Blackened Doom

Swords of Dis, Serpent Ascending, Ôros Kaù, Midnight Odyssey – From the Waters of Death – A retelling of the Epic of Gilgamesh Review

By Thus Spoke on February 12, 2026 in Reviews, Ambient, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, Blackened Death Metal, Death Metal, Experimental Metal, 40 comments

“In case you’re unfamiliar, The Epic of Gilgamesh is an ancient Mesopotamian poetic narrative, whose first complete form is dated to approximately 1800 BCE. It follows a story of King Gilgamesh and his dealings with gods and other mythic monsters, culminating in a journey for the secret of immortality. What better way could there be to consume this rich, literary epic than have it interpreted by the collection of artists behind From the Waters of Death? Obscure black/doom duo Swords of Dis; death metal veteran and experimenter Serpent Ascending; Neptunian Maximalism’s darker, heavier incarnation Ôros Kaù; and ambient-black dreamer Midnight Odyssey.” Gil Ga Mesh, the perverted son, the holy man!

Cult Burial – Collapse of Pattern, Reverence of Dust Review

By Thus Spoke on September 4, 2025 in Reviews, Black Metal, Blackened Death Metal, Death Metal, 18 comments

“It has always overwhelmed me just how much music is out there, ceaselessly being recorded in studios and basements and forests, ceaselessly being promoted and released, and often sent into the AMG promo pile. There is so much more below the surface than above it, even as regards just one small subgenre. How can one possibly listen to it all, and discern greatness from mediocrity? How can bands stand out when countless others are branding themselves so similarly, making music so apparently similar? Cult Burial are one such band that I would likely never have come across were it not for this gig, despite the generally positive reception both their debut and sophomore albums received.” Cultic revenge.

Mizmor & Hell – Alluvion Review

By Carcharodon on April 3, 2025 in Reviews, Black Metal, Doom Metal, Drone, Noise, Sludge, 9 comments

“A.L.N. (a.k.a. Mizmor) and M.S.W. (Hell) inhabit similar territories: geographically, the Pacific Northwest; sonically, abrasive, droning, blackened doom; and, perhaps critically, emotionally, all claustrophobic, tortured heft. Although they’ve collaborated live before, Alluvion, which refers to the sedimentary deposits left by a body of flowing water, is their first studio outing together. Billed as a map to aid the listener in navigating through bouts of psychic distress, the prone form on the cover could easily be me by the time I’m finished with this review, crushed beneath the weight of Mizmor & Hell.’s compositions, corpse abandoned on that mountainside rising from the promo sump.” A hill to die on.

Praise the Plague – Suffocating in the Current of Time Review

By Thus Spoke on February 15, 2024 in Reviews, Atmospheric Black Metal, Black Metal, Doom Metal, 20 comments

“Evolution can be a tricky thing for a band to get right. Change too much and risk alienating an existing fan base. Or don’t change enough and risk pigeon-holing oneself, or even boring the audience who want to see some growth. Ever since Praise the Plague stepped onto the scene in 2018, they’ve been subtly shaping their intriguing admixture of doom and black metal. Particularly after sophomore The Obsidian Gate saw them commit to wielding in equal measure the grandiosity of the former with the sinister savagery of the latter, the question of where their approach would go next, as they established themselves, was foremost.” Down with the…Plague.

Cult Burial – Reverie of the Malignant Review

By Thus Spoke on October 19, 2023 in Reviews, 8 comments

“You might not be aware of them, but Cult Burial generated a bit of a ripple in the metal underground with their self-titled debut back in 2020. Garnering top scores from whosoever covered it, the album’s blend of black, death, and doom did possess a certain je ne sais quoi in its moody but somewhat raw approach. It was not covered here, however, and as you know, thou shalt hath no other blogs. So it falls to me, and follow-up Reverie of the Malignant, to determine the mettle of these UK upstarts. Is the music worth the noise?” Cultic buzz.

Mizmor – Prosaic Review

By Carcharodon on July 18, 2023 in Reviews, Black Metal, Drone, 39 comments

“Lacking imagination or originality is not a charge that I have seen directed at Mizmor, and certainly Prosaic launches out of the blocks in an onslaught of blackened doom, with even some sludgy nods thrown in. Fast, bludgeoning, and furious, initially it feels like a cleaner version of Mizmor’s self-titled debut, with more than a bit of Yellow Eyes and Primitive Man thrown into the mix.” Mizmor or Mizless?

Loather – Eis Review

By Thus Spoke on June 23, 2023 in Reviews, Atmospheric Black Metal, Folk, Post-Metal, 15 comments

“It’s funny that as the UK experiences a heatwave, I am writing about an album called Eis (Ice). Contrasting the cool summer breeze with the ferocious wind of blackened blastbeat barrages. Juxtaposing the clear blue skies with a grey mist of echoing feedback. Opposing the heat that has everyone spontaneously organizing a barbecue with cold, depressive atmospheres and morose vocals that make you want to stay inside and watch the rain. Responsible are Viennese four-piece Loather, and this is their debut, though they’ve been around since 2016.” Fire and Eis.

Inherus – Beholden Review

By Carcharodon on May 24, 2023 in Reviews, Doom Metal, Hard Rock, Progressive Metal, 43 comments

You know that scene in The Last of Us where we first meet the clickers, which can’t see but are attracted to the slightest sound? This is how I regard my fellow AMG scribes, as sightless fungi that I must not alert to the tastiest morsels in the sump until that point in time when AMG Promo Pit Rules allow me to make a breakneck sprint for the album I’ve been eyeing up. Until then, I have to stay absolutely silent. So it was that for almost a month after (the apparently, and happily, rejuvenated) Hypnotic Dirge Records alerted me to the existence and impending release of Beholden, the debut by Inherus.” Shroom squad.

Fredlös – Fredlös Review

By Maddog on February 14, 2023 in Reviews, Black Metal, Doom Metal, Folk, Folk Metal, 16 comments

“The medieval hellscape on Fredlös’ cover caught my eye at once. The scene would be peaceful and pastoral, if not for the gruesome executions, the demon, and the burning buildings. Then I noticed the dancing skeletons, the shallow graves, the corpses on the border, the apocalyptic background, and the skull and crossbones; there isn’t a glimmer of hope anywhere. Intrigued, I dug deeper. Fredlös is a side project of Entombed’s Alex Hellid, and the band’s debut attempts to narrate the late Middle Ages with a mix of folk elements and metal. The music matches the cover art to a T.” The dark rages.

Konvent – Call Down the Sun [Things You Might Have Missed 2022]

By Carcharodon on November 28, 2022 in Things You Might Have Missed 2022, Death Doom, Doom Metal, 33 comments

“Two years on and Konvent is back, and this time, they’ve nailed it. Call Down the Sun is slightly slower in pace than Puritan Masochism, edging just a teensy, tiny bit further toward the funeral doom end of the death doom spectrum. If the record doesn’t slow quite so much as to actually reach funeral doom pace, it is certainly funereal in tone and mood.” Sundown, mood down.