Know Your Metal IV: DOOM

[Vic Romano]

THE HISTORY OF DOOM METAL


From the early days of Black Sabbath to the modern-day Death/Doom-Metal of My Dying Bride - A complete historical overview of our beloved genre.


Early doom bands of the seventies...

Most people agree that Black Sabbath is amongst the most influential bands for all heavy metal in general, and Doom-Metal is no exception. Their early albums 'Black Sabbath', 'Paranoid', 'Master Of Reality', 'Vol. 4', 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath', and 'Sabotage' are all without doubt, masterpieces, and without them Doom-Metal (or even metal in general) would not exist at all.

Whilst Black Sabbath were definitely well ahead of their time, and as such one of a kind, they certainly weren't without their contemporaries (Pentagram, Blue Cheer, Black Widow). Some of the earliest prototypes of Doom-Metal were in fact songs of the late sixties and early seventies that, whilst not wholly doomy, contained countless great riffs that came to shape the sound of Doom-Metal in later years. Such songs include Iron Butterfly's 'Inna Gadda Da Vida'.

One of Black Sabbath's main contemporaries - Pentagram - can be counted as one of the earliest Doom bands around, often intertwining with the band Bedemon one could perhaps best label their style of music as "Proto Doom". Black Sabbath has a huge impact on their sound but they focused more on the doomy side of this style. Thus creating some of the first ever Doom-metal records!


The eighties...

The 1980s brought with them the first bona fide Doom-Metal acts. This was the era in which bands such as Def Leppard, Warrant, and Bon Jovi came to the foregrounds and professed to be "heavy metal", and where thrash/speed and death metal bands ruled the metal scene.

The press also applied the term "heavy metal" in a nasty pigeonholing manner to any band that wore tight spandex and big hair. Whilst there are so many bands during that time that were truly deserving to fly under the banner of Doom-Metal, they were vastly outnumbered by these Glam-metal acts. The eighties were also known for the end period of the NWOBHM, another semi-fast style of metal. So in an era where speed was the prominent factor in extreme music, Doom-Metal acts where greatly outnumbered, but this is the era where Doom-metal was mostly developed and created a name for itself.

One 80s band that made Doom big was Trouble. Originally from Chicago, this band got together in 1979 but gained popularity from 1984 onwards. Trouble's music stands for slow, dragging heavy metal, clearly influenced by Black Sabbath. Due to Christian beliefs of the band and its effect on their lyrics the band initially fell under the label White-metal.

Saint Vitus, another early doom-oriented band, had perhaps the biggest influence on the Doom-metal landscape (together with Candlemass). Their early work was on SST (Greg Ginn from Black Flag's label) and was mostly fronted by Wino who gained more fame later with semi-doom majors The Obsessed. Wino became one of the most legendary figures of Doom-metal in his own right. From his beginnings with The Obsessed, moving on to St. Vitus, and re-forming The Obsessed, he became one of the most prominent and influenctial figures within the Doom-metal scene. He now frequents the Stoner scene with his current band Spirit Caravan.

In 1986, Swedish band Candlemass released the album 'Epicus Doomicus Metallicus', a milestone in early Doom-Metal. Once called "the heaviest band in the world" they picked up where Black Sabbath left off in 1976. The material on 'Epicus Doomicus Metallicus' was in the same style as old Black Sabbath (with Ozzy) but with modern contemporary influences. Candlemass' best years were those with vocalist Messiah Marcolin, a man with an exceptionally clear, deep voice. For doom newbies the CD 'As It Is, As It Was: The Best Of Candlemass' (Music For Nations, 1994) gives a good overview of their works.

Another doom pioneer in the late eighties was Lee Dorrian's band Cathedral. When Lee left Napalm Death in 1989 nobody expected such a volte face. As opposed to Napalm Death's ultra-fast music Cathedral's first releases were ultraslow, super-heavy doom in its purest form. Check out the albums 'In Memorium' and 'Forest Of Equilibrium'. Cathedral's later works are more seventies-rock oriented and the doom atmosphere has slowly faded away.

One label that was very important to this first generation of Doom-metal, and was mainly active during the very end of the eigthies to the mid nineties, was the Hellhound Label. This label signed a great deal of Doom-metal acts whose sound later became known as the "hellhound sound", industriously forming a clear foundation for future Doom-metal acts to build upon. Bands like The Obsessed and Count Raven released many records through this label.


The nineties...

The early 90s heralded a change in the Doom-Metal landscape. With Death-metal having taken over the metal torch halfway through the eighties, Doom-Metal enjoyed a revival. New bands emerged that sought a mix between original Doom-Metal and Death-metal. Early pioneers like Winter with their release 'Into Darkness' in 1990 and Thergothon with their brilliant demo 'Fhragn-nagh Yog-Sothoth' in 1991 broke through the original boundaries of traditional Doom-Metal and formed the building blocks for modern day Doom-Metal. Lets also however not forget a band like diSEMBOWELMENT.

Bands like Winter, Thergothon and diSEMBOWELMENT could not gain the success later doom bands would have with this new style. Three bands from England, whom all shared the same label, Peaceville, propelled the Death/Doom genre to the level at which it stands today; Paradise Lost being the first with their release of 'Lost Paradise' in 1990 (which still had a strong death-metal influence). With 'Gothic' in 1991 they however almost single-handed set the standard for modern-day doom.

Fellow label mates My Dying Bride succeeded in opening the gates for countless new Doom-Metal bands. Their first official release on Peaceville, 'Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium', in 1991 already showed this band was destined for greatness and with their second full length 'Turn Loose the Swans' in 1993 they set their status as the largest modern-day Doom-Metal band. Another influence on this new form of Doom-Metal was the third Peaceville band called Anathema. Despite being one of "the big three" they always remained the smallest and least influential.

Also worth mentioning is that at the beginning of the ninties, a band called Earth (no, not Black Sabbath with their orignal name) created some of the heaviest Sabbath influenced music ever. This band became a huge influence on so-called "Drone Doom", an extreme form of Doom-metal.

Nor can we overlook the rise of an odd child within the Doom family, Sludge Doom; very heavy, miserable sounding Doom-metal that perhaps lacks the mournfull and emotions of Doom but fills those with pure filth, discust and anger. Of course also attoning to the teaching of Black Sabbath.

Midway through the nineties the need for experimentation within the metal genre as a whole also touched the Doom-Metal genre. Bands like The 3rd and the Mortal created a more atmospheric type of doom with albums like Tears Laid in Earth' and were one of the first metal bands to have a fulltime female lead singer. Following in the wake of Thergothon, slower and more extreme acts than normal Death/Doom also started to emerge like Funeral, Skepticism and Esoteric. The experimentation "disease" lead to the many different types of Doom-Metal we know today. From the slow and emotionless sounds of Esoteric, Evoken and Skepticism to the Gothic/Doom-Metal hybrids like Theatre of Tragedy. And let's not forget that there is a whole host of new and old bands who still play the orignal style of Doom from the 80s.

Owing to this flurry of experimentation, the boundaries between genres faded and various great Doom-Metal giants moved away from the sound they helped create, giving the whole Doom-Metal genre a creative input of which we have not yet seen the last. The new millenium has already proven that by making 2001 one of the best years for heavy Doom since the early ninties. This indeed promises much for the future...

DOOM

[Vic Romano]

What are the sub-genres?
Here on doom-metal.com we use various names - sub-genres - to describe bands and music. Terms like "Tradional Doom", "Funeral Doom", "Death/Doom" are common place on our website and all constitute Doom-Metal sub-genres. We use these terms to quickly describe the sound of a band, and do not claim that these are widely used terms, that our descriptions are fool-proof or that there actually are subgenres. We merely use this to save having to repeat ourselves at length everytime we describe a band or album. To help you understand what we mean, the following descriptions have been compiled:

Proto Doom
This genre name is used only infrequently but when it is, it describes the first bands that began playing "doomy" music. In essense, the forefathers of Doom-metal. This is often very rock inspired early metal or hard rock with a definate 70ties sound to it.
Examples: Black Sabbath, Pentagram, Bedemon.

Tradional Doom
This is the first generation of Doom-metal and includes not only the first bands to play doom-metal, but new bands who continue to play in this style as well. The music is generally slow and heavy with a truely 80ties heavy metal feel to it and often overflowing with Black Sabbath influences. A certain proportion of these bands also has a true rock & roll spirit to them and with newer bands this can overflow towards the Stoner genre. This sub-genre is often called "Old School Doom" or "Classic Doom" as well.
Examples: Candlemass, St. Vitus, The Obsessed, Solitude Aeternus.

Death/Doom
Frequently regarded as second generation Doom-metal, this is still the reigning Doom-metal genre if compared and contrasted with other genres in terms of number of fans and popularity. The advent of this sub-genre gave Doom-metal a new lease of life in the late 80s/early 90s. As the name indicates this is a mixture of Death-metal and Doom-metal, often using grunts and more agressive buildups, the general style shifting away from the Rock & Roll type of feel to something far darker, morbid and (sometimes) romantic. While grunts used to be the defining vocal style, these days this genre also sees a lot of clean vocals as well, The musical basis however often remains a mixture of Death and Doom.
Examples: My Dying Bride, early Paradise Lost, diSEMBOWELMENT, Morgion.

Funeral Doom
We use the term Funeral Doom to describe the most extreme split off of Death/Doom. These bands have taken the slowness and heaviness of Doom-metal to new extremes. Generally, the bands create very distorted and depressive yet dreamy music. Grunts or some totally distored version of that are also frequently used. These are the extremists when it comes to slowness and heaviness. The term comes forth from the way the music sounds as if it would fit a funeral or funeral proccession (often moving at the pace of a funeral march).
Exmples: Skepticism, Shape of Despair, Thergothon, Funeral.

Stoner/Doom
This is a double edged sword. On the one hand we use this to describe bands who mix in more groovy 70ties influenced Stoner Rock with (Tradional) Doom-metal but we also use it to describe ultra heavy psychadelic Doom. This is due to a lot of bands who play this extreemly heavy type of psychadelic doom describe themselfs both as Stoner and Doom. Most of these bands focus a lot on heavy riffing, psycadelic sounds and are inspired by Black Sabbath.
Examples: Electric Wizard, Sleep, Abdullah, High on Fire.

Sludge Doom
Somewhat similar to the aforementioned ultra heavy versions of Stoner/Doom. We adapted the use of this term due to its use by fans and bands. A lot of different bands seem to fall under this catagory that at times have little to do anymore with the sound other Doom bands create. Generally very raw sounding music with gut-wrenchingly heavy riffs and hardcore-ish vocals. A lot of these bands have a sort of boozy or spaced out feeling to them and most of them (but not all) are strongly influenced by Black Sabbath.
Examples: Eyehategod, Grief, Sloth, Crowbar.

Atmospheric Doom
A highly contentious child within the Doom family. Perhaps the only variation of Doom-metal that does not openly focus on heaviness. Bands that fall within this sub-division are still firmly rooted within metal and Doom-metal but try to paint "soundscapes", creating wonderfully misty images one would associate with fairytales and romantic stories. Due to its doomy nature this is generally accompanied by a huge dose of mistery and failure (no happy ends). Musically more mellow and dreamy than other Doom, female vocals are often used, as well as a great deal of keyboards and other additional instuments. However unlike Gothic-metal they so not generally sound optimistic and/or bombastic.
Examples: early The 3rd and the Mortal, As Divine Grace, Chalice.

Drone Doom
It is questionable if this type of music is actually still music is the purest sense of the word. Pushing all the boundries of heaviness and slowness (far beyond anything done by Funeral Doom) creating "droning sounds" that are perhaps best described as the force of extreme gravity become music or the movement of tectonic plates deep in the earth's crust. Definatly no melody, but still Black Sabbath influenced. Often relying heavily on feedback and sometimes lacking vocals or even a rythem section.
Examples: Earth, SUNN 0))), Khanate.

Dark metal
Dark-metal can have many meanings. It is often used to describe, as the name might indicate, dark music within the metal genre. These bands are generally too much of a hybrid to classify because they mix in elements from Doom-metal, Black-metal, Death-Metal and even Darkwave. We often use the term to describe very bleak or suicidal sounding bands who mainly mix Doom-metal with Black-metal, often using insane screams and faster passages to accompany the Doomy music. Generally less heavy and more brutal or sucidal then other sub-genres.
Examples: early Katatonia, Deinonychus, Bethlehem, Cultus Sanguine.

Emotional Rock
As the name may indicate, emotional rock is not a subgenre of Doom-metal or metal for that matter. However, we use this to describe the music by a lot of older Doom-metal bands who have evolved towards a more emotional type of music without metal elements. Generally creating very sad rock songs with clean vocals.
Examples: new Anathema, new Katatonia.

The most important thing to remember is that these are just quick names given to describe a style of music. Most bands to not adhere to these definitions and even the bands we listed as examples often trancend them. These descriptions are put in place to offer a slight indication of the type of music you can expect when we use such a genre name.


What are the best albums to start with?

We often see this question posted on our forum, as well as being asked it directly. Unfortunately, it's practically impossible to answer. To begin with the Doom-metal genre is so diverse that there is a big chance you will like some sub-styles but loath others. Obviously, there is also the fact that each person has their own individual view as to which albums are considered to be classics. But in order to attempt an answer, we will simplify things a bit and say there are two really different styles of Doom; Tradional Doom and Death/Doom.

If you are a tradional Doom-metal fan the following bands and/or albums are worth checking out as a good starting point:
Black Sabbath - the first 4 albums
Candlemass - 'Epicus Doomicus Metallicus' and 'Nightfall'
Electric Wizard - 'Dopethrone'
High on Fire - 'The Art Of Self Defense'
Obsessed, the - any
Pentagram - 'Relentless'
Solitude Aeternus - 'Into the Depths of Sorrow' and 'Beyond the Crimson Horizon'
St. Vitus - 'Born to Late' and 'Mournful Cries'
Unorthodox - 'Balance of Power'
Witchfinder General - 'Death Pentalty'

If you are a Death/Doom-metal fan the following bands and/or albums are worth checking out as a good starting point:
Anathema - 'Pentecost III'
Avernus - 'Sadness'
diSEMBOWELMENT - 'Transcendence Into the Peripheral'
My Dying Bride - 'Turn Loose the Swans'
Paradise Lost - 'Gothic'
Saturnus - 'Paradise Belongs to you'
Skepticism - 'Lead and Aether'
Thergothon - 'Stream from the heavens'
Unholy - 'Second Ring of Power'
Winter - 'Into Darkness'

Other essentials:
3rd and the Mortal, the - 'Tears Laid in Earth'
Burning Witch - 'Crippled Lucifer'
Deinonychus - 'Ark of Thought'
Earth - any
Theatre Of Tragedy - 'Velvet Darkness they fear'
Tiamat - 'Wildhoney'

Note that this is just the first run in a very long ladder! and that there are countless other great classic bands and albums out there. However we can not list every single great doom band album here. This is just a first step for a begining fan.