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The Official Doom Metal Recommendations Thread


RelentlessOblivion

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Moderator's Note: This is the place for all Doom Metal recommendations on Metal Forum.

 

being that I pass over this section every time I visit the forum figured I should find out more about the genre, hoping you guys can shed light on the subject with some solid suggestions, just a side note though, and there are some forumites who will already know this, I'm not overly keen on harsh vocals, if they're well done and coherent it's not an issue but I'm not interested in anything where I can't make out what's being said (not sure whether clean vocals exist in doom but the name seems to indicate no to me) anyway your help is appreciated

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Ok, here's my opening 10 for this doom list. As with the others, I'll try to represent different sides of the genre, and doom has more varied sides than any other in metal IMO, so I'm expecting a bit more hit and miss here. Still the same, I believe they all deserve representation, and even though I'm far from an expert (doom was the metal genre I really got into last), I'll do my best.

 

Amorphis - Tales From the Thousand Lakes:

Amorphis were, as their name implied, a band that was frequently changing. Their debut was death metal with influences of things to come (folk, doom, prog, etc...), and this album, Tales From the Thousand Lakes, was sort of their transition to what they would sound like later. This is probably their doomiest album, if not their heaviest, but still a melodic and original take on doom/death. These are Finnish DM vocals, which are some of the lowest out there (early on anyway), so I'm hoping the music will be what wins you over.

 

Anathema - The Silent Enigma:

Anathema also changed rather quickly, their earliest non-demo material being a raw yet gothic influenced take on doom/death that was heavy as fuck. This album is their last doom/death album, with some of that influence already gone in favor of their later atmospheric approach. As a result, this might be a bit easier to listen to for a new listener than Crestfallen, and Vincent Cavanaugh's vocals are much less harsh than Darren White's. This is one of my favorites of theirs and doom/death in general because of the killer atmosphere, hopefully you'll dig it too.

 

Avernus - Sadness (EP):

This isn't just a plug for our vocalist's former band, this is one of the finest doom/death recordings EVER. You should be familiar with his vocals from our music, but his delivery is even better than it is on our albums. A perfect balance of melody and heaviness, doom/death doesn't get much better than this IMO.

 

Cathedral - The Ethereal Mirror:

This song is from their first stoner album, but it's still very heavy and doomy, this being one of the doomier tracks from that album. The stoner tracks are also very heavy, but much more upbeat and rock influenced. There's nothing wrong with that at all, in fact I might like Midnight Mountain more than this song, but I wanted to list this one because it's heavier.

 

Cirith Ungol - One Foot in Hell:

It could be argued that I should have included this band with the classic heavy metal list, but I've always felt that they were a bit heavier and Black Sabbath influenced than other traditional heavy metal bands. Either way, these guys kick ass, and even if you think they're in the wrong category, I think you'll like them.

 

Confessor - Unraveled:

Confessor released some material in the early 90's, but I don't have any of it, the only one I have is their "comeback" album. This album is awesome though, it's pretty intricate doom metal with great emotive vocals and a unique feel that draws me in, getting the songs stuck in your head for days.

 

Crowbar - Time Heals Nothing:

Crowbar are one of the bands that helped pioneer sludge metal, which is essentially a mixture of doom metal and hardcore punk. This is one of their more straight up doom tracks, but you can expect to find more upbeat hardcore passages and harsher vocals in many of their songs. I'm new to this band, but I loved this album and plan on getting more of their stuff, the crushing atmosphere of this track should tell you why.

 

Down - NOLA:

Down is sonically pretty similar to the member's other bands, like Crowbar, Corrosion of Conformity, Eyehategod, etc..., but with a Southern rock angle. Phil's vocals are a much better fit for this band than Pantera (with the exception of his great performance on Power Metal and arguably Cowboys From Hell), and they get less harsh as the band have progressed through the years. I think the blues and Southern rock sounds really add a lot to this band, otherwise they would probably sound like a pretty typical stoner/sludge band.

 

Electric Wizard - Dopethrone:

Electric Wizard are one of the heaviest and most loved stoner/doom bands out there, Electric Wizard is essential for any doom fan IMO, unless you don't like stoner stuff anyway. I love the huge riffs and massive atmosphere, this is a perfect song to bang your fucking head to.

 

Eyehategod - Dopesick:

 

Eyehategod were another of sludge metal's pioneers, creating one hell of a depressed, drugged out, hateful atmosphere. The vocals are pretty harsh, even for the sludge genre, but the music is fucking catchy and awesome. My brother doesn't like this band because he says it just sounds like somebody screaming over the top of a Black Sabbath song, and ironically that's probably one of the biggest reasons why I like it.

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Re: doom 101 alright well I knew about Amorphis, they're a band that grew on me and became one of my favourites when I was listening to death and black metal all the time and I can't wait to re-add them to my collection, Down I also knew about and really enjoy, Phil's vocals are much better with them then on later Pantera albums, I have heard of Electric Wizard but never really checked out any of their material, I'll get around to the other stuff when I have more spare time but thanks for the suggestions

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Re: doom 101

alright well I knew about Amorphis' date=' they're a band that grew on me and became one of my favourites when I was listening to death and black metal all the time and I can't wait to re-add them to my collection, Down I also knew about and really enjoy, Phil's vocals are much better with them then on later Pantera albums, I have heard of Electric Wizard but never really checked out any of their material, I'll get around to the other stuff when I have more spare time but thanks for the suggestions[/quote'] Make sure to give me your initial impression when you have them so I can weed out anything that's not going to work for you at all. This will help me give better future recommendations.
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Re: doom 101 Waiting for a driver to get back, and the next couple days look like they're going to be insane, so here's some doom vids.

 

Goatsnake - I:

Goatsnake were one of the bands that formed after the demise of Thorr's Hammer, the other being Burning Witch. Burning Witch are pretty awesome extreme sludge/doom, while Goatsnake is more stoner/doom minded, which is much more upbeat.

 

Hooded Menace - Fulfill the Curse:

Hooded Menace are a newer doom/death band that focus on more of a raw combination of doom and death metal, sounding a bit like early Candlemass and Cathedral mixed with Autopsy. The vocals are pretty low, but I don't find them to be too difficult to understand. The music definitely has and old horror movie vibe to it, sounding old and spooky, but not dated.

 

Katatonia - Dance of December Souls:

Katatonia's Dance of December Souls is probably my favorite doom album all around, with a staggeringly beautiful and insanely depressing atmosphere. Blakkheim's melodies are some of the best in all of metal IMO, and the songs themselves are absolutely entrancing. This is their doomiest album, with Brave Murder Day retaining some doom elements, but showing the atmospheric rock direction they would transition into, much like Anathema. Jonas' vocals are pretty raw, the band actually changed directions because he destroyed his voice, but he's pretty easy to understand.

 

Memento Mori - Life, Death, and Other Morbid Tales:

Memento Mori were formed after Messiah left Candlemass. The sound is a bit like his time in Candlemass mixed with late 80's/early 90's power metal, but not quite as good as the albums he did with Candlemass. His vocals still sound awesome, the music is epic and heavy, and the songs are all well performed.

 

Morgion - Solinari:

Morgion were one of the first and best American doom/death bands. They were maybe a bit less gothic and a bit more atmospherically minded than their English counterparts like Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride, but were still incredibly heavy with a great balance of melody. They alternate harsh growls and haunting clean vocals, in much the same way that they change from distorted to clean passages. EDIT: The first video I posted has been removed from Youtube, so this is not the same song that was in this place before. It is, however, still excellent, like all of their other work.

 

My Dying Bride - Turn Loose the Swans:

My Dying Bride are probably the most well known doom/death band, though much of the death metal portion of that equation faded early on, though not quite to the extent of their label mates Paradise Lost and Anathema who departed from metal altogether. They became more of a gothic/doom metal band, but were still very heavy and true to their foundations, this album being the bridge from their raw early stage to their modern sound. This is still my favorite song of theirs.

 

Neurosis - Souls At Zero:

Neurosis were one of the earliest sludge bands, with riffs and distortion that may have been less heavy than the pioneering bands of New Orleans area, but with a much larger and more oppressive atmosphere. This is from their earlier era, when they were at their heaviest, though they have since mellowed out a great deal, creating more tension with their clean passages and building their songs slowly. This is not a band for everyone, I hear nearly all strong opinions for them, they're either loved or hated, it's almost never in between.

Novembers Doom - Of Sculptured Ivy and Stone Flowers:

Novembers Doom are one of the best known American doom/death metal bands, but unfortunately achieved most of their popularity after they stopped playing doom metal. Their early work is great and originally played doom/death somewhat similar to Avernus, with an amazing sense of melody. Paul Kuhr is noted for being one of the best growlers at enunciating every word, so he's very easy to understand.

 

October Tide - Rain Without End:

October Tide were formed as sort of a side project to Katatonia, and has a very similar sound, but with a bit more sonic proximity to the Swedish melodeath scene. The music is very melodic and well performed, but I'd be lying if I said that I liked it every bit as much as Katatonia. Still, it's well worth listening to if you like the style.

 

Paradise Lost - Shades of God:

Paradise Lost were one of the very first doom/death bands, falling a bit farther towards the death metal side of that equation on their debut, and then quickly evolving into one of the most influential bands towards non-traditional doom in the 90's. The debut is probably my favorite, but this album is my favorite of their doomier works, and it's somewhere in between where they began and where they would end up on Draconian Times. Nick's vocals were sort of half way between a growl and the sort of James Hetfield type approach he had later.

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Re: doom 101

Quote
A good rule of thumb is to avoid the trad shit. Most of it sounds like Black Sabbath worship anyway. Stick with the Death' date=' Funeral, Drone & Gothic styles and you'll find the music very rewarding.[/quote] I disagree, as while all doom, they each have something very different to offer. This is why doom has become one of my favorite metal subgenres, it has more variety and sides to it's musical spectrum than any other genre in metal, maybe even in all of music.
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Re: doom 101 you two disagreeing? what a surprise (there has got to be a way of conveying sarcasm through text), anyway I've got nothing better to do so I'm listening through suggestions, liked most of what you put in your first vid list BAN, particularly Avernus, didn't like Eyehategod all that much and honestly at this point can't see myself buying their albums

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Re: doom 101

liked most of what you put in your first vid list BAN' date=' particularly Avernus, didn't like Eyehategod all that much and honestly at this point can't see myself buying their albums[/quote'] Avernus was great and I hate that I never got to see them live. EHG is an acquired taste, Sludge in general is. If you are interested in less "intense" Sludge I could offer some other bands.
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Re: doom 101 Sludge was the side of doom that took me the longest to get into, and it's probably because I was previously only open to a couple of punk/metal fusions in the past (those being crossover and grindcore), but I've really been digging sludge lately. EHG's vocals are really intense though, Crowbar is probably a better place to start for sludge.

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Re: doom 101 and just when I thought I was over my issue with harsh vocals too lol, I think it will take a lot longer for me to warm to sludge (if it happens at all), Crowbar were better but I'm still not overly keen on it just yet, I'll probably give sludge another go once/if I get to the end of this gigantic list I have but in the meantime I'm probably going to skip over any other sludge bands you've included in here

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Re: doom 101

and just when I thought I was over my issue with harsh vocals too lol' date=' I think it will take a lot longer for me to warm to sludge (if it happens at all), Crowbar were better but I'm still not overly keen on it just yet, I'll probably give sludge another go once/if I get to the end of this gigantic list I have but in the meantime I'm probably going to skip over any other sludge bands you've included in here[/quote'] I'll keep that in mind and skip sludge bands in future recommendations.
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Re: doom 101 ok BAN just went through your second list, my favourite track there was "A Slow Succumbing, but I also really enjoyed Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, November's Doom, and actually the only two bands I didn't much care for were Neulosis and October Tide, Sludge is most definately beyond my tastes I think, and I don't know there was just something about October Tide that I didn't like, but I can't figure out what it is

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Re: doom 101

ok BAN just went through your second list' date=' my favourite track there was "A Slow Succumbing, but I also really enjoyed Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, November's Doom, and actually the only two bands I didn't much care for were Neulosis and October Tide, Sludge is most definately beyond my tastes I think, and I don't know there was just something about October Tide that I didn't like, but I can't figure out what it is[/quote'] Sweet, wasn't sure how you would take to doom/death, but I guess if you like our stuff and those guys were some of the artists that inspired us I shouldn't be too surprised. We kind of take doom/death in a different direction though, a few more old school heavy metal/thrash riffs and busier arrangements with less minimalism and more different lines working together, which some people have called a "progressive" or "avant-garde" sensibility. October Tide were probably the closest to melodeath on that list and were one of the least heavy, so I'm not too surprised that it didn't do it for you.
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