There's just something about a low constant vibration rumble that calms and brings concentration.

We are jumping through metal sub-genres today. ;)

Eternal Darkness Eternal Darkness
Bandcamp
https://pulverised.bandcamp.com/album/eternal-darkness

#DeathDoomMetal #kittysJukebox

#ThursDeath #NowPlaying 🎶

Released 10 years ago today, "Songs from the North I, II & III" by Swallow the Sun

bandcamp link:
https://centurymedia.bandcamp.com/album/songs-from-the-north-i-ii-iii

album.link:
https://album.link/t/52134268

#Music #Metal #DeathDoomMetal #SwallowTheSun

Atlases - Centralis [Post-Metal, Death Doom Metal] [2019]

Mendacium
by EVOKEN
https://evokenofficial.bandcamp.com/album/mendacium

#FuneralDoomMetal #DeathDoomMetal

Altars of Grief - Voices of Winter [Death Doom Metal] [2018]

#MittwochMetalMix 🎶

Avant-garde death/doom metal from France...

Spleen Angel by Argile, album.link:
https://album.link/t/330712439

#Music #Metal #AvantGardeMetal #DeathDoomMetal #Argile

Hipoxia – Fragmented Revelations
#BlackDoomMetal #Doommetal #Metal #blackdoommetal #deathdoommetal #doomdronemetal #dronedoom #dronedoommetal #industrialdoommetal #Madrid
CC BY-NC (#CreativeCommons Attribution Non Commercial) #ccmusic
https://hipoxia.bandcamp.com/album/fragmented-revelations

#NowPlaying #TheSundayStarter Swallow the Sun's second studio album, Ghosts of Loss, celebrates its 20th anniversary today 🖤

album.link:
https://album.link/i/1660494935

#Music #Metal #DeathDoomMetal #SwallowTheSun

The Dreadful Hours
by My Dying Bride
https://peaceville.bandcamp.com/album/the-dreadful-hours

#DeathDoomMetal #DoomMetal #GothicMetal

#NowPlaying #MittwochMetalMix

As the Flower Withers (1992) by My Dying Bride

bandcamp link:
https://peaceville.bandcamp.com/album/as-the-flower-withers

album.link:
https://album.link/i/73595203

#Music #Metal #DeathDoomMetal #MyDyingBride

Clairvoyance – Chasm of Immurement Review

By Maddog

Yes, I picked this up entirely because of its cover. Girardi’s gorgeous spiral of tombstones and skeletons conjures vintage highbrow death metal of the likes of Death. The title Chasm of Immurement grasps at brutal badassery in the vein of Suffocation’s Effigy of the Forgotten. Clairvoyance’s logo remains indecipherable even if you know the band’s name, suggesting kvltness galore. The promo materials describe lyrics that address the isolating effects of depression, foreshadowing a harrowing listen. In isolation, each of these judgments strikes at the truth but glances off. Chasm of Immurement is the debut album from Poland’s Clairvoyance, an unknown band comprising unknown musicians. Lying at the intersection of brainless death-doom and brainiac digressions, Chasm of Immurement is a powerful foray into death metal.

A first pass through Chasm of Immurement suggests primitive death metal with a dollop of doom. “Eternal Blaze” opens the album with a bang that recalls Faceless Burial’s Speciation. After grabbing me by the anus, Clairvoyance maintains its hold by alternating between mid-range Obituary riffs and lurching Autopsy-style death-doom. These lowbrow highlights feel both as slimy and evolved as an amoeba. With both its riffs and its guitar tone, Chasm of Immurement leaves a palpable layer of grime that justifies multiple colonoscopies. “Blood Divine” emerges as a late gem through riffs that are gory enough to draw blood and enormous enough to evoke Immolation. This isn’t isolated to a subset of the tracks; throughout its runtime, Chasm of Immurement alternates between a sixteen-wheeler and a used minivan without dulling its fun.

On your fifth listen, Clairvoyance’s experimental bent comes into view. The same doomy riffs you’d heard before reveal spooky foreground melodies (“Reign of Silence”). The same track that you’d interpreted as a caveman ditty blossoms in baffling melodic directions in its second half (“Eternal Blaze”). The same song that introduced itself as by-the-books death metal culminates in a monstrous doomy climax (“Fleshmachine”). The same sections that you’d dismissed as repetitive transform into home bases for grimy excursions, interfering with your sleep schedule and your family obligations. Adorning hefty riffs with sinister melodies, Clairvoyance recalls both Lovecraft’s Azathoth and Morbid Angel’s Trey Azagthoth. It took me a while to realize that I was doing Chasm of Immurement an injustice by pigeonholing it into old-school death metal. It is indeed that, but it’s so much more.

Clairvoyance’s varying ambitions both empower and dilute each other. Spanning 34 minutes across 6 tracks, Chasm of Immurement is a concise collection of lengthy tracks. Some of its pieces wander, especially at their simplest. For instance, despite being the second shortest track, “Blood Divine” feels lengthy because of its dearth of creative ideas. Similarly, the shortest song, “Eternal Blaze,” suffers from riffwork that’s decent but unimaginative, before eventually redeeming itself with more variety. Even so, these flubs are rare. The six-minute “Hymn of the Befouled” is the starkest counterexample, balancing length with girth by combining a vicious off-kilter main riff with melodic escapades that hold me rapt. Parts of Chasm of Immurement could do a better job of remaining engaging, but it’s hardly a fatal flaw.

Balancing thoughtful death metal and anti-intellectual death-doom, Clairvoyance’s debut is as weird as it is powerful. Neanderthals who need their fix should look here, as Chasm of Immurement’s crushing death metal riffs rival the best of old-school death metal. Conversely, fans of Morbid Angel’s wonkiness or Tomb Mold’s shapeshifting shenanigans will find just as much to love here. Chasm of Immurement is unlikely to dethrone Faithxtractor’s Loathing and the Noose atop my 2025 death metal ranking, as its occasional meandering loses my interest. But it’s a promising debut from a crew of talented Polish fiends.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Carbonized Records
Websites: carbonizedrecords.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/clairvoyancedeathmetal
Releases Worldwide: July 18th, 2025

#2025 #35 #Autopsy #BrutalDeath #BrutalDeathMetal #CarbonizedRecords #ChasmOfImmurement #Clairvoyance #Death #DeathDoom #DeathMetal #DeathDoomMetal #FacelessBurial #Immolation #Jul25 #MorbidAngel #Obituary #PolishMetal #ProgDeath #ProgressiveDeath #ProgressiveDeathMetal #Review #Reviews #Suffocation #TombMold

The Bleak Picture – Shades of Life Review

By Maddog

It’s been a draining year. Lacking the mental energy for new music, I’ve subsisted on a diet of ISIS and Fvneral Fvkk. Clouded by the doomy stylings of the latter, I decided to make my return to reviewing with dismal death-doom. Despite releasing their debut just last year, Finland’s The Bleak Picture is a project of members of Autumnfall. That said, these two bands sound worlds apart, as their names betray. Abandoning the blackened scenery of Autumnfall, The Bleak Picture paints a bleak picture with melodic death-doom that reeks of Finland. Channeling the icons of sadboi history, Shades of Life is a flawed but worthwhile slab of morose doom.

You won’t find much innovation here, but The Bleak Picture has learned from the best. Blending harsh vocals and spoken word, doomy plains and deathy mountain ranges, Shades of Life consists of familiar elements. The opener “Plagued by Sorrow” offers the listener zero seconds of respite before launching into a persistent doom riff. Melodic guitar leads steer the album along, stitching the doomy cuts together in a manner that recalls Enshine (“Without the I”). Rather than slowing to a standstill, The Bleak Picture uses Insomnium riffs to push the album along without diluting its sorrow. The guitars (handled by Jussi Hänninen, along with the other instruments) are the core of Shades of Life, but Tero Ruohonen’s vocals broaden its horizons. While he largely dwells in standard harsh territory, Ruohonen’s cleans tinge the album with gothic influences, like the distorted spoken word of “Absolution.” Indeed, sections like the straightforward rock of “Without the I” recall Paradise Lost. However, lest this lengthy description fool you, Shades of Life is largely standard fare.

It feels criminal to listen to Shades of Life on a 90-degree summer day. The Bleak Picture conveys emotion through the sheer enormity of their riffs, burying the listener like an avalanche (“Absolution”). Elsewhere, Shades of Life deftly intersperses these assaults with tranquility, like the transition from an explosive chorus to minimalist bass-led instrumentals on “Plagued by Sorrow.” These strengths reach their apex on the 11-minute spectacle “Silent Exit.” Evoking Swallow the Sun’s Plague of Butterflies, the track progresses through a nightmarish acoustic melody, forceful doom riffs, and girthy bass lines. Cult of Luna-style drumming leads the song into a climactic ending that raises the bar even further. Across these highlights, The Bleak Picture’s sophomore release boasts a mature approach to songwriting.

Shades of Life still struggles to transcend its melodic death-doom formula. The album’s biggest weakness is its monotony. In their quest for chunky riffs, The Bleak Picture tends to overuse ideas, emulating an uninspired version of Rapture (“Code of Ethics”). Even the album’s best pieces sometimes fizzle out, like the abrupt ending of the otherwise-powerful “Absolution.” Similarly, while the penultimate track “Silent Exit” showcases the best of Shades of Life, the closer “City of Ghosts” settles into a low-energy doom routine that never picks up steam. Despite its apparent variety of influences, The Bleak Picture’s by-the-book approach to death-doom doesn’t always keep my interest.

An album like Shades of Life is difficult to dissect; its success hinges on the heart, not the brain. The Bleak Picture is on the right path, and tracks like “Silent Exit” hit hard with their bulky riffwork and creative variety. But as a whole, Shades of Life isn’t the gut punch I’d hoped for. It doesn’t match the raw power of Paradise Lost, the otherworldly sadness of Enshine, or the narrative prowess of Insomnium. Still, I have no regrets. There are strong whiffs of talent here, and with its mature and tempered approach to songwriting, Shades of Life is an easy, rewarding listen. It’s worth a shot for anyone who prefers moping over sunlight.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Ardua Music
Websites: thebleakpicture.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/thebleakpicture
Releases Worldwide: June 27th, 2025

#25 #2025 #ArduaMusic #Autumnfall #CultOfLuna #DeathDoom #DeathMetal #DeathDoomMetal #DoomDeath #DoomDeathMetal #DoomMetal #Enshine #FinnishMetal #Gothic #GothicDoom #GothicMetal #GothicRock #Insomnium #Jun25 #Melodeath #MelodeathMetal #MelodicDeathDoom #MelodicDeathMetal #ParadiseLost #Rapture #Review #Reviews #ShadesOfLife #SwallowTheSun #TheBleakPicture

MY SILENT WAKE – Lost In Memories, Lost In Grief
https://eternal-terror.com/?p=70420

RELEASE YEAR: 2024

BAND URL: https://mysilentwake1.bandcamp.com/

As melodic death doom metal is hands down my all time favorite genre which fits my complex internal psychology like a glove, I am always on the look out for the finest representatives thereof. Naturally, the so called Peaceville Trinity (Anathema, My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost) would be the blueprint which is why I am not […]

#ArduaMusic #DeathDoomMetal #doomMetal #england #GothicDeathDoomMetal #LOSTINMEMORIESLOSTINGRIEF #MelodicDeathDoomMetal #MYSILENTWAKE #UnitedKingdom

#TheMetalDogArticleList
#Metal
Katatonia's Jonas Renkse - 5 Favorite Albums As a Teenager
Katatonia singer Jonas Renkse takes us back to his youth with his favorite albums when he was a teenager. Continue reading…

https://loudwire.com/katatonia-jonas-renkse-favorite-albums-teenager/

#Katatonia #JonasRenkse #TeenageYears #FavoriteAlbums #DeathDoomMetal #GothMetal #AlternativeMetal #ProgMetal #HeavyMetal #Music

#NowPlaying #TheMetalDogIsNowPlaying
#ParadiseLost
Obsidian
Serenity

YouTube Search:
https://youtube.com/results?search_query=Paradise+Lost+Obsidian+Serenity

Songwhip:
https://songwhip.com/Paradise-Lost/Serenity

Lyrics:
https://genius.com/Paradise-lost-serenity-lyrics

LastFM:
https://www.last.fm/music/Paradise+Lost/_/Serenity

#doommetal #deathmetal #Harsh #singalong #DeathDoomMetal

#NowPlaying #TheMetalDogIsNowPlaying
#CattleDecapitation
Death Atlas
Death Atlas

YouTube Search:
https://youtube.com/results?search_query=Cattle+Decapitation+Death+Atlas+Death+Atlas

Songwhip:
https://songwhip.com/Cattle-Decapitation/Death-Atlas

Lyrics:
https://genius.com/Cattle-decapitation-death-atlas-lyrics

LastFM:
https://www.last.fm/music/Cattle+Decapitation/_/Death+Atlas

#blackmetal #Progressivemetal #TechnicalDeathMetal #deathgrind #DeathDoomMetal

Ritual Ascension – Profanation of the Adamic Covenant Review

By Dear Hollow

Profanation of the Adamic Covenant represents catacombs dripping with putridity and filth, the blasphemy called against the heavens from far below ground. It’s an upheaval from beneath our feet, the crawling and coagulant rot that spreads from abyss to abyss. The filth and blood clots our eyes, hearts, and minds, driving us deeper and deeper into the madness until our lungs are filled with mud. Ritual Ascension is transcendence and enlightenment achieved through the reveling and swallowing of the grime-soaked entrails through a vicious and ancient ritual, the lumbering deity whose mammoth footfalls and cloud of plague require payment in full. It’s a ritual to the god of the mud and disease, and a fist slammed into the underside of heaven.

Death/doom has many heads, but the one Ritual Ascension rears may be the ugliest. The Denver collective, alongside sharing all three members with Aberration, is comprised of members of Suffering Hour, Void Rot, Feral Light, and Annihilation Cult, promising a psychedelic affair inspired just as much by the classic death/doom acts of yore as the more experimental devastators. You’ll certainly find homages to Incantation, diSEMBOWELMENT, and Winter in its ten-ton doom hammers, but atop it is an opaque and occult breed of dissonant insanity reminiscent of Portal and a palpable filth only touched by the likes of Stenched or Rotpit, only kept in the realm of humanity by a palpable groove that reminds me of Ataraxie. Ritual Ascension offers the depths in ways few can, a collective far greater than the sum of its parts.

Crawling, slimy chaos is one hell of a first impression. Overload of down-tuned and filthy tremolo guide mammoth processions, whose dissonant constructions and atonal dirges provide a hypnotic otherworldliness. As displayed lumbering out of the gates, its attack is slimy, slow, and devastating, ultimately a feeling or a place rather than a collection of highlights – as any good doom album ought to be. From the subtle and simple chord progressions that dominate more minimalist pieces (“Womb Exegesis”) to the groovy and monolithic chugs that grace the climaxes of lengthy runtimes (“Pillars of Antecedence,” “Cursed Adamic Tongues”), interspersed by passages of blastbeats ranging from blazing to contemplative. DH’s vocals are a crucial element to the album’s subterranean and blasphemous atmosphere, ranging from the commanding chthonic bellows you expect from this breed of devastation to the tortured howls and groans more indicative of black metal.

If the first half of Profanation is subtle and crawling, then the second exists as utterly filthy slow-motion violence. I was initially disappointed that the Portal-isms were not as handily felt among the tracks of the first half, only gleaming in sporadic moments and within traditionally ominous diminished chord progressions. However, crossing into the second half with the scalding “Consummation Rites” and “Kolob (At the Throne of Elohim),” caustic slow-motion Ulcerate leads collide with the filthiest riffs Impetuous Ritual could muster, with DH’s most charismatic performances of the album. Unhinged and cutthroat are not words typically associated with doom, but the layers of overwhelm and dissonance meet the criteria with a bloodthirstiness and underlying craving for brutality. Looking back, it would have been relatively easy to incorporate the dissonant intensity in the first couple of tracks, but their later full fruition after a crawling crescendo makes them feel even more painful and overwhelming.

Even though the dissonance was not as immediate as I anticipated and the necessity for the patience required for this kind of beast goes without saying for its atmosphere – rather than a collection of songs – Profanation of the Adamic Covenant is transcendent. Encapsulating that crawling dread and ritualistic weight, monolithic groove, and dissonant layers in a tidy forty-eight minutes and held together by the dedication to unholy filth, it offers bounties aplenty for those willing to wade through the offal and mire. Bolstered by impressive performances in unpredictable percussion, riffs both mammoth and caustic, and vocals tortured and menacing, Ritual Ascension offers one hell of a debut. Get swallowed by the filth.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Sentient Ruin Laboratories
Website: instagram.com/ritualascension
Releases Worldwide: February 28th, 2025

#2025 #40 #Aberration #AmericanMetal #AnnihilationCult #Ataraxie #AvantGardeMetal #DeathDoomMetal #diSEMBOWELMENT #DissonantDeathMetal #Feb25 #FeralLight #ImpetuousRitual #Incantation #OldSchoolDeathMetal #Portal #ProfanationOfTheAdamicCovenant #Review #Reviews #RitualAscension #Rotpit #SentientRuinLaboratories #Stenched #SufferingHour #Ulcerate #VoidRot #Winter

Act of Impalement – Profane Altar Review

By Dear Hollow

Nashville trio Act of Impalement’s sophomore release Infernal Ordinance, in spite of the low-hanging HOA jokes, was badass. Its unfuckwithable blend of death and crust styles led to a sore neck from endless headbanging, while its passages of doom tempos and thick weight did the sludge and doom influences justice. I still spin the likes of “Summoning the Final Conflagration” and “Erased,” reliving that pummeling that hurts so good again and again. You can imagine how excited I was, then, to discover Act of Impalement has a new album.

To accurately sum up Act of Impalement’s musical arsenal is an exercise in futility, and Profane Altar amps the obscurity – although the trademark groove remains stalwart. While Ethan Rock remains the band’s pivot point as primary songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist, a revamped lineup replacing bassist Jimmy Grogan and longtime drummer Zack Ledbetter emerges with its own streamlined take. As such, while Infernal Ordinance felt almost entirely like the one-man Ethan Rock show, Profane Altar finds bassist Jerry Garner adding more rumbling weight to the riffs while drummer Aaron Hortman brings a newfound manic energy and mania to the rhythms. While the influences remain the same in death metal royalty Bolt Thrower, Incantation, Entombed, and Asphyx – and the sound is deceptively straightforward – the streamlined approach, more pronounced black metal influence, and filthier riffs offer new planes for Act of Impalement.

Act of Impalement’s biggest change is a more cohesive fusing of its sludge and death metal influences alongside its newfound obscure black metal bleakness. While opener “Summoning the Final Conflagration” from its predecessor set a precedent of buzzsaw riffs driven to a sludgy end, Profane Altar opens with “Apparition” – while the groove and riffs are similar, they are absolutely suffocating, a swampy tar filling every crevice of the sound. Act of Impalement is down with the thickness, and it grants them a fluidity that kept the disjointedness of its predecessor from truly soaring. From ten-ton bruisers dripping with patient swagger (“Apparition,” “Final Sacrifice”), filthy 6/8 death metal waltzes (“Sanguine Rites,” “Gnashing Teeth”) to vicious crust punk-influenced black metal beatdowns laden with blastbeats and shred (“Piercing the Heavens,” “Deities of the Weak”), their potentially disconnected collection of blasting and bruising is blessedly woven together by its all-consuming weight.

Brevity is the name of Act of Impalement’s game, and it no longer feels like a one-man show. No track exceeds five minutes for a total of thirty-one minutes, which is absolutely reasonable and almost necessary for this breed of intensity. While the professed styles don’t feel particularly unique, Act of Impalement manages to lay them atop the incredibly sturdy foundation of groove, which serves the brevity extremely well – the album hits hard and fast and never overstays its welcome. Better still, Garner’s bass shines throughout and Hortman’s percussion feels both unhinged in its blastbeats and steadfastly reliable in its plodding groove – both members shining alongside Rock’s riffs and hellish roars. That being said, Act of Impalement offers a brutal riff-fest with elements borrowed from death, death/doom, crust punk, and black metal, a tribute to the hallowed halls of metal history – but the product is remarkably straightforward in its punishing groove.

If you’re looking for a nuanced album that showcases a rich and layered approach to its songwriting, Profane Altar is not for you. However, if you’re okay seeing all its influences as riders of the one-trick pony called groove, it doesn’t get much better than Act of Impalement’s breed of pummeling. Profane Altar is fucking heavy, simultaneously a more in-your-face and obscure release for a band renowned for their breakneck intensity. Balance and the bravery to embrace its disparate blend of influences sets it apart from its already formidable predecessor, even though the shortsighted groove makes it blackened, deathened, crusty, doomy ear candy. Infectiously groovy ear candy.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Caligari Records
Websites: instagram.com/actofimpalement | facebook.com/ActOfImpalement
Releases Worldwide: February 28th, 2025

#2025 #35 #ActOfImpalement #AmericanMetal #Asphyx #BlackMetal #BlackenedDeathMetal #BoltThrower #CaligariRecords #CrustPunk #DeathMetal #DeathDoomMetal #DoomMetal #Entombed #Feb25 #Incantation #ProfaneAltar #Review #Reviews

#NowPlaying #MittwochMetalMix 15 years ago today, Spanish gothic/death-doom metal band Helevorn released their marvelous second full-length album: Forthcoming Displeasures 🖤

bandcamp link:
https://helevorn.bandcamp.com/album/forthcoming-displeasures

#Music #Metal #GothicMetal #DeathDoomMetal #Helevorn

Norilsk – Antipole Review

By Thus Spoke

By quirk of circumstance, Antipole is the third French-language album I’ve reviewed in a row. Norilsk break the trend in one way, however, as they are Quebecois, not French. Antipole is also not a debut (as my other 2025 subjects have been); far from it, Norilsk being a fairly established name in the Canadian death/doom sphere. With an approach that broadly leans towards the grit and grime of the two genres—rather than the grandiosity or beautification of either—but a tendency to flirt with post, they have garnered appreciation as solid riff-deliverers who can still keep things a little interesting. As its name might suggest, Antipole is a study of opposites, with the promo sheet highlighting the dualities Norilsk explore both conceptually and literally through the music’s evolutions. Such polarities are, in fact, key.

If not granted much attention, Antipole is serviceable doom-y death; deviations from the template rare enough to be forgettable. But it was when my listens moved from passive to active that problems began to emerge. Under a camouflage of unremarkability—a problem in itself—the true colors make themselves plain if you really look. Most melodies become frustrating in their wasted potential; most riffs lack presence; the overuse of essentially spoken-word delivery of the growled vocals gets ever more grating. But the greatest issue, encompassing all others, is that the compositions feel flimsy whereas they ought to feel hefty—instrumental and vocal elements not harnessed to their full potential, and highs dropped in without justifying set-up. Duality is one thing, but disjointedness is another, and it is the former that characterizes Antipole. But it is not a dynamic kind of disjointed—such as one might find in overambitious technical extreme metal—but quite the opposite: an apathetic lack of follow-through that’s insidiously vague, but ultimately brings the above problems into even sharper relief.

Norlisk severely underuse key building blocks of both doom and death.1 Rather than harnessing song lengths to execute builds and releases, to hint, deliver, and reprise refrains, they often repeat empty phrases (“Antipole,” “La chute du géant”), and simply switch into unearned flourishes (“Locus Sanctus,” “La fonte”), or discard a melody for stripped-back flatness (“Nunataks,” “Un chant pour les morts”). Instead of complimenting weighty riffs with soaring themes, or doubling down in grimy dissonance, (most) melodies are thin, barely develop, and carry about as much emotion as a bank statement. The emphasis on spoken word and approximately spoken or whispered delivery for harsh vocals gives much of the music a disinterested, placid effect, while the instances of more aggressive barking come across as put-on if not passable—though they are soon supplanted by the dominating whisper-growl anyway. Individual pieces—a groove here (“D’ombre et de glace (l’asphysxie)”), a riff there (“Nunataks”), the rare appearance of coherent thematic development in a beautiful solo (“La chute du géant”)—are good. But while shrouding the disconnection and the tameness at first blush, soon they make more evident how exasperatingly under-developed the whole is. These highlights themselves lose their sheen like gold dust in a pile of ash–not worth getting excited about, when you have to trawl through the rest to catch them. Let not the embed fool you: it’s possibly the best track.

Everything contained within Antipole is serviceable, but those stand-out elements prove that Norilsk are capable of much more than serviceable. Where they flirt with post (“Un chant pour les morts”) or a more energetic melodeath (“Locus Sanctus”) the music gains a hint of intrigue, but it loses it just as quickly because Norilsk don’t do anything with it, and settle back into comfortable, unremarkable death-doom. Some inconsistencies in the mix possibly contribute to the album’s problems. Harsh vocals sometimes fall back behind the guitars and percussion, meaning that when they would otherwise sound very good, with their resonant growls, they instead end up a little choked and feel non-committal. However, the spoken-word vocals usually appear right at the front of the mix, though they do not possess the requisite gravity for this prominence, and it makes them and the music accompanying them feel somehow flat. When the music is neither crushing enough to warrant a dense production—though at times it pretends to be—nor dynamic enough to justify a spacious one—though, again, attempts are made—the mix never feels just right; to my ears anyway. Perhaps Antipole has just driven me insane.

With apparent appreciation for Norilsk in the underground scene, and some stand-out moments—particularly on the front end—the true face of Antipole turned out to be an immense disappointment. There are approximately ten minutes of good death-doom hidden amidst the full 48, and whether or not this suffices to give Antipole your time is up to you. Maybe Norilsk have fallen from grace; maybe the fans were simply wrong all along.2

Rating: Disappointing
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Hypnotic Dirge
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: February 6th, 2025

#20 #2025 #Antipole #CanadianMetal #DeathMetal #DeathDoomMetal #DoomMetal #Feb25 #HypnoticDirge #Norilsk #QuebecoisMetal #Review #Reviews