Doom Sessions Vol VII Feat: Endtime // Cosmic Reaper (Album Review)

Release Date: 20th January 2023. Record Label: Heavy Psych Sounds. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl

Doom Sessions Vol VII Feat: Endtime // Cosmic Reaper: Tracklisting

ENDTIME - Tunnel Of Life

ENDTIME - Beyond The Black Void

COSMIC REAPER - Sundowner

COSMIC REAPER -  Dead And Loving It

COSMIC REAPER - King Of Kings

Review

Here's the exciting new Doom Sessions chapter from Heavy Psych Sounds featuring Swedish Doom/Sludge Rockers ENDTIME and USA Heavy Psyched Doom Stoner Rockers COSMIC REAPER. Both bands who released acclaimed albums on the ever present Heavy Psych Sounds label. It's good hearing new music from both bands especially from ENDTIME who impressed me greatly with their last release.

ENDTIME offer two songs here running under twelve minutes with Tunnel Of Life and Beyond The Black Void allowing the band to play a different style of Psychedelic Doom Metal compared to their last album which you can hear with Tunnel Of Life. An excellent track that sees ENDTIME bring Heavy Psych Grooves and Gloomy Synths that gives a more "Goblin-esque" feel to their standard Sludge/Stoner Metal sound. The vocals are quite abrasive when they appear but they do hold your attention. Though, it's the music that impresses the most and the bold creative choices ENDTIME makes for this track. Some epic synths and psychedelic beats give ENDTIME a more cerebral outlook with the band still finding time to play epic riffs along the way.

Their second track Beyond The Black Void is a more darker and disturbing affair with glitchy distorted noises having a slight industrial and seedy feel. The distorted vintage doom grooves are essentially what ENDTIME excel at and when the SABBATH inspired AMPLIFIER grooves appear then the music moves from 70's Doom Metal to modern day Sludge/Stoner Metal atmospherics. The Crust Punk inspired vocals add a more classic "HORROR" element to ENDTIME's music but with the music moving cautiously slow, you begin to notice a more progressive and harsher sound that could easily came from their acclaimed debut release. 

Time for Cosmic Reaper to take over with three tracks running around nineteen minutes in length with tracks Sundowner, Dead And Loving It and King Of Kings showcasing how different the band are to ENDTIME but working superbly together for this release. 

Sundowner is a great mix of Cosmic Rock, Psych Rock, Doom Rock, Stoner Rock and Classic Hard Rock which reminds me of Black Sabbath, Monolord, GEEZER and Thin Lizzy. Heavy Stoner Grooves packed with a fantastic Space Rock energy with Cosmic Reaper in fine storytelling mode. As the band have written excellent lyrics to match the sublime gloomy and groovy sounds. There's a high amount of classic hard rock guitar solos that venture off into darker areas of Psych Stoner Rock or perhaps Spaced Out Doom. 

Dead And Loving It is a bleak alternative to Sundowner with Cosmic Reaper playing into the darker reaches of Doom/Stoner Metal with a thunderous creative drive that can be quite punishing to listen to at times. The band are perhaps more BRASH and IN YOUR FACE with this track but it's good to see a different side to the band. The vocals are quite operatic at times but the music is always fully bang on point with echoes of Classic Doom and Proto Metal leading the way. The song can be quite slow in places but Cosmic Reaper knows what they're doing and that's delivering the album's finest track.

King Of Kings is another great track from Cosmic Reaper that matches Classic Doom, Proto Metal and highly atmospheric Stoner Metal with a warped progressive sound. The music is very multi-layered and once again the band take their time bringing the heaviest sounds to the party. The Psychedelic grooves even become slightly creepy and freaky which brings a twinge of Occult Rock to the record. When the band starts bringing a gloom based narrative and progressive vibe to the track, everything becomes more clearer with the music being some of the finest music Cosmic Reaper have written to date. If you dig Black Sabbath and Uncle Acid but with a more Cosmic/Space Rock approach then this track tells you why Cosmic Reaper are highly thought of within the scene.

Doom Sessions Vol VII is a fantastic and thrilling release showcasing not only the two great bands involved but also the wonderful work that Heavy Psych Sounds continue to do within the Doom/Sludge/Stoner Metal underground scene. Though, ENDTIME and COSMIC REAPER deserve the majority of the plaudits here. As they've both written outstanding tracks that will delightfully entertain the Underground Community for some time to come.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Claire at Purple Sage for the promo. 

Doom Sessions Vol VII will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via Heavy Psych Sounds from January 20th 2023.

ENDTIME Links:

Facebook | BandCamp

COSMIC REAPER Links:

Facebook | BandCamp

ENDTIME - Impending Doom (Album Review)

Release Date: March 04th 2022. Record Label: Heavy Psych Sounds. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Impending Doom - Tracklisting

Harbinger Of Disease – 5:11

ICBM – 5:51

They Live – 4:05

Cities On Fire With The Burning Flesh Of Men – 7:44

Living Graves – 5:13

Review

ENDTIME debut album Impending Doom has the great honour of perhaps being Heavy Psych Sounds heaviest and filthiest release to date. As this band play a bleak and oppressive style of Doom and Sludge Metal with creepy Occult Stoner Metal. Taking cues from bands such as EyeHateGod, Primitive Man and CONAN, ENDTIME builds up an unflattering picture of heavy down-tuned guitars with some epic amplifier riff wizardry through the entire album.

The vocals and grooves capture the bleakness and the overall vision ENDTIME aims for from the very first few moments of excellent opening song Harbinger Of Disease. The subtle Psychedelic touches bring the Occult-ish tones of the album to the forefront of the music for a few moments with a slightly Progressive feel. The atmosphere has an almost classic HORROR MOVIE feel to it which you can see within the brilliant album cover. The song is quite slow-paced but this allows ENDTIME to build up a chilling vision of modern day Doom/Sludge Metal.

Second song ICBM carries on that bleak and claustrophobic vision as the music becomes with a haunting moral message. The short excellent sound-clip at the song gives you something to think about within the lyrics and the music is fantastically heavy that Primitive Man showed their classic debut album many years ago. The slow-paced nature of the song fits firmly in the SLUDGE METAL camp with the lyrics giving ENDTIME a hard-hitting DOOM METAL appeal.

The next two songs They Live and Cities On Fire With The Burning Flesh Of Men sees ENDTIME at their nihilistic and oppressive best with the heaviest and aggressive grooves on the record. Especially on Cities On Fire With The Burning Flesh Of Men. The song is quite long running pat the seven minute mark but there’s a whole ton of different strands of Sludge/Doom/Stoner Metal with that sinister Psychedelic vibe that ENDTIME use to their creative advantage. 

ENDTIME ends the album on a downbeat note with Living Graves and it’s another round of down-tuned sounds with nasty vocals and lyrics that ultimately leave you wanting more.

Impending Doom is a short album running under thirty minutes but what a tortuous punishment ENDTIME will put you through. This perhaps could not only be one of the bleakest debut albums I’ve heard this year but also one of the very best. 

ENDTIME have delivered the goods for this album and these guys have huge potential in the years to come. 

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Purple Sage PR for the promo. Impending Doom will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl from March 4th 2022 via Heavy Psych Sounds.

Links

Facebook | BandCamp