Altareth - Passage - The Welfare Sessions (Album Review)

Release Date: November 15th 2024. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD

Passage - The Welfare Sessions - Track Listing:

1.Passage 03:57

2.Archetypes 04:53

3.The Stars 04:31

4.Singapore 05:08

5.Pilgrim 03:19

6.Nico 05:33

7.Recluse 06:24

Members

Patrik Strömberg - Vocals

Niklas Sörum - Guitar

Sven Lindqvist - Guitar

Mats Lindgren - Bass

Vigfus Valgeirsson - Drums

Review

Swedish Doom/Stoner Metallers Altareth return with Passage - The Welfare Sessions that manage to conjure up a storm of OCCULT and seedy grooves that has a grimy 1970’s Proto-Doom essence to them. Truth be told, this follows a similar path to their acclaimed 2021 debut album Blood which is a good thing, as the band have a winning creative platform to build their demonic ideas with. The music has a heavier, fuller and meaner attitude with the instrumental sounds being quite DENSE, MURKY and PSYCHEDELIC with nods to bands such as Electric Wizard, Monolord, Black Sabbath and Uncle Acid never being too far away.

Everything is played HEAVY, DOWN-TUNED and LOUD with slow-paced instrumental movements appearing at various stages of the album. The vocals are clear and crisp but with a DEVIL MAY CARE attitude to them. The production values are slightly more stripped back compared to Blood which isn’t surprising since  everything was laid down and recorded through pure live takes.

There’s a classic 1970’s Doom Metal energy to this album especially on tracks such as: Passage, Archetypes and Singapore. The lyrics are way more fantastical which elevates the Psychedelic and Kinetic parts of the music to heavier distorted rhythms and heights that allow Altareth to demonstrate first rate musical solos across the board.

With Uncle Acid opting for an orchestral style of music with their recent overblown record, it’s great to hear a band that sticks to the winning formula of Classic Doom Metal spliced with vibes of modern day Psych Rock that’s bounded by an intense blend of haunting Post-Doom melodies and bombastic Sludge Rock sounds that gives Passage - The Welfare Sessions a muscular flow on the second half of the album.

Classic Doom Storytelling plays a big part within this album with Altareth aiming for a great way of writing lyrics that focus upon dealing with the Occult and Macabre atmospherics which become a huge deal for the band providing some of the heaviest, spookiest and trippiest sounds of the record. Other standout tracks include: Pilgrim and Recluse that allows this record to be the perfect follow up to their celebrated debut album and within time perhaps become considered their best offering to date.

Words by Steve Howe

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Molarbear - ERASUREHEAD (Single Review)

Release Date: December 11th 2024. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD

ERASUREHEAD - Track Listing:

ERASUREHEAD

Members

Rowan Morrey

Andy Morrison

Adi Henderson

Dara Monaghan

Dave Boyd

Review

ERASUREHEAD is the third single from Northern Ireland’s MOLARBEAR and it’s another destructive path of Sludgy grooves fuelled by GLOOM obsessive NOISE ROCK passages. The track takes a slightly different turn compared to their previous tracks of Translucent Tusk and Felt It. MOLARBEAR are in inspired form channelling sounds from bands such as WHORES, The Melvins and Faith No More in places. The sound is helped along by weird sounding electronic beats which adds a slightly offbeat measure to their music.

The familiar vibes of Doom, Stoner, Psych and Alt Metal sounds are there with quite a Punk Rock sound which sees them venture into areas of music that PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS inject into their music. ERASUREHEAD offers spiky lyrics and harsh vocal arrangements at times with the warped thrash surroundings that allows MOLARBEAR to release a different sounding track once again.

I’m hoping there’s an End Game in sight as we don’t know if this is building upto a new full length album or EP further down the line. Though, three tracks into this exciting musical adventure, MOLARBEAR are keeping those plans close to their chests and deliver perhaps release their most exciting song yet.

Words by Steve Howe

Links

Facebook | BandCamp | Twitter | Instagram

US ‘Doom Pop’ outfit SOM announce reinventive new album, ‘Let the Light In’

U.S. ‘DOOM POP’ OUTFIT SOM ANNOUNCE REINVENTIVE NEW ALBUM, ‘LET THE LIGHT IN’

CATHARTIC AND CONCUSSIVE, SINGLE ‘GIVE BLOOD’ SPEAKS OF LESSONS LEARNED

SOM - Credit: Mike Repasch-Nieves

>> PREORDER ‘LET THE LIGHT IN’ << /  >> LISTEN TO GIVE BLOOD NOW <<

SOM have announced the release of their third full-length album, ‘Let The Light In’, on March 14th 2025 through Berlin left-field label Pelagic Records.

With a unique sound dubbed “Doom Pop” by Metal Injection, SOM’s dreamy shoegaze roots are on display across ‘Let The Light In’ but there is heft at its core that is bracing and ferocious. If the band’s debut album ‘The Fall’ explored hitting rock bottom and sophomore release ‘The Shape of Everything’ grappled with the ever-darkening world around us, ‘Let The Light In’ sees SOM turn their sights inward, towards our most primal impulses; seeking solace and reconciliation from the vibrancy within ourselves and the people we hold close.

Adversity became the catalyst for change when, due to unforeseen circumstances, the band’s founding drummer left midway through the album’s writing and recording process. SOM took the remainder of 2023 to reshape and refocus, eventually re-recording most of the album in a new configuration that allowed them to paint in even broader sonic strokes. The result is a raw but richly melodic album unafraid to travel through the depths of human emotion, ultimately guiding us towards growth and enlightenment.

Serving as a reinvigorated statement of intent, lead single ‘Give Blood’ unleashes a barrage of post-metal, high gain distortion and pummeling drums before opening up into a panoramic, cloudbusting chorus that sees duelling guitars and vocalist Will Benoit’s tender yet commanding voice freely intertwined; spiralling ever upwards.

To accompany this brand new song, SOM has unveiled a music video with a particularly cinematic feel, directed by Alex Pace (Blood Incantation, Wayfarer, Abrams...). The video features an anonymous couple in a series of intense, dreamlike shots crossed by swirls of light. But abruptly, a darker side appears, counterbalancing this idyll. A sumptuous video that seems to invite viewers to make their own interpretation of it.

Since 2019, SOM have toured extensively across North America, Europe and the UK alongside acts including Katatonia, Solstafir, Slow Crush and many more. This relentless live commitment across 21 countries, coupled with 2023’s introspective restructuring, has profoundly altered their creative approach.

As they began working on this new material, the members of SOM found themselves in a fresh headspace, armed with a newfound, hard-earned maturity. Let The Light In is SOM's testament to resilience and evolution. Born from challenge and change, the album pulses with confidence and catharsis, imploring the listener and the band themselves to traverse the darkness and find the light.

‘Let The Light In’ is released on the 14th of March, 2025. ‘Give Blood’ is out now.

SOM ’s Will Benoit on ‘Give Blood’:

“It’s a sort of post-pandemic reflection on kindness and how we treat one another. The idea came while I was laying on a table actually giving blood. It occurred to me how kind someone would have to be to be doing this during a pandemic. I started to think about how many people were doing awful things at that time, spreading misinformation and just generally being horrible people in society. I continue to want to do everything I can to not be that person, I want to be the kind of person who ‘gives blood’."

Official | Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Thanks to Pelagic Records for the details.

Doom/Stoner Metallers YEAR OF THE COBRA reveal first video single 'War Drop' and details of self-titled new album "Year of the Cobra"

YEAR OF THE COBRA premiere the video 'War Drop' as the first single taken from their forthcoming new full-length. "Year of the Cobra", the third album of Seattle's doom sludge duo has been slated for release on February 28, 2025.

You can hear/watch the new single/video for WAR DROP below:

YEAR OF THE COBRA comment: "​​The track 'War Drop' was the last song that we recorded with Matt Bayles", vocalist and bass player Amy Barrysmith explains. "I honestly did not think that it was going to make the album when we were listening to it as a demo. After Matt had worked his genius, we ended up choosing it to be our first single. It's funny how things work out sometimes. I like this song because it has a little unexpected time change and I love nerding out on things like that."

Tracklist

1. Full Sails

2. War Drop

3. Daemonium

4. Alone

5. 7 Years

6. The Darkness

7. The Sleep

8. Prayer

Guitars, who needs guitars in heavy music? At least YEAR OF THE COBRA can happily do without the ones that have only thin strings and are mostly good for fiddling around. Vocalist Amy Tung Barrysmith gets a massive groove and lush heaviness out of her bass, which is more than enough to fuel the booming twin engine made from doom metal and psychedelic sludge that drives their self-titled third full-length.

"Year of the Cobra" has clearly grown out of its two forerunners "...in the Shadows Below" (2016) and "Ash and Dust" (2019), but it also surpasses them. YEAR OF THE COBRA have honed their songwriting, which is more to the point, and produces catchy yet super heavy tunes that are tailor-made to fit the band's strongest aspects. Amy Tung Barrysmith's rich alto and the seamless rhythmical rapport between her bass lines and Jon Barrysmith's emotive drumming come to the fore.

YEAR OF THE COBRA were formed in Seattle in 2015, although the two musicians had already met at a Halloween gig in 2007 where they played in different bands. They started talking a little later and discovered a mutual liking for ultra-heavy music. Originally, the duo planned to bring in a guitarist but soon found that things worked well without one. What started out as a little side project with some jamming on special occasions, like birthdays or anniversaries, slowly but inevitably grew into a band – although that had never been the intention.

While duo acts such as BÖLZER and MANTAR had started to grow in popularity, YEAR OF THE COBRA had to carve out their own niche, which they did with deceptively seeming ease. They created a sound that effortlessly ranged from classic doom melancholy to oppressively heavy riff architectures. YEAR OF THE COBRA went on to transform catchy, almost upbeat rock moments into swirling psychedelia. After setting an exclamation mark behind their name mainly in the US with the debut full-length "...in the Shadows Below", the duo went on to establish their brand internationally with the sophomore album "Ash and Dust".

With the ground firmly prepared, YEAR OF THE COBRA are ready for the next step as their self-titled third full-length irrefutably proves. The super heavy "Year of the Cobra" gets her fangs into the ears and won't let go. Heads are forced to bang, but hey – what could be more fun?

Band: Year of the CobraAlbum title: Year of the Cobra
Release date: February 28, 2025
Style: Doom & Sludge Metal
Label: Prophecy Productions
Review Impact Date: January 27, 2025

Line-up

Amy Tung Barrysmith – vocals, bass, keyboards
Johanes Barrysmith – drums

Produced & engineered by Matt Bayles at Studio Litho, Seattle, WA (US)
Mixing by Matt Bayles at The Red Room, Seattle, WA (US)
Mastering by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege, Portland, OR (US)

Links

www.facebook.com/yearofthecobraband
www.instagram.com/yearofthecobra

Available formats

"Year of the Cobra" is available Digipak CD, as a black vinyl LP, as a crystal clear vinyl LP, and as a smokey marbled vinyl LP.

Shop - http://lnk.spkr.media/year-of-the-cobra-yotc

Thanks to Prophecy Productions for all of the details.

SUMO - III (Album Review)

Release Date: December 13th 2024. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD

III - Track Listing:

1. Alyssa (5:50)

2. IPCRESS (5:40)

3. SETI3 (1:39)

4. Shadow of Antiope (5:10)

5. Eta Carinae (6:48)

6. Apophis (5:10)

7. SETI4 (0:47)

8. Cygnus (3:40)

9. Enceladus (6:44)

Members

Amado Ventura: Bass

Hector Mojena: Drums

Chris Salazar: Guitar

Review

Heavy Instrumental Space Rockers SUMO return with their third length album imaginatively titled “III” where the band continue their deep musical exploration into the far reaches of Post-Rock, Cosmic Rock, Shoegaze, Stoner Rock and Psych Rock sounds with a rich Progressive Rock flair appearing along the way. SUMO develop and orchestrate a rich Sludge Rock heavy direction which allows III to be superbly heavy when the time calls for this with sublime guitars that’s quite familiar for fans of music who follow the Florida Heavy Rock scene.

WIth inspiration from bands such as HUM, TORCHE, Pelican, Russian Circles, The Cure and Mogwai with SUMO creating a record that has an effortless amount of aggression, energy and melody combining for an action packed story that’s helped along by interesting choice of soundbytes and samples. The opening tracks of Alyssa and IPCRESS both skate around the dynamics of technicalities of Post Rock before joining creative forces with other areas of music for a sound that’s both tranquil and destructive with a gloomy sense of Space Rock melodies becoming quite cold hearted in places but always wholly original.

SUMO delivers haunting Ambient sounds and synths along the way which gives a Drone based quality on the experimental parts of the album. This appears in the most unexpected of places before SUMO delves into another area of music which feels like the song remains unopened and unanswered but maybe that's the point in certain cases especially with tracks such as IPCRESS and SETI3. That’s one of the highlights of the album with III not offering all the available answers and allowing the listener to draw up their own conclusions.

The album can also be quite uplifting which you’ll experience within the opening moments of the standout fourth track Shadow Of Antiope. There are echoes of Pelican and TORCHE running throughout this track but SUMO are still in full driving control with the excellent use of soundclips adding to the creative narrative of the story. The stop/start sludgy guitars have a slight Electro Rock beat to them with a subtle Psych Rock flavour keeping everything grounded.

SUMO opt for a cerebral style of Post-Rock with a Post-Doom outlook that becomes dominated by a Progressive Rock vibe which fully takes effect across tracks such as: Eta Carinae, Apophis and Enceladus that offer the perfect and winning combination of abstract extended instrumental jams with a free flowing CINEMATIC ROCK attitude. 

SUMO have teamup with ex-TORCHE bassist Jonathan Nuñez who recorded, mixed and co-produced the album and I’m becoming a huge fan of Jonathan’s studio work thanks to his recent collaborations with ORBITER and RESTLESS SPIRIT. Jonathan works wonders yet again here but allowing SUMO the chance to develop their own fascinating and brilliantly heavy sound that ultimately leaves you wanting to hear more.

III is a grand musical adventure from SUMO that masters the fine art of blending Post-Rock harmonies with the heavier and aggressive moments of Doom, Sludge, Stoner and everything else in between. THis allows III to be ranked as one of the standout instrumental records of the year.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Good Boy PR for the promo.

III will be available to buy on Digital Download from Friday 13th December 2024.

Links

Official | Bandcamp | Instagram | Facebook 

Hiraeth - Chronic Temple (Album Review)

Release Date: November 29th 2024. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD

Chronic Temple - Track Listing:

1.Chronic Temple 01:55

2.Bongstaff 06:19

3.Doom Dragon 04:39

4.Montevallo 03:02

5.Sea People 03:19

6.Country Bumpkin 00:40

7.Ache 03:13

8.Loss & Reconciliation 03:46

9.Stoner's Theme 06:30

10.Climb The Lonely Mountain 00:57

11.Obsidian Sun 05:38

12.Farewell... My Apprentice 00:43

Review

Chronic Temple is the debut album from Doom/Sludge Metallers Hiraeth who add a spicy mix of Southern Metal and Groove oriented sounds to the album. The record starts off quietly and cautiously within the title track being a slowly played instrumental Post-Doom number that manifests into a heavier sound within the stunning second track of Bongstaff.

There’s a vicious style of Death Metal vocals appearing that sees Hiraeth transforming into a more extreme style of Sludge Metal that’s powered with an Occult sense of Southern Metal. The gloomy atmospherics remain part of the LOW & SLOW environment with the down tuned guitars and sludgy instrumental beats that can be quite “TINNY” and “HOLLOW” at times. However, this gives Chronic Temple quite an abrasive and violent nature which feels like a cross between EYEHATEGOD and CHURCH OF MISERY at times.

Hiraeth are perhaps best described to be part of the Death/Doom Metal scene overall especially on the longer tracks on the album. There’s a few tracks that last under a minute where the band primarily deal in low-key instrumental gloomy passages. Hiraeth aren’t afraid to add elements of slowly played Grind channels into their music which offers a nihilistic vision that the casual listener may not be expecting especially on tracks such as: Doom Dragon, Sea People, Loss & Reconciliation, Stoner’s Theme and Obsidian Sun. 

The vocals can be quite hard to understand at times and even I struggled with the lyrics but I’ve never been the best at understanding this style of vocal delivery. However, Hiraeth played to their absolute creative strengths on this record with a fine amount of heavy destructive grooves being played across a more extreme Death/Doom Metal platform with some hidden Sludgy surroundings. 

There’s a bleakly wicked sense of pitch black humour which is perhaps inspired by the likes of WEEDEATER and BONGZILLA in places especially on the more WEEDIAN sounding parts of the album. The record isn’t the best produced but keeps in line with the murky, seedy and violent visions that Hiraeth have expertly laid down for the whole album.

Chronic Temple is a catchy and deeply fascinating record which should keep you superbly entertained from start to finish.

Words by Steve Howe

Links

LinkTree | BandCamp

Tombgrown - Sirius (Album Review)

Release Date: November 29th 2024. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD

Sirius - Track Listing:

1.Battle Scars 05:34

2.Ruins 05:28

3.Rebirth In Silence 05:17

4.Sirius 04:25

5.Burial Blight 05:05

6.Rootfeeder 10:03

7.Gravel Path (Remastered) 05:31

Members

Ludwig Walter - Bass

Johannes Ludwig - Drums

Florian Haunsperger - Guitars

Elodie Dosser - Vocals

Review

German Doom Metallers Tombgrown debut album Sirius opts for a gloomy creative temperament with the band playing a slightly heavier and aggressive style of Post-Doom with flashes of menacing Stoner Metal appearing which can be quite Proto-Metal leaning at times. The sound has an emotional quality which reminds me of Windhand and Pallbearer in places especially with the lyrics and the absolute intense vocals from lead vocalist Elodie Dosser. 

With a down-tuned atmosphere and with a terrific Post-Metal vibe appearing within the heavier sludgier grooves that comes straight into the forefront of Tombgrown’s music especially on the excellent two opening tracks of Battle Scars and Ruins. The sound can be quite raw sounding which allows the album to have a stripped back LIVE GIG feeling that is quite intense within the more melodramatic Post-Doom sounds that holds everything together. 

With a cautious attitude appearing within the quieter moments before Tombgrown unleash their own highly inventive style of stripped back FUZZ METAL passages that bridges the gap between the Doom and Stoner environments that have a different contrast to each other.

Sirius is quite a poetic album with Elodie’s stunning vocal performance that have a sublime Alt Rock/Metal quality to them but things turn quite sinister when Elodie’s vocals transform into a demonic and violent style within the standout third track Rebirth In Silence. The music is deliberately slow paced with Tombgrown branching out into more dramatic styles of DOOM & GLOOM with a subtle Psychedelic quality slowly weaving through into the darkness. The sound once again stripped back to its core essence of mighty downtuned aggression becomes more commonplace within the album as time passes by.

Tombgrown become more adventurous with their music on the later stages across tracks such as: Sirius, Burial Blight and Rootfeeder. The sound becomes shrouded in Post-Metal and Sludge Metal mystery with a classic style of LOW & SLOW and AMPLIFIER DISTORTION developing which allows Sirius to create some epic slices of METALLIC and PROTO-DOOM aggression to pulverize your hearing with.

Sirius is quite an edgy and unsettling portrayal of modern day Doom/Stoner Metal that could allow Tombgrown to make quite a name for themselves within the underground scene. If you’re a dedicated follower of bands of Pallbearer, Windhand, Saint Vitus, Black Sabbath and YOB then Tombgrown will speak volumes to you. This a brooding and unforgiving record that oozes CLASS from every level.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

Links

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