Well! The year, once again, dies down. Imagine I wrote something here about some fucked up and absolutely sick (both aesthetically and literally) stag that is dying in some ancient forest, symbolizing the rebirth of the year and the land in a totally doom metal way. Now that that's out of the way, let's get to some fucking riffs, shall we? They're slow, they're low, and they will kick the shit out of you because that's how we do here on Doomsday.
'nough words! Roll out the riffs!
-Eden Kupermintz
Vokonis - Transitions
I’m technically breaking the rules of this column to post about this one - it came out this month, as opposed to last month, but there isn’t really an album I want to write up more than this one. I’ve always wanted to love Vokonis but only ended up liking them; I’ve always felt like there was something greater, hiding beneath the surface, sometimes bursting forth on specific tracks from their previous releases. Happily, Transitions finally brings everything together, creating an extremely enjoyable album I can love, one that runs the gamut between more straight-forward, hard hitting stoner metal (like on leading single, the aptly named “Pink Fang”, given that it really does sound like back when Red Fang were really good) and more progressive, “spidery” sounds a la Mastodon’s Crack the Skye. Oh, and it’s also an album about coming out as a transperson and transitioning.
Yes, the album name (and color scheme!) is subtle. But hey, who needs subtlety when the whole point is to scream who you are to the entire world, as everyone on this planet should get to do? It also helps when your music kicks ass. I wouldn’t presume to comment on the connection between members embracing their best selves and the quality of the music, but it does feel like Vokonis are unleashed. Most of all, I’ve always wanted them to go further with their compositions, to either step out of the cliches of the genre or embrace them wholeheartedly and play them to their limits and the latter is what they’ve chosen to do. I mean, just fucking listen to “Chrysalis”! Is it new? Innovative? Not really. But does it swing with the might of a thousand arms, slamming its groovy main riffs into you like a warhammer? Fuck yeah it does.
This energy and passion is all over Transitions and I can’t help but fall in love with the album. It is clearly in love itself with stoner metal and knows exactly what makes it tick. But, finally, it also feels wholeheartedly at peace with that love, fully committed to playing it loud, fast, and well. I find myself being swept up in that recognition, combined with the powerful and positive themes that run as a second thread through the release. Vokonis is dead! Long live Vokonis!
-EK
Castle - Evil Remains
As if a massive European and North American tour wasn’t enough this year, San Francisco’s own heavy metal brigade Castle dropped their sixth full-length album in September, awakening the slumbering beast of doomed heavy metal with their best work yet.
Evil Remains is undoubtedly spooky, beckoning the listener into a shadowy underworld of magic and mayhem. But it’s also unquestionably fun. Burrowing deep into the deepest roots of metal with Black Sabbath influences, Castle casts their own unique spell with razor-sharp riffs from guitarist Mat Davis and catchy, powerful grooves from bassist/vocalist Elizabeth Blackwell. Combining occult doom with swaggering heavy metal, Evil Remains is black magic blues and a graveyard rave wrapped in your favorite leather jacket.
The title track alone captures the full magic of Castle with maddeningly addictive riffs that pound while Blackwell invokes dark spirits with fiery energy. Furious yet irresistibly groovy, “Evil Remains” suddenly dissolves into gritty synths that retain a rough and murky edge. The momentary psychedelics only add to Castle’s deliciously vintage brilliance, giving the song a moment to build even more power. Play at your own risk, Castle isn’t liable for the inevitable neck injuries caused by Evil Remains.
-Bridget Hughes
Sif - Aegis of the Hallowed King
At the ripe age of 30, my best attempt to summarize my music tastes is just one word: texture. Some people love clever or illustrative lyrics, others are drawn to wildly inventive and technical songwriting, while another cohort of music lovers swear by addictive riffs. All are completely correct, but for me, there exists only texture. The fuzz of stoner doom, the murk of funeral doom, swampy gurgles of death metal and grind, the ethereal shrouds of dream pop and shoegaze, or the corrosiveness of harsh noise wall. Blackened instrumental doomlord Sif manages to unite almost all of these textures with Aegis of the Hollowed King, a massive slab of instrumental blackened doom that unites the realms of fantasy synth, doom, drone, and black metal.
Harsh crackling erupts into lumbering-yet-nasty riffs that are massive, creating a harsh expanse for the adventures ahead. Melodic guitars glide into view, offering notes of resolve to wary travelers. The early scenes of “Aegis” offer little but stark, unforgiving soundscapes. But wait….a heavy metal barrage inspires our party to venture out into this treacherous place. Locked in eternal battle, Sif guides us through moments of heavy metal bravado and foreboding doom, all set against the hostile backdrop of black metal and drone.
But Aegis of the Hallowed King isn’t all doom-and-gloom. Murmuring guitars and glimmering synths offer a welcome, if brief, reprieve as they marry the atmospheres of fantasy synth with mournful doom. As if rising from the tumult of great loss, the guitars arc into all-encompassing grooves that surround and overwhelm. The result is textural bliss as the two soundscapes of Aegis of the Hallowed King collide – shimmering ephemera illuminating a fuzzy funeral.
-BH