Diaries of Doom

The world feels like a slightly different place at the end of March 2021. Lockdown restrictions are easing, you can see your mates again, gigs are actually being booked - maybe with a healthy dose of optimism, but it's something now that the last 'normal' concert we were at was now over a year ago - and god forbid, the sun's actually out at the moment. Yeah, in the Midlands. Who'd have thought it? We return with more top picks after a month off. There was a lot to pick from March, such as Eyehategod, Recall the Remains, Memoriam, Callous Hands and a live Conan album to name a few. These three really stood out, though... Dvne - Etemen Ænka (progressive/post-metal) - Metal Blade Records Dvne's Asheran from 2017 was a staggering debut, but they've somehow one-upped themselves on Etemen Ænka . More expansive, more progressive, and more elements to their sound, Dvne have really unleashed a masterpiece here. The addition of a keyboardist adds a stronger spacey fee...

We all celebrated the death of 2020 a month ago. But, the first moon into 2021, are there any bets on when things are going to start feeling any better? Okay, so many of us here were probably happy to see an oversized tangerine baby collect his P45 from the White House, but in the depths of a grim Corona winter, where Glastonbury Festival has already been cancelled for this summer (the first of many?), there's been fruit and veg shortages due to the unholy cocktail of Brexit, Covid and cold weather, and we found out about the untimely death of Alexi Laiho, you have to wonder when the pendulum is going to swing back in the other direction. Music has always kept many of us sane during difficult times. To keep us optimistic, we've had new singles from Monolord and Eyehategod, an incredible debut EP from Wall , and three particularly grim releases I've picked out from the last four weeks below. Music for the times, to be sure. Gatecreeper - An Unexpected Reality (death metal/gr...

As the weather over here gets even colder and the notes of Wham! 's 'Last Christmas' slowly fade into the foreground from the horizon, we can at least take solace in the fact that 2020 is almost over. In the penultimate top picks of this year, we have an EP, an album and a compilation. Variety is the spice of life, as they say. Of the two non-compilations, both bands have members who are better known for playing - or at least touring - in better-known bands. Can you name them? Corrupt Moral Altar - Patiently Waiting for Wonderful Things (sludge/grindcore) - APF Records Intense, ugly, nasty grind from Liverpool, we've spent most of the year patiently waiting for this outrageously heavy EP. When they play fast, it's dizzying and brutal, and when they play at mid tempos, your face contorts. The contrast between both makes each disparate element even more effective - although there's plenty of good music out there that does one or the other, CMA use both devastating...

October's a great month, right? It's spooky season, summer has well and truly gone for another year, and it's only a matter of time before we start having 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' assault our ears as we go for the weekly shop. Hang on, maybe 'great' wasn't the right word. Who's ready for Lockdown 2? October had some stellar releases, though, from the likes of Spirit Adrift, Enslaved and Pallbearer in other countries. I've tried to stick to our homegrown bands over here in the UK this time round. If you like it noisy and extreme, I've got three great picks for you. Venom Prison – Primeval (death metal/hardcore) – Prosthetic Records  Not entirely a ‘new’ release, but the repackaging and re-recording of their first two EPs from 2015 (‘Defy the Tyrant’ and ‘The Primal Chaos’) along with two new tracks. As it turns out, though, this has worked well for Venom Prison – the older songs have truly been done justice with the improved recording...

Diaries of Doom tends to focus on the smaller bands, but for me, it was too difficult to ignore these three mind-blowing efforts from larger and better-known bands. All are, without a doubt, career highlights. If you're after your typical dose of obscure stoner metal, have a listen to APF's The Brothers Keg  or my own band Slump , both of which had releases in September. If you fancy a few albums that surely will make most 'best albums of 2020' lists, though, keep reading... Deftones - Ohms (alternative metal) - Reprise Records Deftones’ ninth is a true return to form after the somewhat disappointing Gore in 2016. My own Deftones journey began in the summer of 2013, when I heard the dreamy Koi No Yokan as part of the free entertainment offered on a long flight home after a holiday I’d been on. I was transfixed, having never heard anything like it. Slowly but surely, Deftones became one of my all-time favourites, and I discovered their extensive back catalogue. Eventua...

We're now two-thirds into the year. With the end of summer comes a hint or two at the return of (regulated and socially distanced) live music. Things don't quite feel back to normal, but the world undoubtedly keeps turning. August was one of the strongest months we've had all year for underground music releases. It was difficult to only pick three as usual this time round! Master Charger - Origin of the Lugubrious (stoner metal) - Stoned Rocka Recordings Master Charger's third album is their heaviest and most consistent yet. From the instrumental title track crackling in with an analogue hiss to the last, fading seconds of Earthbound Hellbound , this is nothing less than an absolute statement from the Mansfield metallers. With distinctly catchy choruses and riffs, mixed in with ten tons of aggression, Master Charger avoid sounding like every other band in the genre by, yes, worshipping Sabbathy doom and gloom (of course), but also utilising influences from classic rock ...

Another month of this cursed year gone. I went to the pub for the first time in four and a half months over the weekend and I've forgotten completely what gigs are like. Thank god we're definitely coming up to the latter end, I guess? In this month's instalment of my top picks I feature bands from countries as diverse as Argentina and Italy (as well as the North of England). Also, most of the tracks here aren't actually new. Still, if any of these went over your head at any point in the last few weeks (or the last few years), here's your chance to make up for lost time and listen to some new(ish) noise. Las Historias - Las Historias (doom metal/psychedelic rock) - Electric Valley Records The Argentinian scene might not be the most famous in the world for heavy riffs, although it's not without its gems. Buenos Aires trio Amethyst are a favourite recent discovery of mine, with their Down/Sabbath-y extended jams, and the spacey  Fabricantes  know how to pack a pu...

Congratulations, Diaries of Doom reader! If you're reading this, you've made it halfway through this bastard of a year without succumbing to Coronavirus, a police system in need of systemic reform, murder hornets, bushfires... It f eels like we're slowly going back to normal after a very weird few months, whatever 'normal' is now. Wonder what kind of curveball the next month will throw at us. Although 'Diaries of Doom' could be the name of any current affairs outlet at the moment, I'm just here to write about bands. Now, some bands have released music in the last month. Some of those have been pretty good. I'd like to think I've got something here that you won't have heard yet. Invictra - Chaos Theory (thrash metal) - independent US thrash metallers Invictra released 'Chaos Theory' only a few days ago. What a monster EP it is. If you like technical, groovy thrash metal with progressive, neoclassical flourishes and plenty ...

Something about a witty comment to do with lockdown. It's been over two months now, yet the days still roll into one? I really could do with a job. Fortunately, I get to write about amazing artists and put it as 'work' in my social media bios. May's been another good month for new music. Surprisingly for a blog with 'doom' in its title, two of these are some of the most feel-good albums I've heard in a while. Maybe we should rebrand. Desert Storm - Omens (sludge/progressive metal) - APF Records I'd been looking forward to Desert Storm's fifth full length for a while. There had been a real run of form for the Storm coming into Omens , with every new release just getting better and better. Their live shows with the likes of Raging Speedhorn, CoC and Boss Keloid had really gone down a storm (alright, I'll stop with the storm-related jokes now, sorry) and then each single that they brought out before Omens finally dropped brought up more an...

It's been a weird month. No gigs and I've barely left the village I grew up in for weeks apart from the occasional beer run. Can't remember what cities actually look like, if I'm honest. At least it's been nice and sunny and I've time to get better at my guitar. Regardless, there's still some amazing releases being churned out. Beggar - Compelled to Repeat (extreme/sludge metal) - APF Records Jesus Christ. I think this is the filthiest record I've heard in a long time. It's ugly and sludgy, but hooks you in with just how god damned extreme it is as well. A good example of that is right in the first few seconds of album, when the deranged, fuzzy chords of 'Blood Moon' ring out and then the drummer starts blasting away for a few bars, as if to say 'ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION?' while hitting you in the face with a spade. It's pretty hard to not pay attention while listening to this album, or get that sense of impending mise...

We're already at the end of March. Seems like we're in a very different world to the one where I last wrote one of these. I'm not going to bother doing a social commentary like I did for the last couple of months. What can I say that everyone else hasn't been saying? I hope everyone's staying safe and sane out there.  Still, even if every gig and festival going is hit with cancellations, there's still incredible music coming out. I've picked out a few of my favourites from the last four weeks. Graceless - Where Vultures Know Your Name (death/doom metal) - Raw Skull Recordz My mate told me about this album only a few days ago, but it's absolutely awesome. Graceless come from Leiden, the Netherlands, playing infectiously old-school death doom. I've noticed a bit of a resurgence in the genre lately, and it's really great to be able to hear everything we love about it with modern production. Graceless do the job extremely well, with all the ...

February. What an absolutely fantastic month. It was much colder than January, and we had wind, snow and heavy rain. The whole Coronavirus thing's wearing a bit thin, and it seems we're all probably going to die. Something like that. For real though, the amount of jokes I've heard from serving bottles of Corona beer in a bar... It could be bearable but it's just the same joke over and over again. For music, it was another good month. We had new singles from the boys in  King Corpse ,  Desert Storm  and  Netherhall , HRH Metal went down, and I got to play my first Metal 2 The Masses with  Slump  (we didn't go through but had an absolute blast). Even Ozzy Osbourne chucked out another album. Good on you, Oz. Here's a few of my favourite releases from February. Kvelertak - Splid (black metal/classic rock/punk) - Rise Records Oh, man, this is just brilliant. An eleven-song party in the form of punky black metal (or however you want to categorise them...

January's always a slog of a month, isn't it? Everyone's broke after Christmas, the pubs are half empty and it's cold (pretty much) all month round. And we've still got bloody February to get through before the weather gets any better. January 2020 was especially apocalyptic, with bushfires burning Australia to a crisp, Coronavirus, and the assassination of Soleimani in Iran. Pretty doomy, if you ask me. What's the press going to tell us we're all going to die of next month? Plus we had the untimely losses of Neil Peart, Reed Mullin, Sean Reinert and Joe Payne, to name a few. Diaries of Doom doesn't broadcast current affairs, though. The first month of the new decade was pretty good for new music, and I've picked out a few of my favourite releases for January 2020. Konvent - Puritan Masochism (death/doom) - Napalm Records Konvent were signed to Napalm Records with only a demo to their name. Puritan Masochism dropped like a bomb the other wee...