The Rock Blogger

Radical drone, imploded wonder, insomniac trudge, clearing by fire, the blinding light of morning.

Birchville Cat Motel. Our Love Will Destroy the World . 2006. New Zealand

Harsh, dissonant noise coupled with pulse-pounding drums make for one of the most caustic and powerful albums of its kind.

Menace Ruine. Cult of Ruins . 2008. Montreal

Blackened drone, oppressive and mystical. Creative use of both male and female vocals, wailing from the dark tower.

Boris. Feedbacker . 2003. Tokyo.

A classic drone doom record. Long, stoned dirges that slowly build into monolithic walls of sound. The band’s most patient and celestial album.

Jesu. Infinity. 2009. The U.K.

The newest release from Justin Broadrick. One 45 minute track that encompasses both digital experimentation and guttural throwbacks to his industrial (Godflesh) days. Not nearly as gripping as Conqueror but still a finely crafted and hypnotic work.

Corrupted. El mundo frio . 2005. Osaka.

A tour de force, bringing togehter steady post-rock arpeggios, lumbering bass drones, gritty sludge guitars and a haunting, desert atmosphere. One mesmerizing 71 minute track that lurches menacingly across an arid landscape. A massive effort that rivals the best of doom metal.

Sunn O))). Monoliths & Dimensions . 2009. 4.5 stars

The robed duo return with what is likely to be regarded as their most sophisticated work to date. While the bone-crushingly slow and heavy guitar drones they are famous for remain intact, they are now accompanied by haunting spoken verses (from Mayhem’s Attila), eerie choirs, ambient horns and other atmospheric flourishes. All of these elements weave together to absorb the listener, opening yawning black chasms to the unknown.

The opening “Aghartha” doesn’t verge too far from convention (aside from it’s horror-inspired use of creaks and groans) as the familiar rumble of O’Malley and Anderson burrows its way into your skull. “Big Church” on the other hand, is an evocative departure, as female choirs welcome the seductive pull of these guitars. Their airy voices gracefully line the strange and vivid occultism that lies at the heart of Sunn O)))’s aesthetic. The murmuring male mantras, distant in the mix, also provide another layer of estrangement, recalling rituals long covered by dust and debris. Sunn O))) revives them with dramatic subtlety, pushing their sound from being a curiosity for the drug-addled to a truly avant-garde experiment. Their live project Dømkirke was clearly instrumental in shaping this welcome progression.

Hunting and Gathering (Cydonia) is a more rhythmic piece, with chugging riffs reminiscent of Earth’s seminal Earth 2 . The use of black metal vocals here is far more effective on this track then as the first, as they are more raspy, emotive and convey more “presentness” to complement the powerful guitars. Then the horns kick in, pushing the song into celestial ambiance. An inspired inclusion.

Finally, the concluding piece of “Alice” features the most surprising and cinematic moments on the album. While the opening guitar chords are sparse and spacious, they are soon filled with creeping strings and horns, amplifying the horror film tension that hangs over. The interplay between droning guitar and brass fills moves Sunn O))) closer to dark ambient/avant-garde jazz territory, producing a sonically diverse landscape. The piece lurches forward, like that infamous beast towards Bethlehem, as the horns begin to slowly rise over a grisly bed of distortion. The effect is strangely uplifting, as if the duo has finally found some transcendent resolution to the subterranean tension that has been building in their sound for so long. No other song of theirs is quite like it.

In conclusion, Monoliths & Dimensions is Sunn O)))’s most accomplished work to date. It features moments of both suffocating grimness and ethereal release, encapsulating the band’s steady progression down new and exciting musical paths. This album works both as an experiment in cinematic ambiance and as a highly disciplined metal opera, though it’s self-seriousness may deter the casual listener. Despite some underdeveloped segments at the start of this disc, it’s overall presentation is highly engaging and original. A highly satisfying release.

For when the ground gives way beneath you

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Saturnus. Paradise Belongs to You . 1996. 5 stars .

Denmark’s Saturnus have been underwritten in the doom metal world despite crafting what could be one of the genre’s most intriguing albums. Paradise Belongs to You , the band’s 96 debut, incorporates acoutic passages, sorrowful riffs, death metal growls and an expansive atmosphere into beautifully fluid songs.

Aesthetic cousins to Agalloch and Katatonia, Saturnus’ riffs have a distinct, melancholic tone that makes for a dark and enveloping soundscape. Deep growls and sparingly used spoken word verses add to the gloom, contrasting barren despair with poetic romanticism. The use of subtle keyboards and plodding baselines underlie the building tension that runs through every song, leading the listener down shadowy passageways.

The extensive length of this album’s tracks gives the band plenty of room to flesh out their vision which is nothing less than epic. It avoids being overbearing by offsetting the intensity with hypnotic melodies, organic textures and the occasional piano or acoustic interlude. The short bird samples book-ending every track also tightens cohesion to the already seamless arrangements.

While it is difficult to select specific moments that make Paradise Belongs to You so beautiful, the entire album flows together so well that it doesn’t matter. It balances grim intensity with an airy atmosphere that evokes the sublime. A moody and intricately crafted album that represents the finer aspects of doom metal. Essential.

“Paradise Belongs to You”

Om - Flight of the Eagle Live

Khanate. Clean Hands Go Foul. 2009. 3.5 stars.

Grim, dirty doom metal featuring Alan Dubin’s raw vocals and Stephen O’Malley’s droning guitar work. The performances here are claustrophobic, rattled and demented. The title of Clean Hands Go Foul is perfectly descriptive as the structures of these four tracks unravel and disintegrate into meandering, fragmented fits of madness.

The first half of the album is particularly unhinged, as ghastly wails and cavernous production confine the band in a cold, dank corner. Things become more drone heavy in the second half, as the guitars take on a more atmospheric quality. The percussion is light in the mix as the sporadic pattering is used to mitigate the yawning terror of the band’s amplifier worship. Khanate have opened up a deep psychological space with their music, leaving ample room to ruminate on their agonies.

Clean Hands Go Foul delivers the same chilling drone-doom aesthetics as its cousin Sunn O))), though the vocals are far more pronounced, and ultimately distracting. If you can get past the shrill, solitary and unmelodious delivery, you may be able to comfortably dwell in the psychotic feelings of this disc. Of course, such an experimental and volatile act would bulk at any notion of comfort, so the vocals remain central to their sound. And they work at embellishing their insane thematic, though I find the lumbering pace to separate the elements from each other, leaving the work somewhat disjointed.

In the end, Khanate pull off the dilapidated asylum vibe with ease as there performance feels disturbingly genuine and raw. Drone or doom aficionados will be satiated by this. While it may not be as absorbing as some of the other more instrumental works in the genre, it still conveys ugly feelings with unflinching authenticity.

Amenra - “Ritual” Directed by Dwid Hellion

A reader recommended this band to me a few days ago.
I happen to think this song is pretty solid.
Good sludge metal in the same vein as Cult of Luna.
The video is interesting as well, subdued but hypnotic.
Enjoy.

Skepticism. Alloy. 2008. 4 stars.

This is an intensely powerful funeral doom metal album from Finland’s Skepticism. The riffs are dense and suffocating as they slowly drive their way through waves of melodic synth organs and meditative percussion. Complete with deep, ominous growls, the sound of Alloy is impenetrably dark and consuming, mirroring the equally oppressive work of Esoteric (The Maniacal Vale in particular).

Alloy is devastatingly bleak, so much so that the haunting lift of organs take on a ritualistic character, sending out a demonic chill over the proceedings. While these elements remain consistent across the album’s entirety, it is still rich with texture, as the distortion-drenched guitars chug and grind out a frosty, cavernous atmosphere. The song structures themselves may not develop into anything over-elaborate, these dirges are still ripe with painful emotion.

Though it may not possess any astounding structural complexities, Alloy is still a punishing work of metal. Its production is solid and booming, its musicianship killer and the brooding feelings they uncover are overwhelming. Doom metal abstracted, stretched out and striking for the heart. Alloy lays down a crushing blow.

Torche. Meanderthal. Hydrahead Records. 2008. 4 stars.

I’ve seen Torche perform twice before, opening for Mogwai and Jesu, and I while I was impressed by their crushingly loud sets, they just seemed like a slightly above average doom band.  To my pleasent suprise, their latest LP Meanderthal lives up to the internet hype with its brisk and infectious stoner metal jams. Sounding like a cross between Queens of the Stone Age and Pelican, Torche’s songs are full of tight melodies and furious riffs, moving along at a speedy pace while still laying down the heaviness. The majority of the tracks here are short and sweet, with only one song pushing past five minutes, making Meanderthal a breezy and accessible listen that begs repeating.

While Torche successfully culminate several styles together in a satisfying package, there is no ‘Feel Good Hit of the Summer’ to knock it out of the park. Still, that may not be a bad thing, since Torche will fair well with the avant-stoner crowd (fans of Boris and Isis take note). Torche may sound like a band teetering on the fence between arena-rock stardom and the underground, but they’re still carving a sizable niche for themselves with their ‘fun’ brand of doom metal. If Meanderthal is any indication, I’m expecting many more great things to come from this band.

Torche “Healer” - live
(Hey, the lead singer has the same Jesu shirt as me!)

Nadja . Desire in Uneasiness . 2008. 3.5 stars .

Yet another LP from Toronto’s prolific drone doom masters. Desire in Uneasiness is a noticeably more organic sounding record with fluid rolling drums cascading against earth-shaking waves of noise. All five songs are long instrumentals that revel in a relaxed, spacey atmosphere, making this an ideal album to simply sit back and vegetate to. The hypnotic drones, driven along by the swirling percussion, are crushingly heavy but also show the duo’s newfound restraint, as they pare back their more chaotic tendencies to produce something more transcendent.

Nadja’s style is certainly progressing, with fuller compositions and more refined production fleshing out a sound that is both powerful and entrancing. While the material on Desire in Uneasiness isn’t as substantial as the unfurling funeral processions of Esoteric or the astral projections of Jesu, it still places Nadja as one of the premier acts of the contemporary doom metal scene. They are certainly making strides in the development of their sound and more creative breakthroughs are on the horizon.

Nadja Live at Lee’s Palace Toronto.