Now Playing

[Maggot Colony]

Wolfpack - Lycanthro Punk
Wolfbrigade - Comalive

Blasting some D-beat/crust on the train to work this morning.

[Eoin McLove]

Killing Joke- Killing Joke.
Convent Guilt- Guns For Hire.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

Portrait - The Host

Enjoyed a lot on first listen (in the background).

[Mr Barlow]

Trouble - The Skull

[Malco]

Cavalera - Schizophrenia

Not bad at all. I didn't like Bestial Devastation/Morbid Visions re-recordings, but this one is enjoyable

[Sworntothecans]

Black Sabbath: Headless Cross (that Boxset has been added to cart so many times😂)

[Thorn]

Portrait - The Host

Enjoyed a lot on first listen (in the background).

Same here, early standouts Treachery, Sound The Horn and Sword of Reason. Glad to say it's not the slog to get through it could have been with that running time.

[The Wretch]

Solstice- New Dark Age.

Solstice just never clicked for me. Not sure why exactly. Partially the vocals I think. Not that they are bad, but they just don't feel quite powerful and epic enough or something. But for whatever reason, they are one of those bands I probably should love, but don't. 

[Carnage]

Given the amount of vocalists they've gone through, I'd keep exploring. There's bound to be one you like.

[Mr Barlow]

Hooded Menace - The Tritonus Bell

[Eoin McLove]

Solstice- New Dark Age.

Solstice just never clicked for me. Not sure why exactly. Partially the vocals I think. Not that they are bad, but they just don't feel quite powerful and epic enough or something. But for whatever reason, they are one of those bands I probably should love, but don't. 

The vocals have always been unorthodox in Solstice but once they click you realise (or I realised) that they add a uniqueness to the band that is lacking in most other heavy metal bands. Powerful wailers have their place, no arguing that, but they are also ten a penny in heavy metal. Finding quirky singers in doom and heavy metal is a trickier task. And very rewarding when you do.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

Solstice- New Dark Age.

Solstice just never clicked for me. Not sure why exactly. Partially the vocals I think. Not that they are bad, but they just don't feel quite powerful and epic enough or something. But for whatever reason, they are one of those bands I probably should love, but don't. 

I'm exactly the same. Been a while since I went at them again though, must chalk in another attempt!

[The Wretch]

The vocals have always been unorthodox in Solstice but once they click you realise (or I realised) that they add a uniqueness to the band that is lacking in most other heavy metal bands. Powerful wailers have their place, no arguing that, but they are also ten a penny in heavy metal. Finding quirky singers in doom and heavy metal is a trickier task. And very rewarding when you do.

The thing is, I love quirky singers too. Tim Baker in Cirith Ungol or Scott Reagers for instance. And Eric Wagner from Trouble was screechier than a feminist owl. Maybe you are right, a more Messiah style singer might overpower the music. Although latter day Robert Lowe style vocals might work. I think it is more than just the vocals mind you.

Solstice- New Dark Age.

Solstice just never clicked for me. Not sure why exactly. Partially the vocals I think. Not that they are bad, but they just don't feel quite powerful and epic enough or something. But for whatever reason, they are one of those bands I probably should love, but don't. 

I'm exactly the same. Been a while since I went at them again though, must chalk in another attempt!

Yeah, I will give them another try at some stage. You never know.

[Eoin McLove]

For me they stand apart from every other doom band I can think of in terms of music style too. A cut above in my estimation. I think it might have to do with Rich's years spent in the hardcore scene- that's a theory I have at least. I'm thinking here about the early stuff, but the rhythm guitar playing is so fucking heavy, both in terms of the riffing and the production. When you isolate the rhythm section in general it is monumental and pounding. They then contrast the hammering rhythms with delicate, complex melodies that seamlessly mix classic heavy metal with English folk. The folk element is so subtly added that it can be hard to spot as it is so interwoven, but it's the link between the ultra heaviness and the atypical vocal styles of the early singers. I think Kearns had a different singing style to the previous lads- more bellowing and commanding, so that era sits apart for me. I also think the slightly flatter production is a change there as well, but the recorded output despite being a bit short on full on heavy songs is excellent.

I hope the new dude, with his folk background, might help to recapture a bit of the earlier obscurity. It's that obscurity I'm always chasing with traditional doom because once Solstice clicked with me I realised what a rare beast they are. Marmite perhaps, but I love Marmite 

Edit.  Np...
Grave Miasma- Odori Sepulcrorum.

[The Great Cull]

Metallica - Live Moscow 1991