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The Official Doom Metal Recommendations Thread


RelentlessOblivion

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  • 2 weeks later...

Re: doom 101

THIS THREAD IS FOR SUGGESTIONS ONLY!!! DO NOT POST SUCH MEANINGLESS COMMENTS IN THIS THREAD OR ANY OTHER INTENDED TO PROVIDE MYSELF AND OTHERS SUGGESTIONS FOR BANDS IN PARTICULAR STYLES AGAIN OR I WILL REPORT YOU TO THE MODS OF THIS SITE AS A TROLL thank you
Don't feed the troll. Also, now that I'm tapped on thrash and heavy/power reco's for the moment, maybe I'll see if I can add some more here.
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Re: doom 101 Continuing on with these recommendations, enjoy:

Pentagram - Day of Reckoning:

Pentagram were one of the first doom metal bands along with Black Sabbath, but every time they were on the cusp of success, they would self sabotage and have to start over again. This song dates back to the early 70's, but their first album was not released until '85, this one being on their 2nd album from '87. Similar to Sabbath, but with more of a mournful tone, awesome stuff.

 

Reclusiam - Reclusiam:

Awesome funeral doom/death from our friend Ryan Henry, this is the band that we were trying to do the split release with, but it seems to have fallen through. Either way, his sole album thus far is awesome, and is probably a good way to get into the funeral doom genre because of the large doom/death presence still in the sound, and the precision and clarity of the sound makes it feel a bit more accessible than many of the harsher bands. Melodic, sullen, and impressive, with great ambient sections too.

 

Reverend Bizarre - In the Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend:

Reverend Bizarre are a traditional doom metal band, but they're a great deal slower and heavier than many of their contemporaries and influences. The vocals are clean and clear, and are a bit over the top sometimes, but I find them to be quite enjoyable. Big songs and big riffs for the win.

 

Runemagick - Darkness Death Doom:

Runemagick began as a Swedish death metal band that progressively took on more and more doom metal influences. This album is a pretty good balance of doom and death metal, meaty, dark, and nasty sounding stuff. Lots of tremolo picked death metal sections and big heavy doom grooves, and a great balance of melodies between the two as well. An excellent and underrated band.

 

Skepticism - Lead and Aether:

This was the first funeral doom song I ever heard, and was basically what sold me on the entire genre. It really sounds like doom from a funeral, huge eerie organs, massively slow and depressing guitars, minimal drums, and dark, despair ridden vocals. They're more ambient and melodic than many of the other early funeral doom bands, so they're probably the easiest to get into straight away, I'll probably leave the Thergothon recommendations for later.

 

Solitude Aeturnus - Through the Darkest Hour:

Solitude Aeturnus were one of the first bands to walk in Candlemass's footsteps, but were far from a clone, with their own original and somewhat progressive take on epic doom. The riffs and songwriting are both excellent, but it's the vocals that really take it to the next level, as Rob Lowe probably has one of the greatest voices in doom metal. Amazing band.

 

Solstice - Lamentations:

Solstice played epic and triumphant sounding doom metal, with a bit of a folk influence to the melodies. Those melodies are quite sorrowful and extremely well written, and weave well between the clean soaring vocals and the guitars. I really with this band had produced more than two albums, as both are great.

Spirit Caravan - Jug Fulla Sun:

Spirit Caravan is one of Wino's many projects, with a bit more of a stoner vibe than his older works. This one didn't click with me immediately, but I now feel that this is one of his best bands, but all of them that I've heard are pretty awesome. It manages a great balance between an ethereal feel and a more down to earth approach, it's mystical, yet you can relate to it, very cool stuff.

Swallow the Sun - The Morning Never Comes:

Swallow the Sun are a doom/death metal band with a rather large emphasis on melody. The presence of the keyboards is larger than with most doom/death bands, and the riffs and leads work together with the keyboards to build a rather large wall of melancholic melody. The result is some extremely beautiful and sad sounding stuff, with the debut that this song is from being my favorite of theirs.

 

The Gates of Slumber - The Wretch:

The Gates of Slumber are a traditional doom band that are probably the most successful I've heard at sounding like a doom band from the 70's. There's something about this that screams old school, but it doesn't sound like a retro band paying tribute. Definitely one of the better traditional doom metal bands around today. EDIT: The original song that I had posted has been removed from Youtube, as have most of their studio works. However, this song is more than a fitting replacement, everything I have heard from this band has been of consistently high quality.

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  • 1 month later...

Re: doom 101 This may be a bit out of turn with the rest of the overall doom recs, but I still figured it would be better to put these funeral doom recs here and try to keep all of my suggestions in one place so they're easy to find. Anyway, here are some of my favorite funeral doom bands that should be a good starting place:

 

Ahab - The Divinity of Oceans:

Moderator's Note: original video (The Divinity Of Oceans) no longer on youtube,

Ahab's debut was a great, if not totally original funeral doom album, but I feel that they really hit their stride with their second album, The Divinity of Oceans. Not only is the production much better this time around, the songwriting has made some large advancements, having integrated more atmospheric passages and tempo changes for a more diverse listen. Fairly melodic and accessible, probably a good funeral doom metal band to cut your teeth on if the extreme stuff isn't your forte just yet.

 

Catacombs - In the Depths of R'Lyeh:

Catacombs came from the ashes of Hierophant, one of the US's earliest funeral doom metal bands. They never recorded much, and while what they did record is great, the sound is pretty rough, so I thought it best to start here. One man minimal funeral doom, well produced and performed, with a very bleak and creepy sound, I really wish they would make more music.

 

dISEMBOWELMENT - dISEMBOWELMENT (compilation):

dISEMBOWELMENT may or may not count as a "proper" funeral doom metal band, but their sound has obviously been one of the largest influences on the genre. They did have some bursts of higher speeds, but the album mostly trudges along at a pretty slow tempo, with tones of ambient elements and beautiful atmospheres to go with the extremely heavy riffs and vocals. Easily one of the best albums ever made in any genre ever, this album is nothing short of a masterpiece.

 

Esoteric - Epistemological Despondency:

Esoteric are an immensely heavy, drugged out sounding funeral doom/death metal band, with some pretty twisted sounding atmospheres and riffs. Definitely one of the uglier and less melodic sounding funeral doom bands out there, they're also one of the best, but definitely less accessible than many others.

 

Evoken - Embrace the Emptiness:

Evoken are another of my favorite bands in the funeral doom genre, and are almost always recognized as one of the best bands in the field. They are really more of a funeral doom/death metal band, but have very strong influences from Thergothon and dISEMBOWELMENT. They're also extremely consistent, all of their albums that I've heard have been magnificent, but I have to give the slight edge to this debut full length, Embrace the Emptiness.

 

Shape of Despair - Angels of Distress:

Shape of Despair are a Finnish funeral doom metal band featuring Pasi Koskinen of Amorphis on harsh vocals. Also of note, is that they're a great deal more melodic than many of their contemporaries, utilizing the keyboards a bit more centrally and composing more melodic guitar lines. This does not take away from the totally dreary atmosphere though, on the contrary, it paints a quite beautiful, yet depressing sonic portrait. They also tend to use a different guitar pattern than other funeral doom metal bands, with more 8th note sets of chords as opposed to long, ringing notes, almost like Katatonia's Brave Murder Day in a funeral doom setting. To anyone else who is looking to get into funeral doom, this band is a great starting place due to their accessibility, but they still carry many of the genre's hallmarks and make for quite a melancholic listen.

 

Stabat Mater - Stabat Mater:

Stabat Mater is the solo funeral doom effort of Mikko Aspa of Clandestine Blaze and Deathspell Omega fame. As his main genre is black metal, it seems fitting that the atmosphere of his funeral doom metal band is quite evil and black metal sounding. This is really dark, heavy, creepy sounding stuff, definitely not for the faint of heart.

 

Thergothon - Stream from the Heavens:

Thergothon were the first funeral doom metal band, and their album still stands as a testament to what the genre should aim for. Miserably slow, incredibly heavy, and compellingly atmospheric. There is certainly the sorrowful feel that has become synonymous with funeral doom here, but one thing the bands that they've inspired have (mostly) failed to mimic here is the absolutely unearthly/alien feel of this album. This is doom from another universe, created by beings that don't belong on this planet, and what an extraordinary creation it is. _

 

Worship - Last Tape Before Doomsday:

Worship has got to be one of the most depressing and mournful sounding bands to ever exist. Every time I listen to them, I'm overcome with feelings of grief and pain, their emotions were so tangibly dumped into their recordings, they drag you right down with them. Fucked Up Mad Max killed himself after this was recorded, and in hindsight you can tell how close he was to that by listening to this album. Absolutely crushing and miserable.

 

Ysigim - Whispers:

Ysigim were a Polish funeral doom that not much is known about. They released a tape album, and then this album, Whispers, which is basically the same thing with a few live tracks tacked onto the end featuring the band's later sound. The later tracks are pretty lame honestly, poorly written gothic rock/metal IMO, but the album tracks are stunning. This is pretty fuzzy sounding funeral doom, carrying with it some of that alien weirdness that Thergothon were tapping into, but in a bit of a different way. Great and engrossing music, something you can really get lost in.

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Re: doom 101 Based on your usual listening preferences, I would bet that you probably didn't favor the more minimal/vicious sounding bands here, but Shape of Despair seems like it would fall right in line with what you enjoy. I would also be surprised if you didn't like Ahab and Evoken, and I didn't put Skepticism and Reclusiam with this last batch of funeral recs because I mentioned them with my last general doom post, but I'd bet you would like both of them as well.

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Re: doom 101 That Ysigim still shows up every now and then even though it was pressed by the infamous Wild Rags. I love it it's got a unique almost shamanic feel due to the ambient influence, its definitely one of the most unique doom metal albums I've ever heard. Worship's stuff isn't too expensive for being oop either for being between 20-30$, might be worth it if this is your favorite style of music.

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Re: doom 101 I too know of a band called Serenity but they're a symphonic power/prog band from Austria so I doubt we're talking about the same band and Blut I actually liked all of these, didn't want to comment until I'd listened through them all but I really see what you mean regarding Thergothen, doesn't sound like something humans could craft

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Re: doom 101 It really is a unique sound that they've crafted, one I've never heard duplicated. I'm not totally surprised that you liked all of them, but I am glad that you did. Honestly NTNR is the best source for funeral doom recs, as those bands constitute most of my knowledge in the genre, but he has far more funeral doom in his collection than I do. However, as you've seen, the quality of the recs may not be as consistent.

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  • 2 months later...

Haven't posted here in a bit, maybe some more doom recs are in order.

 

The Hidden Hand - Mother Teacher Destroyer:

One of Wino's many projects, The Hidden Hand is definitely along the same high quality lines as his many other doom metal bands. This band, along with Spirit Caravan, are probably the most stoner doom oriented, but this is still heavy and deep, with Wino's trademark personal style. Not much to say really, except that Wino can do no wrong, so this is hardly a bad band to add to your collection. EDIT: The original song that I posted is no longer on Youtube. However, here is another awesome track from the same album.

 

The Obsessed - Lunar Womb:

The Obsessed was Wino's first band, but only recorded some demo and EP material before breaking up, at which point Wino would join Saint Vitus and become well known in the doom world. The Obsessed is probably the most rocking and old school sounding of his bands that I've heard, but that does come with a higher degree of catchiness, as songs like this get stuck in your head for quite a while. As with all of Wino's projects, this shouldn't be missed.

 

Theatre of Tragedy - Theatre of Tragedy:

Theatre of Tragedy were one of the first metal bands to employ operatic female vocals (Paradise Lost might have been earlier, but they didn't use them anywhere near as frequently), and were probably the band responsible for starting that vein of gothic metal. Their early works are very elegant gothic doom/death metal, but after their first two albums, they would drop the doom/death entirely for a completely gothic rock/metal sound. Their first two albums are quite good though, with a great balance of heaviness and classical melody.

 

Thorr's Hammer - DoDommedagsnatt (EP):

Thorr's Hammer were an awesome, if short lived, doom/death metal band with some of the best female growls I've ever heard. I know that I've mentioned them a few times before, but they definitely deserve their place here, as their sole EP is phenomenal. This is the first band of Greg Anderson and Steven O'Malley, who would later become famous for their many other doom contributions (Sunn O))), Goatsnake, Burning Witch, Khanate, etc...), but I still feel that this is one of their best projects. Slow, heavy as fuck, brutal sounding doom/death, topped off with Runhild's excellent vocals. Prepare to be crushed.

 

Tiamat - Clouds:

Tiamat were one of the oldest Swedish extreme metal bands. They started as a band called Treblinka, a black metal band that would eventually develop into death metal around the time that they changed their name to Tiamat. Tiamat's second album was a bit doomier and more melodic, as was their third album Clouds, which is a pretty gloomy melodic doom/death metal album. After this, they would shed the death metal altogether for the melodic metal album Wildhoney, then they ventured into full on progressive/gothic rock territory for their later offerings. While I do still like albums like A Deeper Kind of Slumber, this is still their best sound to me.

 

Trouble - Psalm 9:

In addition to being one of the first bands in the 80's to revive the doom metal stylings of Black Sabbath, they were also the best, with their first 4 albums being totally essential doom metal. Their debut album Psalm 9 and their self titled fourth album are two of my favorite doom metal albums ever, this is stuff that no doom fan should be without. There are tons of great heavy riffs, unique vocals, excellent songwriting, everything here is just perfect.

 

Unearthly Trance - Electrocution:

Unearthly Trance are a sludge metal band, but before you go writing them off, they're not exactly the same as the sludge I've posted earlier. They don't have much hardcore in their sound and are on the doomier end of the sludge spectrum, in addition to bearing a bit of sonic resemblance to Celtic Frost and having some more progressive writing and riffing tendencies. Give it a chance before you let the sludge tag think in, maybe they'll help to ease you in to some of the nastier sounding bands in the genre, as I know that sludge was a grower for me too.

 

Unholy - The Second Ring of Power:

Unholy were one of the most original and creepy Finnish doom metal bands of the 90's. Their early work was quite influential to funeral doom, even if it wasn't technically funeral doom itself, it's more like a progressive and drawn out black/doom hybrid. Eerie atmospheres, dissonant riffs, painful vocals, it's not easy stuff to listen to, but I count them among my favorite doom metal bands for their unique and disturbing atmospheres.

 

Virgin Black - Elegant...and Dying:

Virgin Black are one of my favorite Australian metal bands, and although this release is not indicative of their usual style, I figured it would be the easiest one to get you into their sound. They're typically a symphonic gothic/doom metal band, but for this album decided to focus on their early doom/death influences, giving us an album similar in sound to the first albums of the Peaceville 3. I do prefer their symphonic material to this actually, and you can hear shades of that here, but their standard sound is much moodier, more melodic, and features lots of clean vocals and symphonic instruments.

 

40 Watt Sun - The Inside Room (EP):

40 Watt Sun are a newer doom metal band to arise from the ashes of the cult band Warning. Their sound is similar to Warning's (or at least what I've heard), they play a very slow and heavy, yet extremely melodic and emotive variety of doom metal. The vocals are pain soaked, but in a more heartfelt and soft way than you would normally hear associated with this kind of music. This is a very serene and melancholic album, and despite long songs and repetition, it really has a way of drawing me in and enveloping me in its sad mood. Good stuff.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Re: doom 101 I'm currently working on more video recommendations for this thread, but there are already 40 or 50 videos here of different bands that you can check out anytime. There is a solid section of funeral doom bands by request, but the rest is varied between epic, traditional, stoner, sludge, doom/death, and funeral, just about every side of doom is represented. Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

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Re: doom 101 Murph, I've already started, but the songs take longer to get through in this section than the others (I like to listen through them before posting to make sure that they don't cut out or anything), but I can go back to BM or whatever else you would like more of when it's done. Forge, Glad you liked them, there are a bunch of other doom/death bands in the list similar to them, like My Dying Bride, Avernus, Paradise Lost, Novembers Doom, Morgion, Pyogenesis, and others. If you like that style, also give my band Nevertanezra a listen, we're doom/death and are inspired by those bands. Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

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Re: doom 101

I was meaning for all these threads' date=' there's so much stuff here I just don't have the funds to keep up[/quote'] Trust me dude, I'm in the same boat. The other forum I've been on has been down for a week, so I haven't been as backed up with stuff from them, but it just never seems to end. Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2
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