söndag 16 Dec 2012, 15:46
This year brought us a lot of good extreme doom metal albums. However, there were fewer good traditional and epic doom albums. Here is my list :
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Evoken - Atra Mors
This is the best doom metal album of this year, in my opinion. And their best do far. Well balanced mix of bleakness and despair, dark/brutal and melodic/epic passages.
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Inborn Suffering - Regression to Nothingness
Their sophomore release is much more mature than debut. Better song writing, better vocals, better production, much complex songs with many layers. Unfortunately this was their last since they disbanded recently. Shame, they were one of my favorite death/doom bands.
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Daylight Dies - A Frail Becoming
The best melodic death/doom album of the year. Good as previous 2 albums, if not even better. Very melancholic, melodic and catchy!
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Indesinence - Vessels of Light and Decay
After 6 years of silence came this masterpiece of death/doom metal. This one is more brutal and death metal oriented than their debut (Noctambulism), but equally good and bleak. Surely one of the best UK doom metal bands today.
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Faal - The Clouds Are Burning
This album was very good surprise to me. After solid (and nothing more than that) debut of this Dutch-mans, who could expect such excellent album? This sounds like mighty Esoteric made it, in terms of both quality and music style. Plus they throw some post-rock influences here and there. Highly recommended for fans of Esoteric, Urna, Arcana Coelestia etc.
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The Foreshadowing - Second World
Third full length of these Italians is masterpiece of melodic doom metal. Song arrangements are brilliant from the first second to the last.. Tragic atmosphere, multiply-layered music, catchy melodic lines and solos and excellent vocals done by their singer Marco Benevento. Best melodic/gothic doom release of the year.
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Hour Of 13 - 333
My favorite "modern" traditional doom metal band have done it again - they crafted this excellent album, good as their previous 2 efforts. Unlike many occult traditional doom bands, their music really sounds evil, menacing and…occult:-). Best traditional doom album of the 2012!
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Funeral - Oratorium
After 2 mediocre albums, Funeral released album worth attention, in some way similar to "From These Wounds". With new singer that is much better than Frode (in my opinion), although with similar style. Very melodic and atmospheric, reminds little to "Fallen".
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My Dying Bride - A Map of All Our Failures
Their best album in years. Album has some weak moments (such as opening track "Kneel Till Doomsday"). Musically they returned to their roots, melodic true doom metal mostly stripped of gothic cliches.
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Within The Fall - Through the Shadows
What a nice surprise this EP was. These guys from Sweden play their doom very well, honest and with passion. This is good balanced mix of extreme and melodic death/doom that should not disappoint any fan of either one of styles. They didn't bring anything much new in the style, but songs are excellently written, and very professionally played. I am looking forward to hear their next release. One of the best new death/doom bands!
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Saturnus - Saturn in Ascension
After many years, finally new album is here. This is their best material since legendary debut "Paradise Belongs To You". I had chance to listen promo/demo from 2011 that contains 4 tracks from new album. Actually these are the best tracks of this album:
"Litany Of Rain"
"A Father's Providence"
"Wind Torn"
"Between"
And I think that rest of the album is much weaker (filler songs). Also production and differently mixed versions of tracks are better on demo in my opinion. Very good album but it could be trimmed down to 40-50 minutes of excellent material.
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Altar Of Oblivion - Salvation
Fantastic EP. Pure epic doom metal. I expected this kind of quality on following full length, but I was little disappointed with it at the end, so I will not list it here.
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Pilgrim - Misery Wizard
Young American bend delivered one of the rare good traditional doom metal releases of 2012. Style is similar to Reverend Bizarre with some epic touch. Excellent album that I enjoy very much.
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Vein - Crux Calvaria
The best new traditional/epic band of the year. This short EP with 2 magnificent epic songs promises bright future for this bend. Superb vocals are deliverd by a man from affirmed Chilean epic doom bands Capilla Ardiente and Procession.
Also very good doom metal albums of 2012. woth mentioning, that I listen to regulary:
Frailty - Melpomene
Ahab - The Giant
Spirit Descent - Seven Chapters in A Minor
Ennui - Mze Ukunisa
Tempestuous Fall - The Stars Would Not Awake You
Candlemass - Psalms for the Dead
Dreams After Death - Fading Chains
Hooded Menace - Effigies of Evil
My Indifference To Silence - Horizon of My Heaven
The Howling Void - The Womb Beyond the World
Ea - Ea
Bell Witch - Longing
Profetus - ...to Open the Passages in Dusk
The Wandering Midget - From the Meadows of Opium Dreams
Witchsorrow - God Curse Us
P.S. I didn't have chance to listen to some albums that came out, that could end up on this list, the new albums of bands I listen to:
Nightly Gale
Fall Of The Idols
Funeralium
Doom on!!!
- Edit 1 : Added "Spirit Descent", "Altar Of Oblivion", "Vein". Almost forgot about their early 2012. releases.
- Edit 2: Added "Daylight Dies".
- Edit 3: Added "Ahab", "Frailty"
- Edit 4: Added "The Foreshadowing", "Profetus", "The Wandering Midget", "Witchsorrow"