Doom may not be “stimulating” in the same ways as say grindcore, but that doesn’t mean the former is any less adept at meeting the definition than the latter–they just succeed in different ways.  Take Monolord.  The trio’s tunes may not never be classified as anything close to pharmaceutical grade amphetamines, but they’re nevertheless replete with riffs that rouse and get the blood pumping.  On the topic of stimulants, the Swedes decided to base their playlist around one of the more mild–and most popular–ones:  coffee.

One of the most intriguing post-hardcore bands to emerge in the 90s was Craw. However, their first three records — considered by many to be American underground classics — have been out of print for more than a decade.

Miami four-piece Maruta are back together after a (thankfully) brief two-year time-out. They clearly did not come back to start sucking.

Ever since 2006, each year end issue has included, alongside the customary list of the year’s best albums for you to argue about and call us out on, a collection of Top 5’s ranging from the silly to the (somewhat) serious to the even more silly. 

Bummer break-up news: German black metal institution Bethlehem are calling it quits… kind of. 

It only makes sense that a brutal death metal outfit called Dysentery would have an album called Internal Devastation. But that was four years ago. 

Hey, you got your Sabbath-y math rock in my Neurosis-esque epic doom-sludge!

Well, you got your Neurosis-esque epic doom-sludge in my Sabbath-y math rock!

Shades of the infamous walkman crash Reeses Peanut Butter Cups commercial of the 1980s, this is how I imagine the first encounter between members of The Ditch and the Delta must have gone down. 

On April 21, 2015, the Bay Area metal scene—and the underground metal scene as a whole—lost a prolific and talented artist named Drew Cook, guitarist for Oakland-based bands Dimesland and Wild Hunt.

Omniscient
Omnifying the Obscure
dB Rating: 8/10

Okay, before we step into the ring, fair warning: This is going to be some bare-knuckles shit. Go ahead and tighten up your gut.