Diaries of Doom

On this day 50 years ago, Black Sabbath released Sabbath Bloody Sabbath on Vertigo I didn't grow up in a household of heavy music, so my first memory of hearing metal is being in my friend's kitchen at around seven years old, at the time when The Osbournes was on the telly. I didn't know what Black Sabbath or metal was back then, but I picked up on a couple of earworms that turned out to be Sabbath songs later down the line. Fast forward to the age of 13 and I was chatting to an older mate of mine about music. When I told him that I was listening to a lot of Green Day and Kings of Leon, he turned his nose up and told me I should try a bit of Black Sabbath and get into metal. I went to a youth club in my village back then and a few months after that conversation I noticed a CD lying by the player at the end of a night with 'Black Sabbath Greatest Hits' written on the front. I stole it, put it on my mp3 player (showing my generation here) and brought it back the n...

  On this day in 1971 - 50 years ago - Alice Cooper released the much-beloved 'Killers'. Today, Pale Wizard release their first instalment of tribute albums titled 50 Years Later - with eight (or twelve, on the CD/digital releases) handpicked artists from the UK doom, psych and stoner rock circles paying homage to Killer and Alice Cooper in their own way. Tracklist: 01. Green Lung – Under My Wheels 02. The Grand Mal – Be My Lover 03. Sergeant Thunderhoof – Halo Of Flies 04. Ritual King – Desperado 05. 1968 – You Drive Me Nervous 06. Trippy Wicked – Yeah, Yeah, Yeah 07. Mos Generator – Dead Babies 08. Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell – Killer 09. Alunah – I’m Eighteen (Bonus Track) 10. Suns Of Thunder – Billion Dollar Babies (Bonus Track) 11. Possessor – Muscle Of Love (Bonus Track) 12. Sound Of Origin – Sick Things (Bonus Track) Alunah - I'm Eighteen (live in London, July 2021) - featuring two Diaries of Doom contributors Lead single for this release is The Grand Mal tackling...

50 years ago, something magical happened. Utterly beyond the realms of what was thought possible or probably, four blokes from Aston, Birmingham, were set to change the world forever. Reeling off of the energy of a debut album that introduced a fresh face of musical evil to the world, Bill Ward, Geezer Butler, Ozzy Osbourne, and Tony Iommi set about writing what would become an inimitable cornerstone of music culture. They took an honest look at the world around them, and committed their feelings to record. The result is an album of devilishly ferocious highs, and brooding, often insidious lows, with expertly crafted songs weaving through lyrical themes of drug use, and a strong anti-war sentiment. Paranoid, the album that is beloved by the everyone: elitist doom metal drones, the old guard who can remember the year 1970 (we're a young writing team), and everyone in between. Is it doom? Is it Dad Rock? Yes. It's nothing short of brilliant. Join us (Matt, Joe, and Jack) as we pi...

Today marks the 40th Anniversary of one of Rock’s most astounding achievements: AC/DC’s timeless album, Back in Black. What’s so special about the album is not just the quality of the songs on display, but the circumstances under which it was created. It’s a true phoenix risen from the ashes moment. 1980 was a year of great change in Rock music, though, as a new breed of Heavy Metal began to rear its head and left the old guard needing to adapt or die. To celebrate, Diaries of Doom have a look back at three bands who released important albums with a bit of a direction change in this momentous year:   Black in Black - AC/DC The start of the 1980s had been about as kind to AC/DC as the start of 2020 has been to the rest of the world. Having released perhaps their greatest commercial album to date, Highway to Hell, a year earlier, Bon Scott and the boys looked to be on the precipice of world domination with their rough and ready, bar brawling Rock ‘n’ Roll sound. It was not to be...

Sometimes great songs are understated in their greatness, and you’ll need to listen to them several times to really appreciate them. Other times, a great song slaps you square in the face with how great it is until you sit up and take notice. A Million Arms, the new single by Nashville Blues Rockers, The Bloody Nerve, does the latter and does it in a big way.  Right from the off, it’s apparent that singer Laurie Ann Layne has got one hell of a voice. I haven’t heard a scream so piercing since some lad from West Bromwich called Robert penned a ditty about immigration problems in Britain circa 800AD (I wonder what happened to him…?), which only serves as a promise that some filthy blues rock is about to follow. This song sure does follow up on that promise. Stomping guitar riffs with a sumptuous scratchy-yet-powerful tone pay homage to the White Stripes and the band that the lad named Robert who I was talking about before was in (can’t remember their name…), but the country-infused l...

Today marks the 10 year anniversary of the sad day on which the metal world lost a true legend: Ronnie James Dio. His trademark voice and fantasy lyrics have left a lasting impression on the Metal community and have influenced countless metal musicians. To pay tribute to a true icon, Ben and Matt have come up with a list of the Top 20 Dio Classics:  20. The Last in Line Dio goes into epic territory for The Last in Line, an incredibly well-executed semi-ballad. The title track from his sophomore album, it curiously won a Grammy for Best Metal Performance 31 years later when Tenacious D covered it. MN 19.   Starstruck If you’re aware of the performance of this song from Dio’s 1983 set at Donnington, you’ll know exactly why I had to include it. If you’re not aware, best you watch the video below... BP 18.   Long Live Rock'n'Roll Well said, sir! Have a place in this list. 17. Double the Pain Is this the heaviest riff fr...