The debut full-length album from Helsinki death metal band Baron is Beneath The Blazing Abyss. Baron started almost ten years ago in Finland. They are a death metal band, and no mistake. They also introduce strong doom elements at times and do not shy away from hardcore levels of aggression. With two EPs and a demo in their history, Beneath The Blazing Abyss is their first long-player. The band is Tommi Astala (vocals, acoustic guitar), Jerry Tamminen (guitar, vocals), Teemu Karell (guitar), Toni Nisukangas (bass), and Juuso Hämäläinen (drums). There are seven stacked tracks on the new record ..read more

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Number nine from the irrepressible High On Fire is Cometh The Storm. I am a big Matt Pike fan, as I might have mentioned before. I am all in on anything he puts out. He is most well-known for the band Sleep and of course High On Fire. While the two sound very different, a throughline is evident. As regards High On Fire, I hopped on the bandwagon with their third album, Blessed Black Wings (2005), having somehow missed the earlier two. I found it to be overwhelming and so I had an eye out for any and all music from the band to follow. And it did, with one amazing album after another, most nota ..read more

Revered doom band My Dying Bride release their 15th album, A Mortal Binding. For more than thirty years, UK doom band My Dying Bride has mesmerized fans. The past few years have been rough for the band, for the global reasons that affected everyone and for issues specific to My Dying Bride. Talking about the new album, vocalist Aaron Stainthorpe says, “This album was much easier than The Ghost of Orion. We were coming out of cancer with my daughter. That, naturally, was always playing on my mind throughout the recording. When the album was released, the world went into lockdown. Everything we ..read more

Italian stoner doom band Haunted allow a look beneath their dark cloak on their latest album, Stare At Nothing. Haunted started spreading the doom in Sicily in 2015. Stare At Nothing is their third album, and it is a monumental achievement. This odd, unattributed quotation I found lurking in the pre-press materials. “It’s undermining the Force of Mimesis with God… it’s the snake’s bite that frees you from Shame… it’s discovering yourself capable of doing harm… Changing, corrupting purity, depriving questions of answers, sinking into the wound of Being.” Yikes. The band is Cristina Chimirri (v ..read more

Gothic doom band Tomorrow’s Rain release their sophomore album, Ovdan. Tomorrow’s Rain got going in 2011 in Israel, and reportedly had operate under a different name for ten years before that. Their sound mixes doom and death metal with gothic ideas to create a captivating heavy music outcome. Their first album, Hollow, came out in 2020 in both English and Hebrew versions. The new record, their second, is therefore out quite quickly by comparison. The band is Yishai Sweeartz (vocals), Raffy Mor (guitar), Yoni Biton (guitar), Yaggel Cohen (bass), and Nir Nakav (drums). Fully half of the songs ..read more

Sludge band Earthblood are back with a new EP, Witchburner. Earthblood is a newly minted doom/sludge band from Finland. Their first EP, Primal Fury, came out in 2023, and now they are out with a new one, the tantalizingly titled Witchburner. The band describes their music as Thunder Ape Metal, as it combines sludge and doom with faster pushes, perhaps like an agitated, rampaging primate. The band is Niko Kauhanen (drums), Jere Halonen (guitar, vocals), Joel Notkonen (bass, vocals), and Tuure Suomalainen (guitar). The EP is concise, carrying three stout songs. Starting off with the title track ..read more

The Kvlt and Roll Tour with Early Moods and Morbikon stopped at Black Circle in Indianapolis, bringing menace and mayhem. Early Moods Black Circle is an excellent heavy music venue in Indianapolis that I have written about many times in the pages of this blog. There is an amazing array of bands that comes through the place – check out their website at the link below the article and have a look at their event list for yourself. If you are a heavy music fan anywhere near Indianapolis, chances are you spend a fair amount of time at Black Circle. One of the things the venue does that I haven’t see ..read more

Philadelphia psychedelic doom band Heavy Temple take another step toward the tower with their latest album, Garden Of Heathens. Heavy Temple are in the early part of their second decade. Following the two EPs Heavy Temple (2014) and Chassit (2016), Lupi Amoris (2021), their debut album, was brought out. The music on that first album will knock you right down. The new one is heavy as well, but with a few more day trips and detours. The band is High Priestess Nighthawk (vocals, bass), Lord Paisley (guitar), and Baron Lycan (drums). John Forrestal joins on cello as a guest musician. There are ei ..read more

Stoner doom wizards Temple Of The Fuzz Witch render new ponderings on their latest, Apotheosis. Detroit is the place of origin for the doom trio Temple Of The Fuzz Witch. In only a few years, they have produced an impressive amount of music, releasing an EP and two previous full-length albums, most recently, Red Tide (2020). I was lucky enough to catch the band live last Fall at Tennessee Metal Devastation, and their performance was a primary highlight of the festival. Apotheosis is another testament in what is sure to be an on-going story. The band is Noah Bruner (vocals, guitar, synth), Joe ..read more