Hooded Menace

Temple of Void – The Crawl Review

Temple of Void – The Crawl Review

By Steel Druhm on March 4, 2026 in Reviews, Death Metal, Doom Metal, 44 comments

“Detroit’s death-doom institution Temple of Void had an interesting journey over their 12-year career. Their 2014 debut split the baby between 90s Peaceville doom and nasty death metal like Asphyx and Bolt Thrower, and the end product was heavy as fook. 2017’s Lords of Death shifted toward death metal without losing any of the crushing, venomous intensity. It wasn’t until 2020s The World That Was that Temple of Void really started experimenting with the scope of their sound as influences like post-metal crept in. When 2022s Summoning the Slayer arrived, it seemed like the band was losing the plot, as their sound became overly pared down and simplistic, causing tedium to set in. That brings us to their fifth album, The Crawl.” Null and void?

Malignant Aura – Where All of Worth Comes to Wither Review

Malignant Aura – Where All of Worth Comes to Wither Review

By Owlswald on January 27, 2026 in Reviews, Death Metal, Doom Metal, 30 comments

“The marriage of death and doom is a well-trodden path, but Malignant Aura’s 2022 debut proved they had quickly mastered the formula. Abysmal Misfortune is Draped Upon Me was a crushing blend of old-school death metal (OSDM) misery and funeral desolation, establishing the Australian quartet as another worthy addition to an already vibrant scene. Now a part of the Memento Mori roster, their sophomore effort, Where All of Worth Comes to Wither, arrives to push Malignant Aura out of the nether realm and into a world all their own.” Aura Borealis.

Hooded Menace – Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration Review

Hooded Menace – Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration Review

By Steel Druhm on October 2, 2025 in Reviews, Death Metal, Doom Metal, 42 comments

“I’ve been hot and cold on Finnish doom-death act Hooded Menace over the years. I enjoyed the heavy, ugly sound of their early albums, but as they slowly progressed into more melodic realms, I felt they lost a bit of their primal sting. I enjoyed albums like Ossuarium Silhouettes Unhallowed and 2021s The Tritonus Bell and respected their reset into more jaunty, trad metal melodic doom soundscapes, but it just felt like something was missing. That brings us to their latest release, Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration.” All good in the Hood?

Void Witch – Horripilating Presence Review

Void Witch – Horripilating Presence Review

By Cherd on July 29, 2024 in Reviews, Death Doom, Death Metal, Doom Metal, 52 comments

“One of the joys of being a music scene deep diver is liking what you hear of a brand-spanking-new band’s demos and EPs, watching them sign to a label, and anticipating their debut full-length. The Austin, Texas death-doom outfit Void Witch caught my attention with their first demo in 2021. The songs were remarkably fleshed out for being a band’s first-ever output, and I enjoyed the funny little black-and-white illustration of a hooded figure with five legs all pointing to the side. We’ll call him Five Feets Francis. A couple years later I noticed that Everlasting Spew re-released that demo with an additional song and a new illustration in the same style. I call that guy Pope Alligator Hands the Third. This was a great sign.” Witch void is which?

Cadaver Shrine – Benighted Desecration Review

Cadaver Shrine – Benighted Desecration Review

By Ferox on February 13, 2023 in Reviews, 14 comments

“Sunlight can cleanse or heal, but it also burns. The scouring properties of light sear their way into the foreground on Benighted Desecration, the debut full-length from death-doom entity Cadaver Shrine. Just look at the corpse on the album cover, face pointed upward toward the source of its demise. A halo of oppressive brightness envelops the nasty music on this latest of many side projects from Maurice de Jong of Gnaw Their Tongues infamy.” Cult of the Sun.

Druid Lord – Relics of the Dead Review

Druid Lord – Relics of the Dead Review

By Carcharodon on January 20, 2022 in Reviews, Death Doom, 16 comments

“Some 12 years after coalescing around ex members of Acheron, Orlando, Florida’s Druid Lord is back with just their third full-length. A hefty eight years passed between debut, Hymns for the Wicked, and its 2018 follow-up, Grotesque Offerings, on which the death-doom quartet “came up short,” according to our own Grymm.” Speaking ill of the dead.

WORM – Foreverglade Review

WORM – Foreverglade Review

By Cherd on October 20, 2021 in Reviews, Death Doom, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Funeral Doom, 106 comments

“Over a year and a half ago, Floridian band WORM released Gloomlord, a funeral/death doom album that marked a left turn for the former black metal outfit. I found it below average. Remarkably, my proclamation of its deficiencies wasn’t enough to keep others from enjoying it. The absolute fucking nerve. An inordinate number of other metal polymaths in the blogosphere sang its dolorous praises to the point that I wondered if maybe I had been mistaken, as rare an occurrence as that may be. When follow-up Foreverglade was announced, I decided to revisit Gloomlord, and I found it…about the same. Two good tracks and three duds. As I hit play on Foreverglade, I mentally prepared to be the bearer of bad reviews a second time.” The WORM has turned.