“while wading through the promo sump, I stumbled across the self-titled debut of fresh project, Ritual Arcana. Soon discovering this seasoned power trio feature none other than the legendary Scott ‘Wino’ Weinrich (Saint Vitus, The Obsessed, Spirit Caravan), wielding his scuzzed-up axe alongside Sharlee LuckyFree (ex-Moth) on bass and vocals, and drummer Oakley Munsen (The Black Lips).” Hobo Wino!
“The boys in Dwelling Below get a lot of facetime here at AMG. We’ve reviewed Hierarchies’ debut (Jared Moran, Anthony Wheeler, Nicolas Turner), all three albums by Acausal Intrusion (Moran, Turner), one by Filtheater (Moran), and we’ve done a filter piece on Feral Lord (Moran, Turner). It’s no wonder, as we tend to enjoy the angry, dissonant stuff they put out. I’ve been jonesing for something in that ballpark, so when I learned that Dwelling Below’s debut unnerved Thus Spoke enough to waive seniority, I quickly snagged their follow-up. Hoping it might hit the spot, I eagerly dug my grubby lil nubbins into Wearisome Guardians.” Undermining calm.
“Pentagram don’t get the respect they deserve considering their place in metal history. Rising from the primordial ooze of the Virginia music scene in 1971, they can arguably claim to be the first American heavy metal band and it’s indisputable that they were the first American doom act. Despite this rarefied standing, they remain a truly underground act to this day.” Lightning in the crypts.
“I miss Eric Wagner. As the frontman for Trouble he was an American doom icon and his unique voice was a big part of the soundtrack of my life. His passing in 2021 was a big loss to Metaldom and I get sad whenever I think about it. He left behind a completed solo album but he’d also nearly finished a new album with his band The Skull. Fortunately, his bandmates and friends were able to finish what Eric started, and they recruited a doom dream team to bring his final inspiration into existence. The Skull 3 plays out like a loving tribute to Eric Wagner and American doom as a whole.”
“Back in 2022, a tongue-in-cheek project by members of Reverend Bizarre and Electric Wizard was introduced to the world. Going by the name Friends of Hell (a not-so-subtle call out to Witchfinder General’s sophomore opus), they played classic 80s doom in the vein of Pentagram, Saint Vitus, and of course, Witchfinder General. It was a loving homage to a specific era and sound and the somewhat goofy, overblown delivery was balanced out by slick riffs and the one-of-a-kind vocals of Albert Witchfinder (Reverend Bizarre). It was entertaining but it wasn’t a must-hear kind of article. 2024 sees Friends of Hell back with a greatly overhauled lineup and without the talents of Albert Witchfinder.” Friends and Hell wishers.
“Every album we get from Scott “Wino” Weinrich at this stage of his career feels like playing with house money. As a living legend in the American doom scene, Wino had his fingerprints on so much music over the decades that trying to quantify it all can make your head spin. As the founder of early doom act The Obsessed in the 1970s, he helped shape the sound of the genre in America along with Pentagram, Trouble, and Saint Vitus.” Living backwards forever.
“Huck boldly covered the first 2 releases by this Texas-based doom act and he was quite taken with their 2021 Chosen One platter. He enjoyed its heavy Sabbath worship filtered through a burly biker doom perspective with sprinkles of classic rock and Crowbar-esque sludge. I was also a big fan, and might have rated it a bit higher than the miserly old sod did.” Olde horses and classic sounds.
“We’ve all said, done, and worn things we aren’t necessarily proud of. Pants with legs that can hold a family of five comfortably? Yepper! Wallets with chains longer than an average CVS receipt? Been there, done that, got stuck on way too many things walking by. What I’m saying is that… well, in all of our lives, some cringe has happened. It’s unavoidable, yes, but we’ve moved on. Or at least some of us have. That leads us to the self-titled debut from masked Montreal “funeral doom” duo, Kapnas. All we are is dust on the weed.
“Just as the painting focuses on a spectrum of blacks, earth tones, and distortion, so Ǥứŕū does with their fusion of black metal and doom metal. Expect the typical unholy blackened trinity of shrieks, tremolo, and blastbeats, alongside the dramatic and full-bodied baritone and thicker tone of doom.” Painting with tar.
“The Abbey of Thelema was a commune in Sicily run by Aleister Crowley. Home to the wild hedonism and magick of his cult, the Abbey met its unceremonious end in 1923, when Crowley’s shenanigans convinced Mussolini to boot him out of Italy. Finnish psychedelic doom outfit The Abbey aims to carry on the Abbey’s legacy. ,b>The Abbey’s debut Word of Sin draws inspiration from occult organizations and their mystical practices.” Nuns DO have fun.
