Because I get a lot of people asking me where they ought to start with metal, I'm beginnng a new series, The Thurible of Darkness's How To Metal. This series isn't intended for experienced metalheads (as I like to think my reviews are). It's a collection of "gateway drug" acts to ease new listeners into metal's various styles and genres.
We've all got to start somewhere, and some good old-fashioned doom metal offers several advantages to the unfamiliar metal listener. First, many doom metal singers (death/doom hybrids excepted) don't grunt, scream or shriek, and I can't tell you how many times I've heard people tell me they actually like metal, "except for the screaming." Heck, some doom singers have unquestionably pretty voices, and you can't say that for many metal subgenres. Second, doom is all about big, bluesy riffs—it's more rooted in traditional rock virtues and values than other metal genres, and consequentially isn't as big a leap for the unfamiliar listener as death or black or thrash metal would be. Finally, doom is pretty hip these days, meaning there's plenty of modern, fresh, and exciting young doom metal bands making albums with lots of crossover appeal. I'll introduce just a few of them here.
The easiest way to get started with the doomier stuff is with spooky Swedish goofballs Ghost. Most metalheads will probably roll their eyes at the suggestion that this anonymous band is doom, and they're right, to an extent. Ghost aren't doom metal, but they play with plenty of doom metal tropes: the classic riffs, the occult themes, the sinister crooning. This Swedish band keep their identities secret with masks and make-up—all part of a silly (but endearing) act intended to pay homage to (and poke fun at) the pseudo-Satanic stylings of early heavy metal. Meliora, Ghost's most recent album, is their best so far, packed with radio-friendly singles like "Cirice," "From the Pinnacle To The Pit," and "Absolution." It's a great way for new listeners to ease themselves into what they'll be hearing in the heavier stuff. If Ghost's ultra-spooky radio-friendly occult rock is your jam, check out Year of the Goat, In Solitude, and Bloody Hammers, as well as Mercyful Fate (not doom in the least, but still very accessible), the legendary 80s metal band that inspired Ghost's sound.
Windhand is another good option for a doom metal beginner. This Virginia band formed in 2008 and play a fresh spin on the traditional doom and stoner genre. Dorthia Cottrell, the band's singer, has a beautiful voice, and the band's slow, funereal (get used to that adjective) sound highlights all of the best aspects of modern doom: soaring melodies, rumbling guitar riffs, and rich, full production. Grief's Eternal Flower, the band's most recent work, brims with eerie doom metal dirges like "Two Urns" and "Crypt Key," but also features two acoustic ballads that showcase Cottrell's melancholy croon. If you like Windhand's sad and sonorous modern gloom, check out Mount Salem, Monolord, Alunah, and Pallbearer. Oh, and check out Dorthia Cottrell's solo album as well—it's dark folk, not doom, but it's performed with the same sinister spirit.
If "sad and sonorous" doesn't sound at all your goblet of blood, meet Mastodon. If you want an introduction to sludge metal—the bastard child of doom and hardcore punk—with a healthy dash of prog, these four jokers are your boys. Start with their most recent album, Once More 'Round The Sun, and work backwards, making sure you don't miss essential listens like "Oblivion," "Curl of the Burl," "Colony of Birchmen," and "Blood and Thunder." The band have a natural knack for writing good rock songs that transcends genre boundaries, and they're respected veterans throughout the metal scene to boot. If you like Mastodon's high-energy progressive sludge rock, check out Baroness, Kylesa, and Black Tusk.
If nothing so far has quite hit the spot for you, try a tab of Uncle Acid. I like to describe Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats as band from an alternate 1960s where John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr got together to form a band called Black Sabbath. The takeaway: they're heavy, retro, and psychedelic, but these nostalgia-obsessed Brits also write incredibly catchy hooks. True Uncle Acid fans will say their older stuff is their best, but their most recent record, The Night Creeper, is still a great album and not at all a bad place to start. If Uncle Acid is your drug of choice, check out other stoner and psychedelic-influenced retro-doom acts like Witch, Demon Head, and Doctor Smoke.
And, of course, there's always Black Sabbath themselves. Most people already know a few songs by these legends ("Iron Man," "Paranoid," "War Pigs"), but those songs are just the highlights of this band's long and excellent musical catalog. Paranoid is the best place to start for beginners, but Master of Reality and the band's self-titled debut also have incredibly catchy riffs and choruses and classic, solid heavy metal songwriting. I don't recommend starting with 13, the band's more recent work; it's a good album, but I doubt any Sabbath fan would pronounce it their favorite.
If you've made it to the end of this post and you're still hungry for more doom metal (but would rather start with the classics), here's a good list to get you started: Candlemass's Epicus Doomicus Metallicus and Nightfall, Electric Wizard's Dopethrone, Cathedral's Forest of Equilibrium, Sleep's Dopesmoker, Saint Vitus's self-titled debut, Pentagram's Day of Reckoning, Witchfinder General's Death Penalty, Reverend Bizarre's In The Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend, and My Dying Bride's Turn Loose the Swans.
If you'd rather hear more of what's hip in doom metal right now, here's another list of great releases from the past year or so: Khemmis's Absolution, Elder's Lore, Witch Mountain's Mobile of Angels, Sabbath Assembly's self-titled third album, He Whose Ox Is Gored's The Camel, The Lion, The Child, Bell Witch's Four Phantoms, YOB's Clearing the Path to Ascend, Lycus's Chasms, Crypt Sermon's Out of the Garden, and Thou's Heathen.
We've all got to start somewhere, and some good old-fashioned doom metal offers several advantages to the unfamiliar metal listener. First, many doom metal singers (death/doom hybrids excepted) don't grunt, scream or shriek, and I can't tell you how many times I've heard people tell me they actually like metal, "except for the screaming." Heck, some doom singers have unquestionably pretty voices, and you can't say that for many metal subgenres. Second, doom is all about big, bluesy riffs—it's more rooted in traditional rock virtues and values than other metal genres, and consequentially isn't as big a leap for the unfamiliar listener as death or black or thrash metal would be. Finally, doom is pretty hip these days, meaning there's plenty of modern, fresh, and exciting young doom metal bands making albums with lots of crossover appeal. I'll introduce just a few of them here.
The easiest way to get started with the doomier stuff is with spooky Swedish goofballs Ghost. Most metalheads will probably roll their eyes at the suggestion that this anonymous band is doom, and they're right, to an extent. Ghost aren't doom metal, but they play with plenty of doom metal tropes: the classic riffs, the occult themes, the sinister crooning. This Swedish band keep their identities secret with masks and make-up—all part of a silly (but endearing) act intended to pay homage to (and poke fun at) the pseudo-Satanic stylings of early heavy metal. Meliora, Ghost's most recent album, is their best so far, packed with radio-friendly singles like "Cirice," "From the Pinnacle To The Pit," and "Absolution." It's a great way for new listeners to ease themselves into what they'll be hearing in the heavier stuff. If Ghost's ultra-spooky radio-friendly occult rock is your jam, check out Year of the Goat, In Solitude, and Bloody Hammers, as well as Mercyful Fate (not doom in the least, but still very accessible), the legendary 80s metal band that inspired Ghost's sound.
Windhand is another good option for a doom metal beginner. This Virginia band formed in 2008 and play a fresh spin on the traditional doom and stoner genre. Dorthia Cottrell, the band's singer, has a beautiful voice, and the band's slow, funereal (get used to that adjective) sound highlights all of the best aspects of modern doom: soaring melodies, rumbling guitar riffs, and rich, full production. Grief's Eternal Flower, the band's most recent work, brims with eerie doom metal dirges like "Two Urns" and "Crypt Key," but also features two acoustic ballads that showcase Cottrell's melancholy croon. If you like Windhand's sad and sonorous modern gloom, check out Mount Salem, Monolord, Alunah, and Pallbearer. Oh, and check out Dorthia Cottrell's solo album as well—it's dark folk, not doom, but it's performed with the same sinister spirit.
If "sad and sonorous" doesn't sound at all your goblet of blood, meet Mastodon. If you want an introduction to sludge metal—the bastard child of doom and hardcore punk—with a healthy dash of prog, these four jokers are your boys. Start with their most recent album, Once More 'Round The Sun, and work backwards, making sure you don't miss essential listens like "Oblivion," "Curl of the Burl," "Colony of Birchmen," and "Blood and Thunder." The band have a natural knack for writing good rock songs that transcends genre boundaries, and they're respected veterans throughout the metal scene to boot. If you like Mastodon's high-energy progressive sludge rock, check out Baroness, Kylesa, and Black Tusk.
If nothing so far has quite hit the spot for you, try a tab of Uncle Acid. I like to describe Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats as band from an alternate 1960s where John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr got together to form a band called Black Sabbath. The takeaway: they're heavy, retro, and psychedelic, but these nostalgia-obsessed Brits also write incredibly catchy hooks. True Uncle Acid fans will say their older stuff is their best, but their most recent record, The Night Creeper, is still a great album and not at all a bad place to start. If Uncle Acid is your drug of choice, check out other stoner and psychedelic-influenced retro-doom acts like Witch, Demon Head, and Doctor Smoke.
And, of course, there's always Black Sabbath themselves. Most people already know a few songs by these legends ("Iron Man," "Paranoid," "War Pigs"), but those songs are just the highlights of this band's long and excellent musical catalog. Paranoid is the best place to start for beginners, but Master of Reality and the band's self-titled debut also have incredibly catchy riffs and choruses and classic, solid heavy metal songwriting. I don't recommend starting with 13, the band's more recent work; it's a good album, but I doubt any Sabbath fan would pronounce it their favorite.
If you've made it to the end of this post and you're still hungry for more doom metal (but would rather start with the classics), here's a good list to get you started: Candlemass's Epicus Doomicus Metallicus and Nightfall, Electric Wizard's Dopethrone, Cathedral's Forest of Equilibrium, Sleep's Dopesmoker, Saint Vitus's self-titled debut, Pentagram's Day of Reckoning, Witchfinder General's Death Penalty, Reverend Bizarre's In The Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend, and My Dying Bride's Turn Loose the Swans.
If you'd rather hear more of what's hip in doom metal right now, here's another list of great releases from the past year or so: Khemmis's Absolution, Elder's Lore, Witch Mountain's Mobile of Angels, Sabbath Assembly's self-titled third album, He Whose Ox Is Gored's The Camel, The Lion, The Child, Bell Witch's Four Phantoms, YOB's Clearing the Path to Ascend, Lycus's Chasms, Crypt Sermon's Out of the Garden, and Thou's Heathen.
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