19. BURIAL FOG – Last to Mourn
USA – Independent
Engulf yourself in darkness with the debut of Philadelphia-based Burial Fog. Last to Mourn leaves no room for joy with a rather quiet and barren sound. The riffs of the Fog are heavy and slow indeed, but, unlike the doom metal fashion, they’re brief, they don’t fill up the whole dynamic range of the songs. This allows some scary guitar noises to be heard in the background creating a signature sound, quite uncommon among death/doom metal bands.
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18. REIDO – Anātman
Belarus – Aesthetic Death
I thought the name Reido was engraved on a headstone in the crowded cemetery of the funeral doom metal scene of the 2000s. Couldn’t be more mistaken, this Belorussian funeral orchestra released a new album this year and they sound better than never. Anātman, Reido’s new record, is utter crushing music with heavy slow guitars but also an appealing amount of atmospheric elements, like gloomy clean guitar and bass passages and whispered vocals. Quite cold and sinister music to listen to in the winter.
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17. QUERCUS – Verferum
Czechia – Independent
Although the use of church organ in funeral doom metal has been around since its dawn with Skepticism’s birth, there have been only a handful of bands that have made the most of the instrument’s funerary façade. Czech trio Quercus don’t hesitate in letting the church instrument sound loud and persistent in their compositions. Verferum is their fourth full-length production and it sounds utterly gorgeous. Quercus present a less experimental direction than in former albums. Dare I say, Verferum is a more solid release, completely focused in funeral music that is furthermore well-inspired in classical compositors.
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16. АКУЛЬИ СЛЁЗЫ – Опыт Очарования
Russia – Pow! Pop Kids
This year, people’s attention was drawn towards Russia’s growing shoegaze scene due to the release of Blankenberge’s jaw-dropping sophomore album. And not only do we owe the St Petersburg’s shoegaze masters the joy of such a stunning production, we also have to thank them for the discovery of other well-hidden Russian jewels, like Ufa’s Акульи Слёзы. This all-gals band whose name translates as Shark’s Tears, delivers slow, dreamy and beautifully melancholic music with the help of echoed guitars, soft vocals and 80s keyboards. With lyrics completely in Russian, Опыт очарования is an album that will enchant any fan of the most romantic downtempo dream pop and shoegaze.
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15. MINENWERFER – Alpenpässe
USA – Purity Through Fire
If you believe that hearing about an American album with German titles is mind-blowing, wait to press play because what’s in the grooves of this record is not your everyday war metal. Named after a WWI German weapon, Minenwerfer are a US duet whose obsession with The Great War led them to craft a flawless brand of cold and aggressive black metal. Their style is quite distinctive, having an out-of-question influence from the so-called post-black metal genre, the guitar tone creates textures that could fit in the blackgaze style but still preserve rawer sound of tremolo picking. The overall riff writing is simply astonishing. Furthermore, Minenwerfer adds some acoustic guitars and even war chants that wrap up an album to be listened without skipping a single track. As a disclaimer, Alpenpässe recreates the coldness, fear and brutality of fighting in the Alps during WWI and there is no trace of any political propaganda from the band members.
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14. WITH HIDDEN NOISE – Beside the Sea
Canada – Lossleader Records
Lost in some psychiatry journal, there must be a neatly written paper revealing the effects of sad music when it’s listened late at night. This ground-breaking research should be carried out playing With Hidden Noise’s debut album Beside the Sea. With Hidden Noise is a new project from the same man behind The Soft Wounds. The project focuses on very slow, aching yet quiet music that induces the listener into a state of mind of thoughts, recollections and nostalgia. Openly inspired by early Low and Red House Painters, With Hidden Noise achieves its aim by setting up a minimalistic sound with bass, clean guitars, charming vocals and soft downtempo drumming. Interestingly, in spite of the shoegazing revival, seldom does one run into an album of the so-called slowcore style nowadays. Therefore, Beside the Sea is a most-have if you’re into depressing late-night music of this kind.
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13. ORODRUIN – Ruins of Eternity
USA – Cruz del Sur
One of the most respected doom metal acts from the USA, Orodruin, are not known for their prolific output. In fact, until this year Orodruin’s catalogue included only one full-length record. Epicurean Mass, released 13 years back earned the status of a masterpiece due to the band’s flawless execution of the purest doom metal one can find. In an unexpected move, Orodruin dropped a sophomore album this year with the pressure of offering a worthy follow-up. Ruins of Eternity is, indeed, a taste perfectly crafted doom metal. Orodruin keep on amassing well-written riffs which can also get a melancholic approach in some moments. This is what makes Orodruin masters in their craft, their lack of obsession with blues-inspired riffs that normally blurs the line between doom metal and stoner metal. Instead, Ruins of Eternity add sadness and melody that is more common in epic doom bands. Nevertheless, there’s no trace of Viking runes in Orodruin’s recipe.
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12. FESTERDAY – Iihtallan
Finland – Season of Mist
The end of a decade brings sheer nostalgia and year 2019 was not different at all. In a similar fashion to Arcturus members reanimating their teenager years band Mortem, …And Oceans members decided to drop an album with their early 90s band Festerday. You may remember …And Oceans for their albums A.M.G.O.D. (2001) and Cypher (2002), which sparked the band’s popularity at the beginning of the millennium with that futuristic electronic metal style, emblematic of late 90s and early 00s music in general. …And Oceans disguised themselves under the moniker of Havoc Unit for a while only to come back as …And Oceans more recently. Like hundreds, these Finnish musicians used to play plain death metal in the early 90s and this year’s Festerday release dusts off the classic style the band forgot almost twenty years back when they started leaning towards a more Norwegian black metal style. Iihtallan is straightforward death metal in the early 90s style with a raw fast riffing sometimes embracing black metal tremolo picking, specially in songs like “Let Me Entertain Your Entrails”. The tempo of the album resembles how death metal used to be played back in the days: mostly mid-tempo with some punk-ish rhythm sections.
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11. MAGIC CIRCLE – Departed Souls
USA – 20 Buck Spin
There is a sizable number of bands in the USA keeping the most traditional style of doom metal alive. Founded by Pentagram, this scene has shaped a 70s-based sound following the oldest lessons taught by Black Sabbath. Although originally accused of shamelessly trying to rip off Ozzy’s vocals, Boston’s Magic Circle have amassed doom metal fans all over the world after a few releases. This year the Circle dropped their third LP, Departed Souls, in which they confirm they’re far from being simple Sabbath worshipers. Departed Souls consists of a selection of well-written old school riffs and solos with a miserable approach. This misery is underscored by the singer who now detaches a bit from the Ozzy style to a more poignant performance in this release. A must-have for Internal Void and Count Raven fans.
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10. BLANKENBERGE – More
Russia – Independent
Although getting too fault-finding one can question the quality of the releases in the recent revival of the shoegaze style, once in a while one comes across with albums which could easily have been released in the short heyday of the genre. Blankenberge’s sophomore opus More is a perfect fit for such scarce cases. The St. Petersburg quintet delivers layers of fuzz, feedback and fast picking with a guitar tone that is simply perfect for the genre. This is, in my opinion, the most important part of More, the final guitar experience, hardly paired by any relatively new band. The album even features a crushing drone song that no Boris fan would like to miss.
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9. PROFETUS – The Sadness of Time Passing
Finland – Avantgarde Music
Bearing in mind that Profetus hail from the same country as Thergothon, Skepticism and Tyranny, it shouldn’t be odd that The Sadness of Time Passing, Prefetus’s third album, is a skillfully crafted monument to death and desolation. In their third opus, Profetus reveal themselves as masters in the execution of funeral doom metal, with a precise balance between heaviness and atmosphere that alternate in a beautiful funeral vibe. The church organ sounds gorgeous and mingles with other atmospheric elements which even feature a few female vocals. Honestly, I don’t remember Profetus being this good. People who complain about the sometimes almost inaudible drums and lack of bass in Skepticism will definitely find what they’ve been searching for in this record.
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8. ATLANTEAN KODEX – The Course of Empire
Germany – Ván Records, Cruz del Sur
“Epic” is the first adjective that comes to mind after giving new Atleanten Kodex a first spin. After two critically acclaimed releases, the German quintet show they are consistent in terms of quality and project themselves as masters in the genre. Atlantean Kodex’s third LP, The Course of Empire is not an odd listening for their loyal fans, featuring all the elements the band has been attracting fans with, including that characteristic lo-fi riffing and somehow old school recording quality that gives such a unique aesthetic to their sound. The epic atmosphere includes several interludes and acoustic passages that accompany the gorgeous melodies in the lead guitar and the high pitch vocals. An unmissable one for fans of Doomsword, Scald and Solstice, to name a few.
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7. ATARAXIE – Résignés
France – XenoKorp
After six years and some lineup changes, French doomsters Ataraxie are back with a fourth album of sheer extreme doom metal. Same as their even angrier twin Funeralium, Ataraxie keep on writing wearing long songs which is not exactly my cup of tea as I tend to lean more towards Ataraxie’s first album Slow Transcending Agony (2005), where songs were half as long. With that being said, Ataraxie’s brand of death/doom metal is so rich that an album that runs for almost one and a half hours doesn’t really feel like a listening challenge, especially if you didn’t have a good day. Indeed, Résignés unleashes anger, hatred and anxiety through utterly opposite stages, varying from extremely slow funeral-doom-like drums and riffs to blast beats with tremolo picking. Résignés exploits my favourite element in Ataraxie: that unique desperate screaming which is truly spine-chilling.
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6. SAINT VITUS – Saint Vitus
USA – Season of Mist
What do you mean with Saint Vitus by Saint Vitus? The Los Angeles’ doom metal legends dropped their debut album in 1984 and it was called, yep, Saint Vitus! When Candlemass announced earlier this year they were releasing a new record with their original singer, Saint Vitus said “hold my drugs!”. Not only did they brought in their original singer Scott Reagers, they recklessly called their new album the same as their 1984 debut, simply Saint Vitus. But moving forward from the title mess, what Reagers achieved in this album with Vitus is quite a surprise. This new record sounds deliberately away from their previous Lillie: F-65 (2012) with Wino on vocals, not only in terms of voice, but the whole vibe in it. The new Saint Vitus sounds dusted, with no trace of modern metal in it, in contrast with Vitus’ previous output where drums were plain clean. In spite of having lost their founding bassist, Mark Adams, Saint Vitus succeeded in building their time machine, writing songs with that early 80s punk feeling. Heads up to “Last Breath”, a taste of the purest doom metal you’ll find.
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5. THE RIVER – Vessels into White Tides
United Kingdom – Nine Records
Released no longer than two weeks ago, The River’s comeback album Vessels into White Tides immediately became one of my faves of the year. Although not completely inactive, The River didn’t put out a new LP in ten years. Their last album, In Situ, dates from 2009, and to be honest we barely heard about them during these years. The Croydon doomsters now are joined by a new singer, Jenny Newton, and vow to push their musical boundaries and explore a bit more in their composition process. This couple of promises are, as a rule, a warning to a disappointment. But this won’t happen with The River, whose passion for melancholic music remains completely intact in their brand new LP. The album includes the typical heavy slow riffs in the band’s formula, but also a large number of sad melodies in clean guitars, acoustic guitars and even violin, that give the album utter original character. Jenny Newton’s voice is a perfect fit, being poignant and soft, it gives the album a feeling of calm melancholy. It’s no surprise that drums are similar to those in 40 Watt Sun and the riffs in “Vessels” remind of “Watching from a Distance” by Warning, as The River’s Christian Leitch has been involved in these bands.
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4. OBSEQUIAE – The Palms of Sorrowed Kings
USA – 20 Buck Spin
The thing that I find the most appealing about Obsequiae’s The Palms of Sorrowed Kings is the 90s flavour it leaves after a few tracks. Obsequiae play at midtempo with a permanent melodic soloing in the lead guitar. This formula, although not in disuse these days, was more exploited in the late 90s and early 2000s by bands like old Rotting Christ, old Blazing Eternity and, more “recently”, The Withering. Yet Obsequiae are not exactly obsessed with sounding old school, as the recording quality is rather modern. But using an old-fashion style is not the greatest skill of this trio from Minneapolis, the composition and guitar work in this album is simply flawless. The Palms of Sorrowed Kings creates a strong medieval atmosphere without falling in any of the worn-out clichés that bands with similar topics abuse of. Instead, Obsequiae mostly rely on the melodies of the lead guitar, background keyboards and those complex acoustic passages that give perfect interludes through the album.
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3. ЯНТАРНЫЕ СЛЁЗЫ – Когда Нет Троп
Russia – Solitude Productions
Behold the magnificent beauty of snow-covered Siberian mountains with Янтарные Слёзы’s new album Когда Нет Троп. Янтарные Слёзы, who I remember used to promote their English name Amber Tears, are hailing from the Russian Oblast of Penza, not quite Siberia. However, their beautiful music depicts landscapes of forests and mountains in the Russian cold. The feeling of solitude and melancholy of being alone with nature is expressed in every album Янтарные Слёзы have released in their 3-LP catalogue. The guitar work in Когда Нет Троп is superb, with their traditional folk-inspired solos being the most alluring feature of this album. Rhythm guitars are predominantly slow same as drums. Having lyrics fully in Russian helps the aim and character of the album, mostly when the scarce spoken words come up. Quite a short album that runs barely above 40 minutes, yet a masterly brewed folk doom metal release for fans of melodic death/doom, in the style of October Tide, who want to have a more “outdoors” experience.
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2. ASPHODELUS – Stygian Dreams
Finland – Terror from Hell
This year’s Best New Band award goes to Finland-based trio Asphodelus, whose first LP Stygian Dreams has received the most flattering reviews ever since its release at the beginning of the year. Stygian Dreams is a shelter from modern metal, with 8 tracks that resemble the heyday of death/doom metal in the 90s. Asphodelus is not a heavy band, they rather follow Katatonia’s 1993 debut Dance of December Souls. Despite it being deemed a classic masterpiece, Dance of December Souls turned out to be much less influential than Brave Murder Day (1996) and Discouraged Ones (1998), with much fewer bands following their debut’s recipe. Asphodelus did it, and they nailed it. Stygian Dreams heavily relies on keyboard use and melodic guitars, all soaked in melancholy. Sheer passion is all one can hear in this record, with very natural song-writing and composition. Vocals are poignant too, all being hopeless harsh screaming. Even the recording quality and the mix of Stygian Dreams sound more 90s than, well, nearly 20s! A most-have for fans of 90’s goth-esque death/doom metal, like Peaceville’s big three and albums like Saturnus’s Paradise Belongs to You (1997), Novembers Doom’s Of Sculptured Ivy and Stone Flowers (1999) and more “recent” Forest Stream’s Tears of Mortal Solitude (2003), all of them in my list of all-time faves.
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1. ALCEST – Spiritual Instinct
France – Nuclear Blast
Putting aside for a second Alcest’s contributions to rock music of this agonising decade, their latest release Spiritual Instinct stands a pinnacle in Alcest‘s career, a creativity apex, in which the band show how specialised their sound has become after more than a decade crafting their signature interpretation of black metal. Every song in Spiritual Instinct seems to be flawless, this time with a heavier, slightly gloomier sound than in, at least, their last two albums. The signing of Alcest by Nuclear Blast turned into a win-win choice for this heavier sound Neige was putting together in his mind. The obvious mix of black metal and shoegaze notwithstanding, Spiritual Instinct particularly successes in being enjoyable to both extreme metal fans and people who find even traditional metal far from appealing. A trait that very few, including Metallica’s black album, proudly feature. And dare I say this happens more clearly with Spiritual Instinct than with previous Alcest releases. It might be just the band’s well-deserved growing popularity, however, Spiritual Instinct is definitely a record in which Neige wrote some of his best riffs and best lyrics. Quite a perfect album to wrap up this decade in which extreme metal had to expand their boundaries with nothing short of astonishing results. READ THE WHOLE REVIEW
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PABLO CUSTODIO
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