doom metal
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Analoch Games & Merchants Of Air present: THE METAL DECK, the heaviest card game you'll ever play
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Sorrow, despair, solitude, grief, combined with epic riffs, methodical drums and dreary vocals, sometimes that's all I need to get me through the day. I don't even consider myself a dark, depressed person, but doom metal pretty much always does the trick .When it's as good as this album by San Antonio, Texas doom act The Howling Void, I'm immediately sold. The thick, burdensome atmosphere of funeral doom, mixed with epic, almost gothic doom of Anathema or My Dying Bride really hits a nerve here.
The Howling void once started out as a funeral doom act but gradually changed its course towards a more melodic style. On The Triumph of Ruin that results in shorter songs with clean vocals. But that doesn't make opener 'Lords of Barren Fields' or follower 'The Looming Darkness' any less heavy. This still is epic doom metal, enhanced by classical instruments and keyboards. It's still isn't happy music. It's like going from pitch black to dark grey, as mentioned in the biography.
However, things go further and at one point I'm even considering 'The Nine Worlds Wept' a post-rock song, like the ones written by A Swarm Of The Sun for example. It feels like there's more classical music than growling guitars, but that's a good thing. It adds to the versatility of the whole album without neglecting the overall grievous atmosphere. Besides, follower 'Fenrir' seems to combine all of the above and turns it into one of the most immersive pieces of music on this album.
Unsurprisingly, the longest track, 'Where Once a River Flowed', is also the funeral doomiest one. Torpid, sluggish, dragging itself through my speakers like a pitch black mush, withering every leaf on every plant it touches. Love it. And I love the last song 'Silence After the Storm' too, a safe haven, a warm homecoming maybe. Comes to show how versatile a doom metal album really can be if you open your mind give it a try.
Serge
The Howling void once started out as a funeral doom act but gradually changed its course towards a more melodic style. On The Triumph of Ruin that results in shorter songs with clean vocals. But that doesn't make opener 'Lords of Barren Fields' or follower 'The Looming Darkness' any less heavy. This still is epic doom metal, enhanced by classical instruments and keyboards. It's still isn't happy music. It's like going from pitch black to dark grey, as mentioned in the biography.
However, things go further and at one point I'm even considering 'The Nine Worlds Wept' a post-rock song, like the ones written by A Swarm Of The Sun for example. It feels like there's more classical music than growling guitars, but that's a good thing. It adds to the versatility of the whole album without neglecting the overall grievous atmosphere. Besides, follower 'Fenrir' seems to combine all of the above and turns it into one of the most immersive pieces of music on this album.
Unsurprisingly, the longest track, 'Where Once a River Flowed', is also the funeral doomiest one. Torpid, sluggish, dragging itself through my speakers like a pitch black mush, withering every leaf on every plant it touches. Love it. And I love the last song 'Silence After the Storm' too, a safe haven, a warm homecoming maybe. Comes to show how versatile a doom metal album really can be if you open your mind give it a try.
Serge