doomanddead

[doomanddead]

Metal Sings the Blues with Supersonic Dragon Wagon

Here at Doom and Dead we shine a spotlight on small-time doom, drone, and psych acts that deserve more attention. A bongload of great albums dropped in April, but our pick for for this month’s juiciest nugget comes from San Diego stoners Supersonic Dragon Wagon.

If a lovechild between doom metal and the blues was nursed on a steady diet of Layne Stanley vocals, the malcontented little slacker would be Supersonic Dragon Wagon. This SoCal doom outfit has been tending their unique sound for over a decade. Their latest offering, Follow The Bones, is seven tracks of plodding doom and fuzzed-out melodies. Let’s toke up and hit play.

In My Veins is a resolute trudge with the tension of a coiled snake. The pace is slow and measured. The song builds bit by bit, almost imperceptibly, until it feels like the imprisoned protagonist could burst forth and sprint for freedom at any moment. The vocals swell with raw emotion until there’s nothing left to lose.

Follow The Bones cranks up the fuzz and slips on a pair of aviators ‘cause it’s time to blow this town. The heavy riff keeps your head bobbing and your motor running, but those wily blues vibes are always one step ahead. Running from your creditors never had so much doom metal swagger.

You stay up all night smoking and drinking, and your honey has something to say about it in the morning. Like A Rooster is an unhurried ode to to those boozy nights and bad choices. It’s blues performed at a creeping stride. A standout guitar solo moans and wails in inebriated splendor. 

The band throws their weight around with the next track. When The End Comes is a hulking slab of apocalyptic doom, complete with ponderous pacing and lingering riffs. Visions of hell loom on the horizon. This one’s bound to please my fellow trad doom devotees. See you when the end comes. 🤘

I’m Feeling Bad doubles down on the grim plodding tempo. In this black tale, a down-on-his-luck character tries his best, but finds himself with a gun in his hand to survive. It’s a dark lamentation from a man on the precipice. Clocking in at almost eight minutes, the band gives this track room to linger and develop. The backup vocal layered in near the end adds texture and emphasis to the pinnacle of the track just before things unwind and fizzle out.

Born To Die is a fuzz-soaked instrumental with funky riffs and whiskey breath. The band locks in on a groove, and we ride this psychedelic wave all the way into the final track.

The album closes on No Use At All. On paper, it’s a classic blues ballad complete with a dusty road and a handshake with the devil. But this is like no blues song you’ve ever heard. Supersonic Dragon Wagon gives it the stoner metal treatment with sloooooow riffage and barrels of fuzz. Grunge vocals add a bitter bite. It’s a shining example of what these doom-slingers do best.

On this album, SSDW makes art out of desperation and questionable choices. The songs on this album wrestle with failure and impending doom, but DAMN if I don’t wanna sing along. Honestly, my biggest gripe with this album is that the title track isn’t longer. Follow The Bones is currently “name your price” on Bandcamp. So toss ‘em a few bucks on Bandcamp Friday, and enjoy this one on repeat. 

[doomanddead]

March Metal: Great Black Swamp

Here at Doom and Dead we shine a spotlight on small-time doom, drone, and psych acts that deserve more attention. One of our favorite releases this month comes from Phoenix desert-doom outfit Great Black Swamp. 

Featuring just two songs, the Mother Earth EP is brief but mighty. The band is inspired by the inhospitable landscapes in their home state of Arizona, but that’s not what makes this band unique. Their signature sound is an amalgamation of clean singing and imposing riffs assembled at odd angles and welded together with a bead of horror movie sound effects. 

At first glance, GBS might look like a classic doom metal 4-piece with vocals, bass, guitar, and drums. But during the pandemic, the band assembled their own portable performance machine — a 5th member of sorts stitched together from a Mackie mixer, a guitar processor, a bunch of mics, beer bottles, scrap metal, and variety of found objects. Dubbed the “Swamp Tank,” this handmade leviathan helps the band create spooky sounds sure to unsettle audiences at home or on the road. 

The title track, Mother Earth, starts simply. A melancholy guitar and haunting vocals forge visions of destruction. Other instruments join the fray. Humanity’s end looks desolate and saturnine. Amid the haze of smoke and ash, the only thing certain is how undeniably heavy this composition is. Dynamic vocal work and sludgy sections are guaranteed to give your stank face a workout. The latter half of the song highlights some of the Swamp Tank’s more unconventional sound-making capabilities with foley effects worthy of a spine-tingling fright flick. A granite bass line holds things steady while the guitar whines and wanders. This song showcases everything I love about doom metal — boundless misery set to a meaty groove.

The second track on the EP is Sentient Machines. This one features a bold grungy riff that would make Tom Morello proud. Once again, the band strikes a careful balance between weightiness and euphony that makes for some damned melodious doom metal.  A raga structure gives shape to off-color effects and unexpected motifs. These arid grooves will leave you picking bones from your teeth and grit from your boots (or vice versa.)

Great Black Swamp serves up melodic desert doom tinged with grunge and horror influences. The DIY spirit of these resourceful desert rats is baked into the band’s DNA. If this EP greases your gears, then the band’s previous EP, End Transmission, is also worth a listen. 

[doomanddead]

Maliciouz: Desert Blooms and Funeral Doom

Here at Doom and Dead we shine a spotlight on small-time doom, drone, and psych acts that deserve more attention. Our favorite release this month comes from California doom bringer Maliciouz.

This one-man machine is mining pure doom-sludge straight outta the Mojave Desert. His latest offering, Sarberus, is low, slow, and heavy as fuck — just what you’d expect from the land of big rocks and slow time. These instrumental tracks hit like a joshua tree to the face. So turn up the volume and step into the sand with me as we find out what Maliciouz has to offer.

Even Against Sorrow is a soulful trudge through desolate terrain. Solemn pacing and a dour melody paint the passage of eons. This one feels like a monument to survival against the odds. 

Wearied Repose is like a brief rest among the ruins on an arduous journey. Ponderous riffage pays its respects to the grim surroundings. With a run time of almost 9 minutes, Maliciouz gives himself plenty of room to expound on his ideas. The result is a deeply textured track with a nuanced sense of despair and solitude.

If you’re itching for something that dooms hard, then Under the Weight will cure what ails you. It’s a massive slab of loud, low riffs ready to erode your senses and drag you down to a cavernous abyss. The guitar tone will vibrate your skull off of your spine as your last shred of hope crumbles like sun-baked gypsum. 

Grab an ice pack, (and pack a bong while you’re at it,) because when Zimrah 23 comes on, you’re going to have a nasty case o’ stank face for 6 minutes straight. This one’s dark and brutal, kids. Despite a bone-shattering riff, the song is not afraid to wander away from the melody. It’s a bold move that pays off in spades. A little dissonance is the spice of life… and sometimes the scorpion in your sleeping bag.

Senescent Ruction is even slower and more funerary than the previous tracks. Like a fiery sunset stretching over the waste, the oppressive atmosphere unfolds gradually. The hypnotic slog decays into shadowy sludge one molecule at a time. Prepare to be sucked into a buzzing infernal doom hole. 

Lamentation is massive and unknowable, chugging down whole galaxies in a single gulp. Notes dive one after the other, shooting stars tumbling in the void. This composition is vast an impenetrable. Like the desert sky at night, Lamentation proves to be both imposing and humbling.

The Wilderness Feeds You is labyrinthene and heavy with a savage bite. This shit goes down like raw jackrabbit and peyote. Don’t forget to swallow.

Maliciouz closes things out with the introspective track Mezmernaut. It’s a meditative linstrumental that leaves you blinking in the stillness when it ends. You’ll find yourself staggering out of the desert in a deep trance, irreparably changed.

Maliciouz offers up funeral sludge that’s been rubbed in creosote and blistered in the sun. If you like metal with extra frills, then look elsewhere. These songs are boiled down to their essential essence and delivered at a creeping pace. Each of the 8 tracks on Sarberus brings something different to the table, but it’s clear they’re all born of the same arid wilderness. 

Sit back, crank the volume, and become one with the Mojave. 

[doomanddead]

DOOM AND DEAD’S PICKS: SMALL BANDS THAT MADE GREAT DOOM IN 2024

Small bands did big things in 2024, but so many stellar releases have gone unrecognized. We sorted our picks into a few different flavors of doom for your sampling pleasure. Here are our favorites from the little guys — the stuff you won’t find on Weedian’s 100 Best Releases of 2024.

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Aussie drone sculptors, The Grey Men, hit us with a stinging slab of doom in November. These compositions are weighty and meditative, but stop shy of being impenetrable. Ringing distortion and modular synths create the perfect atmosphere to summon Sunn O)) junkies out of the woodwork.  The Shape of Noise to Come is lingering, heavy, hypnotic — a granite boulder balanced on a pebble. Drone doom aficionados should not sleep on this one.

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Berlin trio Acid Arno hit it out of the stratosphere with this release. If you like your jams scuzzy, acidic, and occasionally harrowing, then TERRA is the drug trip of your dreams. Suit up and strap in, cosmonauts. The orange skies and mystical monsters on the cover art are exactly what you’re going to be catapulted through for the next 37 minutes. 

The Wizard conjures bluesy psych trash that’s heavy on the distortion and even heavier on the jams. The Canyon Lake Sessions are chocked full of high-energy mind-bending grooves so greasy you won’t even notice when your hair sparks up and your eyeballs melt right out of their sockets. There’s a fire burning in San Antonio, and I’m pretty sure these cats have something to do with it.

If you can’t get enough of The Wizard’s hot licks, then check out another sizzling nugget the band put out this year, Live @502.

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This EP has only two tracks, but Mindbloom’s MONOLITH I serves up quality over quantity. This French stoner outfit offers instrumentals with intricate compositions and psychedelic sensibilities. Did I mention the toothsome heavy bits? It’s contemplative stuff with just enough fuzz and reverb to make it the perfect soundtrack for your next existential crisis.

If you like your stoner doom extra heavy, then Seattle’s Hexecutioner has you covered. Vocalist Erin Gravina hypnotizes as we ride wave after wave of immense riffs. This is nasty caveman riffage slathered with vintage attitude. Enough of my yappin’. Go listen to the guitar solo on the title track of Pagan Ground. 

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When Jeff Golden (ex Crowbar bassist) and Katie McCrimmon (ex The Convalescence keyboardist) join forces, you know it’s going to be epic. Their doom and sludge project, Blood of the Earth, crafts heavy soundscapes that shudder with impending doom. Pounding percussion and mesmeric melodies drive the band’s instrumental storytelling into a different realm altogether. If ominous doom packed with ill-fated drama is your thing, then I predict that you’ll love this offering.

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Alberta trio Trismegistus layer grunge vocals over stoney bass lines.  Those screamin’ psych licks are just the brown gravy on top of the poutine. Live, Laugh, Doom serves up 8 tracks of gritty, fuzzy riffage, each rocking harder than the last. If ya don’t get on this one, ya fucked up, son.

Retro 70’s/80’s camp meets modern doom for a sound that’ll rock your coffin. Occult doom rockers Voodoo Garden transmit their psychedelic sound all the way from Czechia. Witchy vocals bristle with attitude a la Susanna Hoffs (The Bangles.) Heavy riffs chase us through a B movie sets inhabited by cloaked figures and rubber masked villains. This album is Scooby-Doo spooky in the best possible way.

Grunge gurus, desert rock rippers, and stoners of all sorts should check out Barcelona band Chacal Cult. Their album is full of hypnotic jams with hard edges.  Big sky vistas and unyielding rock never sounded so good.

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Nothing beats the vitality of a live performance… but that doesn’t always translate to a good album. Fear not, because these fuckers have cracked the code and delivered our favorite live album of 2024. 

Argentine stoner doom outfit, En la Niebla, poured every drop of spit and swagger into their set at Damned Communion. The result is a collection of hard-hitting grooves that punch you in the kidneys, then kiss you goodnight. Some crazy creativity has been coming out of Argentina's music scene in recent years. If this chunky bass doesn’t make you a believer, then nothing will.

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Blackened doom beasties: if it’s treasure you seek, then look no further. Portland band Cue the Sun has a sound that’s charred black but still remarkably groovy. Their October release, Green Metal Demos, bubbles with an incredible (and sometimes noxious) sense of immediacy. They may be rough around the edges, but these filthy demos are a goblin’s delight. 

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Happy new year and a hearty rock on to all my readers. 🤘 If you like music made by humans, then support ‘em when you can. Buying music or merch from a small band makes a big difference.

Here's to art and freedom of expression in 2025.

[doomanddead]

The Morbid World of Heliophage

Here at Doom and Dead we shine a spotlight on small-time doom, drone, and psych acts that deserve more attention. Our favorite release this month came from Canadian doom trio Heliophage.

Occult doom outfit Heliophage hails from Victoria, British Columbia. Their new EP, A Cult of Weird, Horrible People, is a spiritous serving of campy horror with just enough real world suffering to make the songs relatable. A glance at the album notes makes it clear that the band doesn’t take themselves too seriously. Each member is identified with their own malady; schizophrenia for the guitar player, Munchausen syndrome for the bassist, and, of course, Parkinson’s for the drummer. The EP was recorded in a “mold-ridden dungeon” and mixed in an “ivory tower.” Fun (and fungal) references aside, this EP has a diabolical way of getting under your skin. The weighty riffs and heinous melodies are toothsome enough to satisfy even the most discerning doom wizards. So hit play with me, and let’s get this dungeon crawl started. 

The intro track, The Sacrifice, sets the mood with B-movie dialogue laid over a bed of fuzz. Bring on the Satanic panic!

Gallows Raised rocks the stockades and rattles your manacles with fuzz-drenched grooves. The song pairs clean vocals with riffs so nasty they’ll turn your eyelids inside out. The lyrics tell the tale of an accused murderer with a monstrous surprise. This jam is sure to get every skull in the oubliette bobbing. Gallows Raised is a raucous good time stacked to the stalactites with heavy riffs, spooky imagery, and an impending sense of dread.

The band slows things down to a crawl with the lumbering tune, Disciple of Death. This vile bass line commandeers the senses, corrupts virgins, and converts the unwary to Heliophage’s black coven. A eely guitar solo reaches out through the darkness, slithering into every hole and crevice it can find. This track is temptation incarnate, a glimmering shard of doom metal in the blackness. Evil can never be fully eradicated, kids. So embrace it and be merry.

One thing I love about this EP is that Heliophage isn’t afraid to mix things up. Thirteen Against One features fast beats and growled vocals straight from the goblin’s den. The band rips through a vicious punk anthem, oozing their dank, mossy doom sensibilities all over it.

The EP closes on Malignant Hydra. This chugging brute explores medical terror and the depths of physical suffering. Dizzying riffs construct a hallucinatory nightmare. Clean and blackened vocals reflect the brutality of bodily destruction. A putrid guitar solo rips through the fabric of reality between life and death. The drum work in the final minute of the song is a thing of terrible beauty. 

Fans of Electric Wizard, Uncle Acid and The Deadbeats, and Black Capricorn will find themselves drawn this unholy offering. Ghouls, nerds, devil worshipers, acid freaks, and necromancers of all stripes should also take note. The band claims to have planted a bit of cordyceps fungus in this EP to bend listeners to their will. However, their fiendish plot won’t work on m… m… … yesssss, masters. 

[doomanddead]

October Pick: Something Heavy This Way Comes

Here at Doom and Dead we shine a spotlight on small-time doom, drone, and psych acts that deserve more attention. Our favorite release this month comes from an occult doom trio called Outback.

The band’s latest EP, Wytch, is the perfect listen when the air is chilled and the veil is thin. Lumbering riffs and psychotropic guitar work stalk the listener through a dizzying display of esoteric arts. The enchantment cast by the instrumentals is central to each of the three tracks. Sparse vocals, sometimes clean and sometimes nasty, add to the leaden atmosphere.

You know you’re in for a treat when that first note drops like a fucking anvil. Circle Psilocybe is a brief but potent offering. Slow and heavy wins this race. This track is an enigmatic elixir that leaves your head spinning and shadows crawling at the edge of your vision. The drum work is tight and vicious with a masterful balance between economy and complexity. 

Fern and Henbane builds gradually like a procession of cloaked figures approaching a sacred catacomb. You’re about to bear witness to an arcane ceremony not meant for human perception. Riffs unfurl at a glacial pace. Screamed vocals punctuate the track. The bass is so bulky it buzzes through walls of solid stone. The air is coppery with blood sacrifice and cosmic dread. Desperation escalates and delirium swirls. The final two minutes ensnare listeners in a delicious hallucinogenic groove before the spell unravels and the abomination dissipates back into mud. 

Malachi IV/Dying Sun is an imposing megalith, nearly 12 minutes end-to-end. It’s a proper fucking doom slog through bubbling laboratories and twisted rituals. Clean vocals rise and fall in harmony with the blackness. Geometric riffs turn the band’s prog sensibilities into gold. Instruments are stripped away, only to build back drip by psychedelic drip. We bliss out on cosmic waves. A wailing guitar shimmers over a throaty bass line. The band chugs it out until gravity is back in full force. Grip your broomsticks tight, folks, because this one’s a hell of a ride. 

Outback’s compositions will capture the attention of doom heads and psych fiends alike. The tracks on Wytch are plodding, mysterious, and overwhelmingly heavy. The dim atmosphere invokes a sinister workshop shifting between moments of quiet study and frenetic conjuration. It’s an EP full of creeping brutality, carefully wrought. If weighty riffs and malefic practices make you cackle with glee, then pick this one up before the witching hour strikes.

[doomanddead]

Jackals' Feast Spins Dark Yarns Rooted in Soulful Americana

Here at Doom and Dead we shine a light on underrated doom, drone, and psych releases that deserve more attention. This month’s pick is NJ doom outfit Jackals' Feast. 

Jackals’ Feast aimed to play straight-up doom metal… but strange things happen when the blues runs in your veins. Like whiskey aged in an oak barrel, the music took on the flavors of the band’s other interests. Horror and gothic Americana leeched their way in, and the resulting brand of doom metal sounds like nothing else. The band’s debut album, Lost in the Forest and Tormented by Demons, is a collection of tragic tales, each more hopeless and tortured than the last. Now let’s grab a spot by the fire and take a swig of what Jackals’ Feast has to offer. 

The album opens on Prayer to Crom. Caveman beats lead us into this epic ballad. The song is constructed from slow, lumbering riffs scraped raw with bluesy vocals. The band conveys all the despair and resolve of the barbarian’s struggle on a frigid mountainside. The vocals ooze with pain and betrayal. Energy builds and that overdrive kicks in, rocking us out to the finish. 

The fuzz has rolled in. With the title track, Lost in the Forest and Tormented by Demons, we find ourselves alone in the woods caught in a hopeless situation. This 8-minute behemoth is the cornerstone of the album. It’s a grim plodder with a dense atmosphere and riffs guaranteed to trigger stank face in 9 out of 10 doomheads. Some legendary noodling on the strings drives the stakes even higher. Eventually, the drums abandon the track and we float through a hypnotic drone.

Dig Your Own Grave is true to its name.The monstrous riffs take on a little more twang, framing the vocalist’s resonant voice. It’s a one-on-one execution in the woods with no means of escape. The bluesman croons about swinging a shovel for your own burial pit. It’s heart-wrenching, gravel-gulping doom slathered in BBQ sauce. Mashed Potato Johnson would be proud.

For Death and Glory is a call to arms in the face of certain doom. The orcs have charged the gates and your walled city is falling around you. Faced with the annihilation, you no choice but to battle onwards. Galloping riffs and throaty cries spur us on to both glory and destruction. 

With Blood and Black Magic (Tower of the Elephant) is the sorrowful saga of a being who once soared the cosmos, but is now trapped and tortured on Earth. Jackals’ Feast creates an ambiance of suffering. The haunting track cracks open near the end, offering a glimpse at the protagonist’s searing rage. A spell is cast and vengeance is taken for a lifetime stolen. 

Get ready for another sleepless night struggling under the burden of the unknowable. The Crushing Weight of the Infinite is an out-of-body journey beyond place and time. Fuzz is cast over the landscape like starlight. Hulking riffs drone on in boundless space. The protagonist slides back into his body, unfulfilled and suffocating under the enormity of his incomprehension. The singer’s evocative storytelling seems to channel Eddie Vedder at times. It’s a powerful lamentation you won’t want to miss.

These songs are vignettes from the lives of characters who lost it all. It’s crushing doom metal informed by a variety of other genres and rendered with a fuckton of atmosphere. Amid the gloom, Sabbathian riffs trudge hand in hand with soul-splitting blues. Go check out the album. Failing to shove this bad boy into your earholes would be a mistake. 

[doomanddead]

Fiends & Fuzz: A Peek into Druid Stone's Undead Poets Society

Here at Doom and Dead we shine a light on the doom, drone, and psych acts you’ve never heard of. Every month we choose a new release that deserves more attention than it’s gotten. This month’s pick is from the Virginia band Druid Stone. 

Take stoner doom and acid rock. Now mash them together and throw them against the wall in your parents’ basement. Unspool a VHS tape of your favorite black and white horror movie and toss that on for good measure. Light the whole thing on fire. Poke through that ashes with a broken guitar pickup and that’s where you’ll find Druid Stone, the passion project of Demeter Capsalis. Druid Stone’s new LP, Undead Poets Society, embodies a love of homemade music in its purest form, complete with shitty mics and devil-may-care swagger. The songs on Undead Poets Society approach prickly topics like suicide and self-destructive behavior with a wink and a nod. Nothing is off limits. Every track oozes with the rock-and-roll attitude of a misfit unapologetically living out loud. So slip this one under your tongue and join me for a meeting of the Undead Poets Society. 

Bride of Satan comes barreling out of the gate ready to get high and kick ass. It’s a wild psychedelic jam with a 3-foot thick layer of scuzz on top — a fitting ode to a monstrous relationship. 

Little Wing (Neil Young cover) is a trippy take on a mellow folk classic. It’s a song that finds beauty in every season, now made cheekier and darker. The album notes say “inspiration by LSD and satan,” and that’s exactly what what Druid Stone brings to this cover.

The Wood of Self-Murderers Waltz is a morose little ditty that feels like it’s informed by the previous track. There may be a folksy twist to the melody, but this creation is 100% Druid Stone right down to its gushing mutant heart. The song’s lyrics are from the perspective of someone who already committed suicide, a doleful tale cautioning any who continue down this path. Things take a sharp turn and our surroundings become more ominous. The band’s signature doomed psychedelia takes over. There’s cacophony over the airwaves. Audio clips from Dawn of the Dead carve out space between ecstatic riffs.

With growling lows and a wailing guitar, The 13th Floor is one of the heaviest hitters on the LP. This track is as self-destructive and disillusioned as they come — a manic rock golem sutured up with searing psychedelic licks and incubated in a vat of fuzz. Capsalis’ brassy attitude shines through the chaos, reminding us “baby, we can jump if we get bored.” Halfway through, things grind down to a lumbrous doom metal crawl.  The track tunnels down lower and slower until the riff hits bedrock and the spell gradually unravels. 

Killing a Vampire (for A.C.F.) is melodic and melancholy with a blush of anger that would make Alanis proud. Not fooled by a vampire with a “suave facade,” Capsalis vows to kill him over and over from one life to the next. It’s the perfect anthem for your next breakup or that boss that whose bullshit you see right through. 

The centerpiece of the LP is Undead Poets Society. The bass line grabs control from the very beginning, kicking in your door and strapping a rocket under your ass. Druid Stone rides the riff across the sky all the way to the fucking moon. It’s an LSD-fueled tumble through the cosmos with a catchy hook you’ll be humming all day. There might not be any escape for the undead, but with riffs like these, just leave my ass here in hell.

The album closes on (Lately I feel like) I’m Begging, Shelob. It’s a melancholy tune portending an ominous fate and pleading for the sweet relief of sedation. The acid trip rolls on with doomy licks and visions of destruction. Wild effects wander the landscape as apocalyptic riffs rain down. The last vestiges of the song linger and I find myself clinging on, not ready for things to end. 

Undead Poets Society is a revolving door of homespun movie monsters, each laid bare and framed in fuzz. Every wart and hump (heh heh) is on display in all its unabashed glory. Druid Stone’s black sense of humor is a magical elixir that permeates the senses and gives everything new life. Many of the songs on this LP feel like tongue-in-cheek warnings from creatures who could not save themselves. I recommend this to ill-fated ghouls, unabashed kooks, and all those who go bump in the night. 

[doomanddead]

Skellig Explores the Edge of Existence

I’ll let you in on a little secret: I’m dead. I collapsed ten years ago. Momentum has carried my lifeless body forward, but entropy will eventually have its way. 

Ghosthood can be isolating. So many joys of the living are out of reach. Touch and taste may be long gone, but music still holds sway over my incorporeal form. For a specter perched on a jagged rock in the middle of the abyss, plodding riffs and endless drones are the only things that move my listless spirit. 

That’s where Skellig’s new album comes in. Resonance of Our Dolmen is a beautifully carved slab of doomgaze. This instrumental solo project is sparse without being simple — minimal but wholly complete. 

I don’t usually hang out with breathers, but I could make an exception if there’s some gnarly fucking doom on the agenda. Join me on this remote outcropping and we can both take in the drone at the edge of eternity. 

The album opens on Supplication at Dawn’s Egress. You know you’re in for a treat when a track starts out heavy and gets HEAVIER. The riff trudges forward, grim but insistent. We slog through an endless waste, haunted by cumbrous riffs and melancholy scuzz. 

Under the Pall of an Obsidian Sky chugs us through desolate terrain thick with distortion. The fuzz recedes in a moment of clarity as we approach the bridge. The central riff glitters like snow on the charred remains of a burned out trestle. Just as we reach the other side of the crevasse, the fuzz rolls back in and the landscape is once again obscured.

Between Breaths makes for a pleasantly proggy palate cleanser. The clean, layered ditty revolves, hypnotizing the listener like a spinning top. 

Consequence is for What Remains is a looming megalith, ominous and unknowable. As the song burrows deeper, a vast and terrifying structure is exposed. The track is unyielding and oppressive but resonates with an arcane power that’s impossible to ignore. We may not have unearthed the beast, but we must bear the repercussions for awakening it.  

Resonance of Our Dolmen is the capstone of the album. Monotonous strumming sculpts a hefty drone.  A cluster of beehive huts shiver alone in the wasteland. Labored melodies haunt the barren expanse. This is 9 minutes and 50 seconds of intense instrumentals with an onerous ringing tone. Skellig finds rapture here at the brink of oblivion. 

This album is a study of contrasts. Minimal moments stand luminous against organized chaos. It’s melodious sludge, as atmospheric as it is weighty. Skellig summons listeners to the “threshold of totality.” If you spare a thought for the departed you may just find me there.

[doomanddead]

June Doom Picks: Devastating Delights from Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires dooms. Argentine bands have a smoky, bold flavor that goes down easy. Maybe the local atmosphere is fueling all that creativity, or maybe it’s the chori and maté. Whatever it is, bands from BA just have a certain sizzle. If you’re not already familiar with Bueno Aires doom metal, then June’s releases offer an ideal tasting menu. 

APPETIZER

Martes Negro’s latest single, Cenizas, is a savory bite of stoner riffage with a vicious side. This Spanish language banger snarls its way through the first half, then gets low and slow, clocking in at a perfect 4:20. If you dig this offering, their previous single is equally toothsome. 

MAIN COURSE

For the main course, I recommend one-man doom project, Lobo is Mute. His 6-track EP titled Home? I Have No Home is bursting with groove-soaked instrumentals. 

There’s a lot to digest here. Trip To Old Willows Place chugs its way to stoner doom oblivion, dripping with meaty goodness all the while. 

Get ready to green out. Hunted and Despised takes a walk through that sweet emerald haze. The composition feels improvised and alive. I dare you not to nod along. 

Professor Strowski is Dead cements Lobo is Mute’s title as a one-man trip machine.This track oozes with psychedelic swagger. A slow groove spirals out around a central riff, a fractal of explorations both funky and menacing.

Pull the Strink!!! tugs those heavy gauges over hills and valleys. It’s a melodic experimental jam with a pounding quality. 

The title track, Home? I Have No Home chugs deeper into sinister territory with weighty riffs and off-the-wall runs. This is an unorthodox hunk of metal that refuses to take the form of any mold. 

The album closes on Dr. Eric Vornoff Was Stoned, a manic jam ready to obliterate your skull and set your hair ablaze. 

DESSERT

If you’ve got a sweet tooth for avant-garde doom, then the latest collab between Monovoth and Ber Stinco will be the dulce de leche in your alfajores. On Elogio a la Noche, Ber Stinko’s gritty, wavering vocals creep through Monovoth’s desolate musical landscapes. It’s spoken word poetry floating in a syrup of atmospheric drones and funerary melodies. The artists describe the project as a “monument to darkness and introspection.” Every track on this EP is its own tiny universe, but a taught thread runs through each— a struggle between stillness and sound, dreams and nightmares.

The Argentine music scene served up succulent singles and mouth-watering EPs this month. If you’re craving even more Buenos Aires metal, try digging in further with psych slingers DrogulA and sludge fiends Monje. The city of fury bears a feast of devastating doom, and there’s plenty to go around.

[doomanddead]

Ground to Dust with New York's Imrryr

I hope you’re wearing rubber boots because top-notch releases have been dropping out of the sky all month long.

Today we’re shining a spotlight on a smaller band you might have missed -- an icy hailstone of dour drone doom. Imrryr’s latest offering, “By then we'll be dust and the regrets of others,” grapples with the theme of strife under tyranny. Don’t let this one float past without giving it a listen. 

This NY solo project is equal parts hypnotic ambient electronica and soul-crushing funeral doom, mixed thoroughly, and seasoned with a dash of tart political malice. There’s an emphasis on dank, disconsolate riffs. If you’re expecting the songs to be forbidding and cheerless… well, they absolutely are. But that’s not all they are. 

“It” has a dissonant, experimental flavor.

“will” weaves in passages of sweeping cinematic beauty at a creeping pace. 

“not” is a mournful slog with keys prodding you devilishly from behind. It’s an everlasting struggle under oppressive weight.

“be” tags in a big orchestral sound. 

“this” is every bit as majestic and and somber as synths can be. 

“way” is a particular favorite. This track plucks a star from the ether by adding space rock to the mix. Resonant drone and twinkling synths float in the orbit of behemoth riffs. Turn the volume up and lose yourself in the atmosphere.

The album culminates with “forever.” This lengthy dirge plods through a grave-strewn landscape following the wavering light of righteousness in the distance. Forlorn pacing and majestic riffs form a mighty sepulcher. A galloping bridge lifts the flame high. It’s a modern take on the classic pairing of doom metal and an epic struggle. 

This is some grim atmospheric shit. Imrryr digs around in different corners of the doom genre, and roots out the some of the tastiest morsels the mire has to offer. Despite all the darkness, the tracklist offers a speck of hope in a bleak world: It will not be this way forever. 

[doomanddead]

The Top 5 Doom, Drone, and Psych Gems You Missed in April

Our picks for April’s most under-appreciated releases feature some shiny new faces and bands that have rocked our socks before. 

Stoner Doom from Copenhagen

From the world of stoner doom, Goatsmoker brings us the growling single Gods of Gunzilla. The band’s Insta describes the track as “doomy AF.” True to their word, Goatsmoker delivers six minutes of face-squashing, slab-dragging goodness. This trudging track is the second single since their debut album in 2022. 

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Sludge Doom from British Columbia

For those of you who like our doom niiiiiiice and sludgy, it’s time to shake hands with severed arm. Their new 4-track LP, Reaching Murderous for the Banker’s Neck, is visceral and hideous. You won’t be able to turn away. Samples from Werner Herzog movies and other nihilistic works act as sutures keeping this throbbing abomination from leaking pus everywhere. Strap on your PPE and wade into the plodding, down-tuned sludge.

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Psychedelic Metal from Poland

This isn’t the first time we’ve covered a The Howling Eye release, and with the mind-melting psych they’ve been putting out, it probably won’t be the last. This month the Polish trio released a recording of their show at Rifffields Festival 2022. All five songs drip with the energy and sizzle that only a live performance can offer. Things start out introspective and spacey with the medicated track, Erf. Intensity builds. We ride the rainbow for over 13 minutes, staggering through valleys and galloping over riff-topped peaks. The other tracks in the set are cherry-picked from The Howling Eye’s back catalog. Each piece is funkier and more psychotropic than the last. The gods of groove are smiling down at this offering. 

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Psych Rock/Sludge from Phoenix

If sludgy desert rock curls your toes, then Phoenix psych fiends Slow Drawl have what you need. Their debut EP, Pile of Bones, will rattle your teeth and shake your coccyx. The bluesy riffs and punk swagger oozing out of Skeleton King send listeners careening through the Sonoran Desert on a peyote trip for the ages. It’s intoxicated, loose, and brassy. After all, “ Need some flesh. Got shit to do. I’ve got some books that are due back soon.” 

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Drone Doom from Louisiana

Dhyana is a one-man dronesmith who shapes Buddhist meditation and doom metal together like sand in a zen garden. We’ve vibed with his mind-altering heavy drones once before… okay, twice.  Bodhicitta is the band’s eighth full-length album since 2021, yet the sterling quality of Dhyana’s releases never waivers. Commenter Pat said it best, 

“Wake up

See email

Buy Album

Every time.”

Spoken like a true acolyte, Pat. We’re with you.

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Don’t let these chunky nuggets from Goatsmoker, severed arm, The Howling Eye, Slow Drawl, and Dhyana get lost at the bottom of the bucket. Check them out on Bandcamp or wherever you buy music. 

[doomanddead]

March Picks

Hey hey, my little garbage goblins. The moon is waning and the end of the month is nigh. It’s time to talk about the best doom, drone, and psych releases you missed in March.

Some stellar doom metal dropped this month, but there’s one release everyone has been sleeping on. Negation I by Inverted Barrows is 16 straight minutes of heart-wringing, soul-interning funeral doom. This solo project out of Cincinnati is a lumbering slog to the center of hopelessness, complete with ethereal melodies, infernal growls, and pacing so slow that I’m STILL waiting for the next beat to drop. Don’t let the glacial drum beat fool you — Inverted Barrows continually stretches and contracts the tension on this track as if it was its own instrument. If you haven’t yet joined the candlelight vigil for humanity, then hit play and join the procession. 

And incredible bounty of good drone metal dropped in March, but one EP stands apart from the pack. Doom Vigil I by Chthonic Rites was recorded at Old First Reformed Church in Brooklyn, giving it that full, resonant sound that only massive limestone architecture can impart. The sister tracks on this EP, Luna Winds pts. 1 and 2 were recorded live at an event for the weary. The trio weaves a tapestry of sweeping gloom and drained despair. The tracks are as grim as they are hypnotic. The dismal drone and evocative audio on Doom Vigil I are truly a divine pairing. 🙏

If you need a little psychedelic palate cleanser, my recommendation this month is Navegando al Paraiso by Snakes Don’t Belong In Alaska. Drop into SDBIA’s improvised dreamscapes peppered with sounds from the natural world. On Eternal Sunday chirping birds and running water are intertwined with world-melting riffs in a cosmic jam session. My Void is Full of Colour has a mellow folk rock head and a blazing plasma tail. Cosmology and biology collide when snippets of a scientific lecture peek through the kaleidoscopic groove. 

Each of these offerings have tapped into something hypnotic. In a month packed with great releases, these smaller bands encouraged us to make eye contact our despair and wander into the wild. Check them out on Bandcamp and give ‘em some love. 

[doomanddead]

February Picks

We’ve reached the end of February, darklings, and with the passing of another birthday I’m another step closer to the grave. Here’s what cropped up this month (besides that one snow-white pube…)

— FEBRUARY FUNERAL DOOM —

The album that whispered sweet nothings in my ear this month was Pleroma Mortem Est by Monovoth. I’ve covered this Argentinian drone doom project before, but Monovoth continues to set the bar higher with every release. If you’re looking for a soundtrack to our collective plod toward nothingness, then this is it. 

Clamor Resonat is particularly introspective, with a distant howl drawing ever nearer. This funerary slog has the slowest of builds, but manages to avoid predictability at every turn. When the next note finally drops it’s low and slow enough to satisfy the most discerning doomheads.

Despite its brevity, Somnia stands out with its shimmering guitar tone in the sparse atmosphere. It’s unquestionably one of the most beautiful doom arrangements I’ve heard in a while. 

If Somnia is all lunar radiance, then Denique Mors is the dark side of the moon. This one’s an agonized dirge with an experimental spirit. This gritty offering toys with texture and intensity. Brutal guest vocals by Lindsay O’ Connor help usher us through the gates of hell. 

If you like Dylan Carlson’s sound, but wish it was more ponderous and grim, then this shit's for you. These tracks struggle with their own mortality in a sundowning world. Join the procession, and grab this on Bandcamp before your own lights go out.

— A SWEET DRONE RELEASE —

If dark ambient soundscapes are your thing, then you’ll wave your antennae with glee to know that drone master insectarium just dropped the necrophage emerges divine. Wriggle right into this sonic cocoon as we journey through the lowest moments in life and out the other side. Owlripper Recordings is always generous with their music, so scuttle down to the bottom of the Bandcamp page to find the link for a free download code. 

— SAVORY SINGLES —

Long Beach doom cats O ZORN! have been serving up post-hardcore goodness lately with a string of singles. My favorite has got to be Slow Mood. Like the monster that lives in your bedroom, this brooding earworm skulks in the corner, but its hulking frame is impossible to ignore. I swear you’re going to be humming this shit all day.

February also brought us Bow Down by Detroit’s Temple Of The Fuzz Witch. It’s some properly fucking fuzzed-out blackened doom. It’s thick as tar and absolutely vicious. I want to climb into a vat of this and bathe in it until I turn into the creature from the black metal lagoon. 

Until next time, doom fans.

[doomanddead]

The Best Stuff You Missed in 2023

Hold it right there, buddy. I know you’re eager for a fresh start in a new year, but you missed some great shit. Before we close the book on 2023 let’s slather some love on the best releases that flew under the radar this year. Here are the underappreciated doom, drone, and psych picks that got our horns up this year. 🤘

In no particular order…

ACROMANCER by ACROMANCER

If you like your doom with a heaping helping of heavy psych and topped with gritty vocals, then this one’s for you. Kentucky outfit Acromancer serves up weed-soaked riffage and tasty grooves cooked low and slow over a psychedelic flame. The result is a hunk of heavy psych that slides right off the bone, and an aftertaste that kicks you in the teeth. The Influence is a finger-licking combination of spaced-out licks and menacing weight. Spear of Fate is heavy on the overdrive, with chuggy riffs and pack-a-day vocals rumbling over top like a pickup truck over gravel.

LIGHTBEARER by WE FOLLOW THE EARTH

This album should be considered a deadly weapon. Press play, and this one-man doom monster crushes everything in a three-mile radius. It wrestles with the horrors of being adrift in space, weighing its plodding doom sound against hardcore vocals and a whiff of industrial grime. A Broken Vessel is an unsettling sci-fi trip dripping with existential dread. Lightbearer is the most ponderous scream track I’ve heard in a long time. Prepare to be ground into dust.

NADA BRAHMA by MANTRAS

I’ve covered Mantras before, but this year he’s really outdone himself. Nada Brahma is a triumph of atmospheric drone doom. Tracks like Ptah stretch their tentacles into mythology, seizing and assimilating instruments from across the globe. Tibetan throat singing, Indian tanpura and tabla, and classical guitar are just as likely to make an appearance as drums and electric bass. The second half of the album is purely meditative drone. The long tracks compel listeners to zone in and drop out completely. The intelligent compositions and creative sound manipulation in these songs make for some really compelling metal. This one’s a “must buy.”

MOONBATHER by MOONBATHER

Holy face-melting stoner doom, batman! These Canadians are setting fire to the sky and painting the desert with this searing EP. Fans of Kyuss will toke and rejoice. Each of the four tracks on this little hellraiser is nastier and more psychedelic than the last. There’s not a second of this EP that isn’t top shelf shit. From the searing guitar work on U7 to the chug and snarl of Johnny, each song is a swig from a different bottle. The EP culminates with Electrocity. This one reeks of leather, stale beer, and unfiltered cigarettes. The track has the grim countenance and unhurried swagger of a gunslinger ready for death. The rugged vocals dip into blackened territory in just the right moments.10/10, would take this acid trip again.

I, MEGAFAUNA by MAMMOTH CARAVAN

Back in February, Mammoth Caravan released their mighty avalanche of an album, Ice Cold Oblivion. Just six months later, this single dropped with much less fanfare. If you skipped this release you’re making a big mistake. Clocking in at over sixteen minutes, this behemoth is not to be ignored. The track tells the story of an archaeologist who discovers a mammoth and cuts himself on its tusk under the light of the moon. The piece starts out haunting and slow but evolves continually, expanding and contracting like the labored breathing of an enormous beast. I, Megafauna is both alive and unknowable. Blackened vocals kick in, and the song rips itself open in a frenzy of electric ecstasy. The charred, sludgy bits of the song are balanced so carefully so that they never overtake the creeping doomy atmosphere.

Exactly how devastating is this track? It was originally released as a CD attached to a saw blade, and even THAT understates how savage this single is. 

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HONORABLE MENTIONS

Still hungry for more? You little slut…

LOBO IS MUTE by LOBO IS MUTE

This instrumental stoner doom EP from Buenos Aires is rock-solid. Kick back and ride the groove, hash puppies. 

DECAY INTO IRRELEVANCE by UNTIL DEATH OVERTAKES ME

This is stunning atmospheric funeral doom with a darkwave kiss. The band has been around since 1999 and if you haven’t gotten around to checking them out yet, this is your sign. 

THE BREDDA PROJECT by BREDDA

Some dude in Austin, Texas came out with this magnum opus outta’ nowhere. It’s an epic tale of inescapable fate told in doom metal. Sit back with a glass of whisky and enjoy the eighteen-track journey through lands unknown.

WHEN I SIT WITH THE HEARTLESS, THE BANE AVAILS by DAWN BROUGHT SAVIOR

Remember guitar guru Allsiah? Well, he’s partnered up with vocalist P.L.H. to bring you Dawn Brought Savior. Her floating vocals play against his brooding devotional doom-drone for a sound that’s truly otherworldly.

DZOGCHEN by DHYANA

Dhyana has been busy this year, but my favorite release has been the almost forty-eight minute drone exploration, Dzogchen. Primordial ground is said to have the qualities of purity, spontaneity, and compassion. This doom meditation spirals into that concept, delivering listeners deep within. 

DIAMOND TEARS EP by URNA

URNA swings their big Swedish meatballs around with biting sludge doom EP. Believe me, it’s massive.

HIRAETH (single) by NETHERVAULT

I was trying to focus on longer releases for this list, but this single was just too good to ignore. This hulking slab of stoner doom is perfectly hewn and polished to a shine with vocals from Miss Carmen Garcia. I’m hoping we’ll hear more from these Madrid doomers in 2024.

[doomanddead]

Dead Cosmonauts Navigate the Wreckage of a Shattered Future

Here at Doom and Dead we shine a light on the underground doom, drone, and psych acts you’ve never heard of. Every month we choose a new release that deserves more attention than it’s gotten. This month’s pick is from the UK band Dead Cosmonauts. 

We find ourselves living in dark times. Every day we struggle a little harder in a world that’s more expensive, more hateful, and more toxic than ever. Dead Cosmonauts’ first full-length album, Parasomnia feels like a warning, or maybe a premonition, of how much worse things can get. These songs are constantly in flux, shifting between graceful melodies and dissonant noise. But above all, these tracks are undeniably HEAVY. The album was mastered by Cult Of Luna’s Magnus Lindberg, so expect a sound that’s both haunting and forceful. These Sheffield-based doomers offer up a feast of technical musicianship and audacious songwriting that will keep you enthralled from beginning to end. So strap on your gas masks, and step out with me into the post-metal wasteland that is Parasomnia. 

Liminal Space (65 mins REM, vitals = stable) is some moody, chaotic doom. Listening to this track is like dragging your fingertip across a wine glass; the sounds are both resonant and screeching, satisfying and unsettling. The song boasts deadly sharp riffage and decisive drumming, all bathed in a noxious broth of heavy fuzz. The composition shifts into a lower gear as we approach the finish line. Vocal samples from radio presenter Ailbhe Máiréad emerge from the digital snow, painting detail into the post-apocalyptic scene. The weight becomes unbearable, and the song finally buckles under the crushing atmosphere.

Beneath the Choking Sky starts with an ominous drone. Tone and texture form a boundless landscape. In time, the drone gives way to an introspective melody that slowly expands to dominate the space. The track is layered and delicate, but dangerous — a spider’s web that tangles listeners in silvery strands of desperation and despair.

Kenopsia propels the album forward with a digital pulse and an insatiable groove. Odd rhythms and novel drum patterns flare up and burn out rapidly, their short lives leaving stains on the unforgiving environment. The track flirts with intensity, building in magnitude only to pull itself back again. It’s a titillating composition, adroitly and artfully executed. 

In Spirals It Took Everything is a palate cleansing soundscape that weighs the noises of nature against digital human chatter. The vibe ranges from safe and cozy, to wondrous.

Swallowed In Dark Waters is mysterious, plush. It exists in a dim expanse with wafting smoke and the cloying aftertaste of plucked guitar strings. Mania descends and the composition is impassioned, even fanatical. Sumptuous bow work from guest violinist Ruth Nicholson adds spice to the experience. In the wake of this outburst, the mood curdles. Chugging, slow passages are interwoven with bursts of frenzied lunacy. Extra notes jostle for domination in the narrow space of each beat. This piece is nothing if not restless. The tide shifts again and again, pulling us into ever deeper waters. This track is not the longest on the album, but undoubtedly one of the most profound. 

The final offering, A Vision From The Valley Of Dry Bones, starts out insubstantial and jolly as if tapped out on a toy. A heftier layer of instrumentation rolls over the desert, dropping a barrage of gritty guitar riffs and jolting drum work. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls… dyin’ time’s here! Digital effects whiz by like meteorites. This piece fiddles with sound and texture, but remans melodic at every turn.

Nothing remains stationary on Parasomnia. Everything transmutes, changes behavior, and is continually replaced with something new. The bleak and unforgiving realm the band has conjured feels like a very real omen of things to come. The album oozes with narrative, even if the story is up for interpretation.

[doomanddead]

Haurun's Wilting Within Is as Fresh as They Come

I’m convinced that the members of Oakland 5-piece Haurun have sprouted roots. The band has tapped down into the doom, drone, and psych genres to grow a sound that’s all their own. The band’s new album, Wilting Within, is a bouquet of night blooming tracks—each gloomier and more narcotic than the last. Drop the needle with me as we tiptoe into Haurun’s wicked garden. 

The album opens on Abyss. The track slowly manifests from thin air. The creeping tune is spectral, otherworldly. Floating vocals by Lyra Cruz reach across the veil to caress your gray matter. It’s a grim phantasm of a song— the perfect portent of what’s to come. 

Lost & Found is a dose of melancholy distilled down to its purest form, and laced with fuzz. A slow guitar riff rings out with sustain for days. Yet for all of its shoegazing, the composition is surprisingly nimble. This song is a somber stranger murmuring sweet and terrible nothings in your ear.

Tension slithers through the desert with a forked tongue and an audacious attitude. Cruz’s voice twists and dives through the nocturnal landscape. The intensity expands steadily, as the track evolves into a psychedelic trip by firelight. Pay attention to the fierce fucking drum work on this hypnotic offering.

Flying Low keeps the altered state rolling with spaced out guitars, mesmerizing vocals, and a riff that bends and burrows its way through your skull. Get liquified, and let all the colors melt together with this darkly beautiful track. 

Lunar opens on a groovy elastic riff. Anesthetic vocals threaten to waft away, untethered. An instrumental break adds heft to an otherwise buoyant track. 

Clocking in at over 11 minutes, Soil makes for an eloquent closing statement. Drone doom fans are in for a treat here. The plodding pace and weighty hum make this piece absolutely devastating from the get-go. Cruz explores the lower register of her voice. The song takes unexpected twists and turns—gathering energy into a snappy beat and rocking out in psychedelic ecstasy, before slamming on the brakes and wading through the muck in a funerary slog.

Wilting Within is rich with hypnotic grooves, creeping drones, and withering vocals. Every song on this album is a unique and deadly bloom in Haurun’s poison garden. Rarely will you find six tracks so darkly emotive. Wilting Within is destined to be a prized species in any collection.