Diaries of Doom

Desertfest London is a bit like Christmas for British people of a certain musical persuasion. It comes once a year, and you spend most of it drunk with the family. Instead of music about decking the halls or reindeer, though, you're more likely to catch someone singing ‘N.I.B.’ or claiming to be Iron Man after hours at The Black Heart. And instead of a traditional roast dinner, you've got virtually the entire world's cuisine within a stone's throw in the Camden markets. I first went in 2017 for the day to see Sleep, then started doing the full weekend every year from 2022 onwards. By now, it's booked into the calendar as soon as the dates are announced. This year will be my second time covering the event for Diaries of Doom and my third time as an artist (more on that later), which I'm very grateful for. If you see something on the merch table that catches your eye, consider doing without the next couple of beers and grabbing it there and then. It's one of t...

West Midlands-based goth rockers She Sells Sin made their long-awaited live debut at The Giffard Arms in Wolverhampton in January, as main support for longtime UK regulars Rhombus. After releasing a stream of singles in recent years and existing mainly as a studio project led by singer/guitarist Ian Guest, the live lineup is now ready to go and, on tonight's account, already firing on all cylinders. The synth-heavy intro of Sorrow gently leads into a clean first verse, showing She Sells Sin's melodic core from the first moments. Ian's soulful baritone carries the track's powerful hook nicely, before some blasting from their drummer makes for a killer surprise at the very end, showing off some impressive technical chops. Lucifer follows, picking up the pace with its pounding groove and gothic vocal lines. A flashy guitar solo adds another layer of effortless cool before the song's low, doomy, melodic coda evokes Type O Negative at their slowest. She Sells Sin, a...

Brand new solo project JustSkye released their debut single Internal War at the end of January, featuring Neil Hudson of Gutworm and Krysthla on production as well as with a guest appearance. This track is rooted in emotional heaviness, dealing with internal struggle and the process of confronting personal demons head-on. Built upon a strong sense of atmosphere, Internal War unfolds with a restrained, soulful vocal performance before gradually pulling in the listener deeper and eventually giving way to a weighty midsection. With gritty melodies and punishing, low-tuned guitars, the dynamic shift is part of the song's natural ebb and flow. Skye delivers each line with conviction, bringing a sense of vulnerability that suits the song's subject matter in an impactful way. After further dynamic and harmonic shifts, the song's final chorus and coda hit in a satisfying way as the track wraps up. This is a well-considered and well-written number. Internal War is an atmospheri...

Happy New Year! 2025 birthed some fantastic releases in the heavy music world, and I've picked out five hidden gems from the English circuit that may have flown under your radars. We've got a melting pot of groove metal, sludge, death metal, and all of the above in my recommendations, which mostly saw the light of day over the second half of last year. I want to use this to thank everyone who sends me their music for review. I would love to give space on my blog to every artist who emails or messages me if there was an extra six hours a day and an extra three days a week to make that happen. These five here, though, are genuinely worth your time if you care about grassroots heavy music. We're all excited to see what 2026 brings. Drēor - Hell's Kitchen Rising Nottingham old school death metal trio Drēor (meaning 'blood' in Old English, or 'gore') released their sophomore EP in June, an unapologetic slab of classic OSDM. Dripping with blood and guts, and...

The Victoria in Central Birmingham filled out for a night of live music, with Newcastle's Dunes the main attraction. But the Worcester-based Fights and Fires opened up with their first gig in two and a half years, playing like a band with a point to prove as they delivered a set full of energy and loads of presence onstage. Their post-hardcore style is unapologetically straight out of the 00s (can we call it retro yet?), delivered with a sense of urgency and a hard hitting punch. The backing vocals that the rest of the band support with really underline the strong melodies that Fights and Fires offer. Performing like seasoned pros, it's surprising to learn that it's their current drummer's first gig partway through the set, as he genuinely slots in seamlessly. It's an energetic start to the night, and great to see a fantastic Midlands band back at it again. Flamebearer are up next, with a fist pumping, rowdy stoner metal style closer in sound to tonight's he...

Hail Satan, Triumph Awaits! It's a fitting title for Tumanduumband's second full-length, self-released today. With horror movie samples littered throughout and crushing doom metal riffs, it's a dark, unsettling listening experience. Spinning this album must be a bit like having a bad trip while Electric Wizard and cult classics play in the background, very, very slowly. The Stourbridge-based doom duo released Throne of Grief shortly before Halloween 2023, backed up by a busy touring schedule in the UK where Luke and Scott delivered, and continue to deliver, a simple but effective cocktail of bass, drums, riffs, fuzz, skulls, blood and Satan to whichever venue that has the stones to let them through their doors. With no vocals, no guitars, no solos, and no fucking about, their core aim of bringing doom down to its simplest, most skull-caving, most fundamental form has remained true, and Hail Satan, Triumph Awaits very much carries on down that path. Bigger, scarier, and lon...