Sunset Forsaken/Chameleon Waters/Redefining Darkness Records/2018 Full Length Review

  Sunset  Forsaken  are  a  band  from  Ukraine  that  plays  a  very  melodic  and  darkened  form  of  doom/death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2018  album  "Chameleon  Waters"  which  was  released  by  Redefining  Darkness  Records.

  Melodic  guitar  leads  start  off  the  album  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  along  with  the  vocals  also  adding  in  a  great  amount  of  death  metal  growls  as  well  as  utilizing  some  black  metal  screams  at  times  and  all  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Clean  vocals  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  while  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  along  with  the  music  also  capturing  a  depressive  atmosphere  at  times  as  well  as  adding  in  some  influences  from  the  90's  atmospheric  doom/death  metal  style  but  giving  it  more  of  a  modern  touch,  as  the  album  progresses  a  brief  use  of  acoustic  guitars  and  spoken  word  parts  can  also  be  heard  briefly  and  all  of  the  music  sticks  to  a  slow  direction.

  Sunset  Forsaken  plays  a  style  of  doom/death  metal  that  is  very  melodic  and  atmospheric  sounding  while  also  adding  in  elements  of  black  metal  at  times,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark,  depressive  and  poetic  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Sunset  Forsaken  are  a  very  great  sounding  dark  and  melodic  doom/death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Sweet  Endless  Torture"  and  "Catharsis".  8  out  of  10.    

Cold Colours/Northernmost/2019 Full Length Review

  Minnesota's  Cold  Colours  have  returned  with  a  new  recording  which  continues  his  melodic  mixture  of  doom,  death  and  gothic  metal  and  the  album  will  be  self  released  in  2019  and  is  called  "Northernmost".

  Nature  orientated  soundcscapes  and  acoustic  guitars  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  a  heavier  direction  while  the  slow  riffs  are  very  heavily  rooted  in  doom  metal  along  with  the  vocals  adding  in  death  metal  growls  while  black  metal  screams  are  also  utilized  at  times  as  well  as  a  great  amount  of  atmospheric  sounding  synths.

  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  style  while  the  riffs  also  add  in  a  great  amount  of  melody  along  with  some  of  the  tracks  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length  as  well  as  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them,  when  clean  vocals  are  utilized  they  give  the  music  more  of  a  goth  metal  feeling  and  there  also  some  interludes  before  some  of  the  tracks  and  when  the  music  finally  speeds  up  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats  can  also  be  heard.

  Cold  Colours  creates  another  recording  that  remains  true  to  his  melodic  mixture  of  doom,  death  and  gothic  metal,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  depression  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  album  from  Cold  Colours  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  melodic  doom,  death  and  gothic  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Nightmare"  "From  This  Pain" and  "The  Pale  heart".  8  out  of  10.  

Painthing/Where Are You Now.../Solitude Productions/2018 CD Review

  Painthing  are  a  band  from  Poland  that  plays  a  very  depressive,  atmospheric  and  depressive  form  of  doom/death  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2018  album  "Where  Are  you  Know..."  which  was  released  by  Solitude  Productions.

  Clean  playing  starts  off  the  album  along  with  the  solos  and  leads  being  done  in  a  very  melodic  style  while  the  slow  and  heavy  riffs  are  very  heavily  rooted  in  doom  metal  as  well  the  music  also  adding  in  a  great  amount  of  atmospheric  sounding  keyboards  and  the  riffs  also  bring  in  a  lot  of  melody.

  Vocals  are  mostly  death  metal  growls  while  the  music  also  has  a  lot  of  90's  influences  along  with  some  spoken  word  parts  also  being  used  briefly  as  well  as  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  adding  in  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats  and  clean  vocals  are  also  utilized  at  times,  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  as  the  album  progresses  a  brief  use  of  acoustic guitars  can  also  be  heard  and  female  vocals  are  added  onto  the  closing  track.

  Painthing  plays  a  style  of  doom/death  metal  that  is  very  atmospheric,  depressive  and  melodic  sounding,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  darkness,  death  and  depressive  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Painthing  are  a  very  great  sounding  depressive,  melodic  and  atmospheric  doom/death  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Widow"  "Psychosis"  and  "To  Live  Is  To  Fight".  8  out  of  10.  

Clegane/Father Merrin/Sleeping Church Records/Almost Famous/2018 Split Album Review

  This  is  a  review  of  a  split  album  between  France's  Clegane  and  Father  Merrin  which  was  released  as  a  joint  effort  between  Sleeping  Church  Records  and  Almost  Famous  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  Clegane  a  band  that  plays  a  mixture  of  sludge  and  doom  metal.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  some  powerful  sounding  bass  guitars  along  with  some  clean  vocals  a  few  seconds  later  while  both  of  their  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  as  well  as  the  guitar  riffs  also  adding  in  the  heaviness  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  the  riffs  also  add  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody.

  Elements  of  stoner  rock  can  also  be  heard  at  times  while  both  of  the  tracks  stick  to  a  slower  direction  along  with  the  bass  guitars  also  being  used  as  a  lead  instrument  as  well as  the  vocals  also  adding  in  a  brief  use  of  aggressive  screams  and  the  guitar  leads  also  stick  to  more  of  a  retro  style,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  death,  loss,  oblivion  and  the  heavy  wight  of  living  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Clegane  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Through  Wounds". 

  Next  up  si  Father  Merrin  who  return  with  their  mixture  of  stoner,  sludge  and  doom  metal.

  Their  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  a  very  dark,  heavy  and  melodic  doom  metal  sound  while  the  solos  and  leads  are  done  in  a  very  old  school  style  along  with  the  vocals  adding  in  an  aggressive  style  of  stoner  metal  as  well  as  the  music  also  capturing  the  heaviness  of  sludge  metal.

  All  of  the  musical  instruments  on  their  side  of  the  recording  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  while  most  of  their  songs  are  long  and  epic  in  length  along  with  the  vocals  also  getting  very  semi  melodic  at  times  as  well  as  a  few  growls  and  screams  and  clean  playing  can  also  be  heard  briefly  and  spoken  word  parts  are  added  onto t he  closing  track,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Father  Merrin  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  stoner,  sludge  and  doom  metal,  you  should  check  out  their  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "A  Prophet-Self  Denied".

  In  conclusion  I  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  I  would  recommend  it  to  all  fans  of  stoner,  sludge  and  doom  metal.  8  out  of  10.    

Tombtoker Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
Brandon: We're kind of like Black Sabbath mixed with Helmet with death metal vocals. We're all really good friends outside of the band. It started with me and nick just trying to put some slower songs together for fun and eventually we brought in some friends to flesh it out and everything came out sounding alot better than expected.


2.You have an ep coming out in December, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style you went for on this recording?
Brandon: Slow and dark was the goal. A few of us were in a really fast hardcore band called Enemy Insects, so this time around we wanted to slow things down a bit. It's basically that band without the fast parts haha

3.The band members come from 'Enemy Instincts' and 'Roomrunner', what was the decision behind leaving those bands to form a new one?
Brandon: I think those bands just kinda fell apart after a while. We didn't leave them to do this. They were over and this just kinda happened. We have a big group of musician friends where we are from. So every band is members of another band. It's really about hanging out with your friends and having a good time for us.


4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
Mark: I usually get ideas for lyrics from something I read in the news, from a movie, TV show or something, which I find interesting enough to look into some more then I write a story about it. They'll range from mythology/fantasy to sci-fi to gore with some humour thrown in there. Whatever I feel like writing about at that time.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Tombtoker'?
Brandon: it's a name I've had in my back pocket since the early 2000's. I just never had a band that sounded like it could be called tombtoker. This bands sound seems to fit pretty well with it. I know it may sound like it, to some, with that name, but weed isn't our identity. Not that we're against it.

6.The album title and cover have an Egyptian theme to them, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in the history and mythology of Egypt'?
Nick: So this is something that I kind of pursued. Brandon was experimenting with the scale-set that was very "Egyptian", in the audial sense. So that was the jumping-off point. It was something I had never really heard before in the "doom/stoner" metal scene, and I thought it fit perfectly. Especially in a world that usually consists of distinctly European influence. Combine that with the idea of the name "Tombtoker" and it started to come together. Ancient Egyptian culture and mythology is something that's struck a nerve with now-modern humanity. It's a perfect mix of being VERY old, to the point we aren't *really* sure of what we know, But, it's also amazingly documented compared to other "ancient" civilizations of the time. The idea of "being old, but not forgotten" really rang a bell in my head. Combine that with the Egyptians famous penchant for dedicating themselves to extremely long projects of culture, and a world-view that extended beyond "the world" itself. I took a fair amount of care in making sure we were channeling that atmosphere, without also using it as a hokey one-off exploitation of that part of human existence. The final aspect is tied into the second, which is just the absolutely grand scope of that old mythology. It extends out, even more, than a lot of the European mythos (which is so prevelent in this kind of scene). A lot of Egyptian mythology is very intertwined with itself. It builds on itself, it has aspects of what people were learning at the time worked into it's stories. I think that fit our approach to our songwriting perfectly. When we went with the name "Tombtoker," we wanted it to sound to a first-listener like they had uncovered something old, but something that still felt fresh. If you can come up with a different description of a mummy, I'd like to hear it. When we chose that imagery, all I had to do was send a shitty phone recording of one of our songs to our good friend John DeCampos, with an even shittier pencil-drawing of my concept and he just ran with it and created an image that, I think, very perfectly describes our sound.

7.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
Brandon: 420fest at Metro Gallery in Baltimore was def a highlight. We just played at Skidrow Garage in York, PA a couple weeks ago and that ruled. We just kinda go out there and bang em out. Our drummer is a beast so we really gotta turn up.

8.Do you have any touring or show plans once the ep is released?
Brandon: Well the record release show is gonna be at this gnarly fest in Baltimore called December Doomsday December 8th. With Weedeater, Heavy Temple, Unearthly Trance, Black Lung, and Foehammer, on the bill it's sure to crush. We'll def be lining up a small tour soon.

9.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of stoner, sludge and doom metal?
Brandon: It's been great. Way more than we expected. People message us all the time about playing shows and wanting physical copies. The record has been getting great reviews. We were just gonna put out 2 song singles ourselves and play a few shows but we ended up having labels hitting us up right after we dropped the first one. Seeing Red Records and Metal Swarm will be putting out cds and tapes. We've been fortunate enough to play Baltimores 420fest with Heavy Temple, Haze Mage and some other rad bands. Now this December Doomsday fest. It's def been good.

10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
Brandon: I think we're still developing our sound. Coffin Texts is made up of riffs I've had for 10 years, as well as some new stuff so it's gonna be interesting to see what we come up with starting from scratch all together.

11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
Brandon: Black Sabbath, Dystopia, Helmet, Morbid Angel, The Jesus Lizard. I've been listening to alot of Weedeater and Heavy Temple. Getting pumped to play along side them at December Doomsday Fest Saturday December 8th at Metro Gallery in Baltimore. Did I mention that's our record release show?

12.What are some of your non musical interests?
Brandon: I know we're all into video games. Shout out to that Red Dead Redemption 2! Drunk discgolfing is also a thing. haha

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts? 
Brandon: Buy our new record Coffin Texts, out December 7th on Seeing Red Records and Metal Swarm Records! Cheers!

The Ocean/Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic/Metal Blade Records/2018 Full Length Review

  Germany's  The  Ocean  have  returned  with  a  new  recording  which  continues  the  progressive  and  atmospheric  mixture  of  sludge  metal  and  post  hardcore  from  previous  releases  and  this is  a  review  of  their  2018 album  "Phanerozoic  I:  Palaeozoic"  which  was  released  by  Metal  Blade  Records.

  An  ambient  orientated  intro  starts  off  the  album  while  also  introducing  keyboards  onto  the  recording  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavier  and  atmospheric  musical  direction  along  with  some  of  the  tracks  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length  as  well  as  the  riffs  also  adding  in  a  great  amount  of  melody.

  Elements  of  sludge  metal  can  also  be  heard  in  the  slower  sections  of  the  music  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  done  in  a  growling  direction  which  is  also  heavily  influenced  by  hardcore  along  with  some  clean  singing  also  being  utilized  at  times  as  well  as  the  music  also  adding  in  a  great  amount  of  progressive  structures  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  a  small  amount  of  blast  beats  can  also  be  heard,  as  the  album  progresses  clean  playing  and  stringed  instruments  can   also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  and  one  of  the  later  songs  is  an  instrumental. 

  On  this  recording  The  Ocean  remains  true  to  the  atmospheric  and  progressive  mixture  of  sludge  metal  and  post  hardcore  from  previous  releases,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  abstract,  philosophical,  globalization  and  modern  age  themes. 

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  The  Ocean  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  band,  you  should  enjoy  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Cambrian  II:  Eternal  Recurrence"  "Silurian:  Age  of  Sea  Scorpions"  and  "Permian:  The  Great  Dying".  8  out  of  10. 

Caged Bastard/Straight Hate To God/2018 EP Review

  Caged  Bastard  are  a  band  from  Tunisia  that  plays  an  experimental  mixture  of  sludge  metal,  grindcore  and  noise  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2018  ep  "Straight  Hate  To  God".

  A  drone  orientated  intro  starts  off  the  ep  along  with  some  demonic  voices  in  the  background  before  going  into  a  heavier  direction  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  along  with  the  slower  sections  of  the  songs  being  very  heavily  rooted  in  sludge  and  doom  metal.

  Vocals  are  mostly  angry  sounding  screams  while  some  of  the  tracks  are  very  short  in  length  along  with  some  elements  of  harsh  noise  also  being  added  into  certain  sections  of  the  recording  as  well  as  the  riffs  also  adding  in  a  decent  amount  of  dark  sounding  melodies,  when  guitar  leads  are  utilized  they  are  also  done  in  a  very  melodic  style  and  when  the  music  speeds  up  elements  of  grindcore  can  also  be  heard.

  Caged  Bastard  plays  a  musical  style  that  takes  experimental,  noise,  grindcore,  sludge  and  doom  metal  and  mixes  them  together  to create  a  sound  of  his  own,  the  production  sounds  very  powerful  for  being  a  self  released  recording  while  the  lyrics  cover  dark  and  angry  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Caged  Bastard  are  a  very  great  sounding  experimental  mixture  of  noise,  grindcorte  and  sludge  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "True  Colors"a nd  "Inferior".  8  out  of  10.