Mammoth Storm: Fornjot
I unexpectedly liked this album. In general, I'm not a fan of stoner metal, but this particular vein of stoner doom is actually quite appealing. It's full of interesting melodies, which is not something I usually find in stoner metal, and the guitar work is excellent. Plus, of course, doom vocals are much more my cup of tea.
Listen to: Vultures Prey, Fornjot, Horns of Jura
Blynd: Liber Sum
Oh hey, one more in the line of subgenres I don't particularly like - thrash metal. Oh, but this album is a heavy-hitter on every sense, a kind of Machine Head-ish approach to the genre. Not going to be my favourite release, but it's full of energy, crazy riffs and nice, gripping orchestration.
Listen to: Liber Sum, Al-Kimiya, The Kingdom Within
Swallow the Sun: Songs from the North I, II & III
This gem is a triple album, each disc having a distinctly different genre. The first, traditional death doom we know and love Swallow the Sun for; the second, some absolutely fantastic gothic rock; the third, real, soul-crushing funeral doom. I fully admit I'm incapable of being unbiased here. That's partly due to the fact I really like the band, and partly because this album caught me in an emotional state that its contents perfectly described. (In case this is too vague, it came out the same day as the day of the Paris attacks.)
That being said, it is a good album, if maybe not actually great. The first disc is nothing unexpected, but I still think it's some of their best work. It's heavy and melancholic, with some unforgettable hooks in the choruses. The second disc is more of a surprise, but a pleasant one. It's amazing what this vocalist is capable of, which becomes apparent hearing his emotional cleans after the traditional death growls of the first disc. The third is undoubtedly the weakest part, but I was very in the mood for funeral doom, so I quite liked it - it's nothing special, but it's good in its genre.
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