exactly doom, but takes place somewhere on it's border. With the background noise of a hating, hostile audience they have made the record more enoyable, which audience sounds satisfied and excited only when they introduced their "last song".

Cathedral - Forest of Equilibrium (1991)

   The birth of basic classics are not counting as everyday's events, but if that happends in a genre which exists already since more than a decade, is kind of unparalleled. Cathedral was more known lately about their stoner/doom style, but their debut upgraded the sound of doom metal.
   Something far heavier and darker appeared with "Forest of Equilibrium", that included still the feeling of the Black Sabbath, Pentagram, Candlemass line, but it was more effective. The '70s hard rock feeling was still there in plenty of themes, but a new distorted, heavy sound was in focus, that opened a new possible way for the genre. Clear singing wasn't dominant anymore, quite desperate sounding vocals are the narratives instead, not endeavouring to sing correctly, but collapsing or becoming harsh at the first possible occasion. Like wavering between changing moods and struggling with some inner pain that follows. Strongly reminding sometimes to the gothic, post-punk vocal style of the '80s. The guitar themes are catchy and creating a genuine melancholic atmosphere. The result is a sickly depressive feeling that pulls down the listener into newer depths of dark anxiety. A doom metal masterpiece!

Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath (1970)

   It's always hard to write about bands that everyone knows, and a lot of people wrote about them over a million times already. However, Black Sabbath couldn't be avoided, and this band used to be a common reference if someone's into metal reviews. For this band had the largest influence on the metal genre, and they are mainly responsible of it's forming. We can thank directly them the birth of heavy and doom metal, and therefore indirectly the birth of the rest subrenges.
   Their music, sound and lyrics alltogether were so different from other bands that time, that they became an icon, and could be easily distinguished from others in the '70s scene. The deepest, heaviest and loudest band of all time with their lyrical topics of occultism, societal problems, rebelling behaviour, drug overdose, apocalypse were more than unusual on the side of the common songs of love, loneliness and heartbreak. It's another question how Black Sabbath could authentically include all of those, and create an organic picture. And the question may stand even in only one topic, cause while once in their lyrics they signed God as the only way to love, next time they turned into complete atheism. Probably it was up to the type, quality and amount of drugs they used, so there is really no need to merge into a philosophical analysis of their "ars poetica". Only to enjoy that omnious, sometimes depressive, sometimes powerful feeling they created with some psychedelic touch.