Greetings, Decibel readers!
Happy fall to all! Looking for some sounds to fit the season? Well, the first place I’d tell you to go would be this evergreen (Ever-orange? Ever-red? Ever-yellow?) article I compiled for that very purpose. However, I think the albums below would make a fitting edition to this year’s playlist, particularly the three doomier entries.
Enjoy!
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Frayle – Skin & Sorrow
Spooky doom metal tailored made for the spooky season. The band’s heavy and haunting sound would make a fitting soundtrack to something like David Eggers’ The Witch. In a field that’s steadily grown crowded and predictable over the last 10 years, it’s good to still hear someone take the modern doom sound in a compelling direction.
Stream: Apple Music
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Gutvoid – Durance of Lightless Horizons
From our premiere of “Delivered to the Altar Lich”:
“Delivered to the Altar Lich” is the follow-up to the previously issued track “In Caverns It Lurks.” Both provide a decaying glimpse into despondent horrors found on Durance of Lightless Horizons, but “Delivered to the Altar Lich” has the heavy burl and woebegone combo on lock. Imagine [Gorement’s] Patrik Fernlund and Daniel Eriksson getting their hooks into Abhorrence’s “Pestilential Mists” and Paradise Lost’s “Frozen Illusion.” The way the guitar work of Daniel Bonofiglio and Brendan Dean intensifies their inspirations is what the post-pandemic needed. Yes, Gutvoid is this: a shot in death metal’s rotting arm by an unlikely tormented team from the wastes of Hogtown.
Stream: Apple Music
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Hadopelagyal – Nereidean Seismic End
Brutal, menacing, and atmospheric blackened death metal. Big emphasis on reverb with the vocals, blended with a doom-metal guitar tone that delivers the death metal riffs. Listening to this evokes what it must feel like to be lost in the woods at night, shuddering with terror at every obscure noise that pops off around you.
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Harvest of Ash – Ache and Impulse
Keeping with the doomy guitar tone that dominates this week’s list, here’s a band that drives it right into the swamp-lands of sludge metal. This is the Salt Lake City-based band’s debut album, bringing a wealth of promise to fans of Crowbar, Soilent Green and the like.
Stream: Apple Music
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KEN mode – Null
From our very own African Grey expert on these matters:
This record sees the edition of multi-instrumentalist Kathryn Kerr. The first thing that stands out here is the additional noises/layers that Kerr provides. This is different for sure, with a heavy Swans/Einsturzende Neubauten pound along tracks that harken back to more pecked up hardcore (think Deadguy, Today Is the Day.) … Recorded and mixed by Andrew Schneinder, this is indeed a pummeling affair, but no matter how it sounds, this is nothing compared to seeing this band live. Simply put, they slay.
Stream: Apple Music
