Diaries of Doom

Rugby metallers Wounded Cross originally formed in 2014, releasing the Bonecrusher EP a year later. Known as 'Groovy Stoner Thrash Doom Metal', they'd play on the live circuit several times over the mid-tens before going quiet in 2017. The full-length Our Future Is Dead album followed in 2020, the band's final recordings at the time. Now, their latest single indicates that there's been a dormant giant in Warwickshire for the last few years. Sounding very different to the 80s heavy rock stylings of Wounded Cross of old, the band sound focussed, more modern and boast their strongest songwriting to date. It's a rebirth in every sense of the word. An ominous clean guitar-led intro sets the scene, with some bass guitar and piano work nicely layering over the top to create an atmosphere early on. Finally, the song powerfully explodes with a cool drum pattern and some guitar chugs to really draw the suspense out of every note. As far as intros go, it ticks all the ...

The Cursed Monk Bandcamp page lists Throne of Grief as 'pants shittingly heavy doom'. It seems to me that you get hundreds of albums every year that are described as being heavy enough to cause bowel movements, which wouldn't even cause a minor skidmark in reality. Throne of Grief is certainly a rare exception. Bring a spare pair. Introductory track Crushed Under Unfathomable Misery begins deceptively softly before leading into live staple Throne of Grief , characterised by a vicious bass tone and squealing feedback. The excellently-titled Black Ritual of the 25th Moon follows with an ominous, menacing atmosphere, another live favourite by now. Its dark bass effects give a touch of psychedelia, which really underlines the release and stops the record from veering off and sounding one-dimensional. There's a recurring horror theme to the record, that Tumanduumband's use of Satanic, ritualistic sound bites brings across well. It's an incredibly nightmarish li...

Northern Irish trio Slomatics returned with their first full-length since 2019 last month with the excellent Strontium Fields . Strontium is a highly reactive earth metal, named after a village in the Scottish highlands. Slomatics, conversely, are a highly regarded metal band, presumably named partly because of the crushingly slow music they put out. I spoke to the three of them at Desertfest London earlier this year , and with a wry smile, they did hint at a few surprises over the then-unannounced new album. I'm a relatively new convert to the Slomatics camp. I'd known the name for years, but only after catching them at Desertfest Antwerp last year did I start to listen to them myself. I was completely transfixed by the Conan-style guitar heaviness, the expressive singing with shades of Candlemass in the delivery, the elegant spaciness, and the fact there were three of them with a drummer on lead vocals, flanked by two guitarists. I've seen them a few times since and that...

From the murky underground depths Grief Prison has arisen, a gloomy, sludgy doom project with their first single hot off the press. Sadist in Denial is accompanied by a dark, retro-styled music video with a dystopian feel to match the pissed-off lyrical themes and cement the clear aesthetic of the band very quickly. Sonically, there's lots of 90s doom lurking in the music - the melodic chord sequences and Ian's soulful baritone vocals hark back to Type O Negative , though overall it's a bit grittier, with a hint or two of Crowbar and Acid Bath rather than the gothic undertones Type O are known for. The lyrics embody a clear sense of bitterness and inner pain which, again, the video really complements well. Sadist in Denial - music video There are some nice details in the songwriting that elevate it just a bit more, such as the ugly mid-section where the vocals develop into a powerful bellow, or the build up in intensity towards the end as the song name is roared ove...