Pesta - The Craft Of Pain (Album Review)

Release Date: October 15th 2025. Record Label: Glory Or Death / Gate Of Doom Records. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl

The Craft Of Pain - Tracklisting

1.Rites of Enclosure 00:39

2.Masters of the Craft of Pain 05:18

3.Marked By Hate 05:38

4.Mirror Maze (Feat. Wino) 04:56

5.In the Drive's End 05:28

6.Thumbscrew 02:54

7.The Inquisitor, Pt.I 06:13

8.The Inquisitor, Pt.II 03:38

9.Canto XXI (Feat. Rodrigo Garcia) 03:12

10.Shadows of a Desire 05:41

Members

Thiago Cruz (Vocals)

Anderson Vaca (Bass)

Marcos Resende (Guitar)

Flávio Freitas (Drums)

Review

Doom/Stoner Metallers Pesta return with their third full length album The Craft Of Pain and they bring a classic sounding NWOBHM sensibility into their music. The mood is also heightened by a great style of Occult Rock and Proto-Doom grooves which adds an extra level of gloomy spiciness into their music. Pesta are quite content with having a classic HEAVY METAL creative energy throughout the whole album. 

You can hear influences from bands such as Black Sabbath, Saint Vitus, Iron Maiden and The Obsessed on certain parts of the record though you can still hear more modern surroundings especially when some unexpected sludgy moments appear. The majority of the record is deeply rooted in Eighties Heavy Metal with flashes of other musical eras appearing whenever the mood calls for this. Pesta are quite flashy with their music with a multitude of different musical solos flying about but it all fits in with the overall tone and sound the band demonstrate with The Craft Of Pain.

The vocals from Thiago Cruz are superb throughout as Thiago fully sells Pesta’s twisted Doom Metal vision with some help along the way from Doom Metal legend WINO on the standout third track of Mirror Maze which could easily be considered an actual track released by The Obsessed or Spirit Caravan. Though, before that Pesta blast their way through a few tracks that screams EIGHTIES HEAVY METAL EXCESS on Rites Of Enclosure, Masters Of The Crafts Of Pain and Marked By Hate. 

The album is constructed superbly well with excellent production values that manages to allow Pesta to play a multitude of different styles of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal whilst retaining their Doom/Stoner Metal identity within the other standout tracks of the record with In The Drive’s End, Thumbscrew, The Inquisitor Pt 1 and Shadows Of A Desire. The lyrics are quite outlandish but it allows Pesta to create a highly exciting and tense atmosphere within the whole record and by playing some top-notch musical passages along the way.

Pesta are a superb technical band which you don’t fully appreciate until after multiple listens as some of the music is highly progressive that moves into other areas of music that I didn’t expect to hear. So you have to give them credit for doing something different especially with the Psychedelic themes and sounds that suddenly appear out of nowhere. 

The Craft Of Pain is a marvellous record that will keep you entertained for a long time to come. If you want a Doom/Stoner Metal record that isn’t afraid to embrace the sounds of Classic Heavy Metal then you can’t go wrong with The Craft Of Pain. This is a winning record on every level possible.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

You can buy The Craft Of Pain from the links below:

Glory Or Death Records - Vinyl

Gate Of Doom Records - CD

Links

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Mientras las abejas duermen - El camino silencioso (Single Review)

Release Date: October 30th 2025. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD

El camino silencioso - Tracklisting

El camino silencioso

Review

El camino silencioso is the debut single from Psych/Doom/Stoner Rockers Mientras las abejas duermen and with the band being from Spain, the vocals are sung in Spanish. Whilst I can’t comment what the lyrics mean, I could tell from watching the YouTube video that the band is closely connected or influenced by nature and using Google Translations, it advised the band’s name roughly translates as While The Bees Sleeps. Apologies if that’s wrong guys.

Anyway, back to the song. El camino silencioso is an eight minute plus track with the band exploring areas of Heavy Psych, Doom and Stoner Rock that is underpinned by emotionally charged vocals. The music itself is quite different in places with Mientras las abejas duermen playing a mixture of slow-to-mid paced passages before transforming into a fully fledged Sludge/Stoner Metal outfit where the music is heavier, aggressive and fast paced. 

There is a subtle emotional energy to the band’s music and overall performance where they venture into Post-Metal surroundings with small outbursts of Heavy Psychedelics keeping everything grounded. For their debut single the band managed to make me want to hear more from them in the near future. They’re planning to release their debut album in early 2026 and they’re off to a promising start with quite an uncompromising track when everything is said and done. 

Mientras las abejas duermen have my complete and undivided attention here. This is a great track for the band to introduce themselves to the Doom/Stoner Metal community.

Words by Steve Howe

Links

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Astral Goat Dominion - Only Lucifer And Fuzz (Album Review)

Release Date: October 31st 2025. Record Label: Self Released. Formats: DD

Only Lucifer And Fuzz - Tracklisting

1.Intro Acida 01:25

2.Lucifer (part I) 06:24

3.Only Lucifer and Fuzz 06:27

4.The Acid Ritual 07:13

5.Malignant Sign ov Evil 06:51

6.Bloody River 08:27

7.Make the Sludge Doom great again 04:18

8.Outro Disperata 00:50

Review

Astral Goat Dominion aren’t your typical Doom/Stoner Metal band as the band create a highly unusual and unorthodox style of music with weird vocal arrangements and outlandish creative themes you wouldn’t expect to go for the WEEDIAN genre. The band feels like ELECTRIC WIZARD jamming with THE MELVINS but still paying homage to the likes of Saint Vitus, Black Sabbath and even KYUSS. Just don’t go expecting a straightforward musical journey with their excellent debut album Only Lucifer And Fuzz.

At some moments the record is just bat-shit crazy and sometimes even confusing but in a good way. There’s a sense of demented gloominess and warped sludgy sounds emitting from your speakers. You will only need to listen to the opening two tracks of Intro Acida and Lucifer (Part 1) that this is going to be one crazed journey into the world of Occult Doom with classic sounding Seventies based Amplifier Distorted grooves generating a sinister atmosphere throughout. There’s some method to the creative madness from Astral Goat Dominion as the vocals are more like chants from a demented madman selling his soul to LUCIFER himself. 

The lyrics are equally as strange but they match perfectly to the experimental driven nature of the song which becomes even stranger on tracks such as Only Lucifer And Fuzz, The Acid Ritual and Malignant Sign ov Evil where the band take a slight detour to Psychedelic Freakouts and Prog Rock just for the sheer hell of it. The journey is deeply rooted in Seventies Occult Folklore and Mysticism whilst the music being influenced by sounds of the Seventies Doom Metal and Nineties Stoner Metal scenes. 

Astral Goat Dominion do have an outlandish Tribal Rock energy to them which allows the band to play extended trippy instrumental jams for the majority of their music which can also be quite jazzy and funky at the best of times. Though, it’s still part of the satanic DOOMED OUT world. The album won’t be for everyone but if you’re in the mood for something different and highly experimental whilst keeping in line with the Doom/Stoner Metal arena then Only Lucifer And Fuzz is downright original.

I applaud Astral Goat Dominion for creating something crazy and thinking outside of the box for their debut release. This record has all the makings of becoming a CULT RECORD in the years to come and could allow the band to obtain a loyal following within the underground scene. 

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

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