Hey everyone, I've just gotten into Doom (with the exception of Sabbath). I got 'Songs Of Darkness, Words Of Light' & 'Turn Loose The Swans' by My Dying Bride and I'm liking what I hear. The emotion of the songs is overwhelming. I'd like some recommendations of similar bands. Any help would be very much appreciated.
Anathema. And you don't need to look further. Eternity is a good album and so is Alternative 4. Some consider Eternity as their best album, but I prefer Alt 4 slightly more (the album refers to a Govt plan to destroy humanity in case of a nuclear war) even though it is not as painful as Eternity. But the vocalist (Cavanagh) sings better. In fact before this album its hard to consider his vocals as singing. Their album Judgement (1999) is not very doom, more of a hard rock album but still its drenching with emotions and has some quality music in it. Resonance (2001) has decent tracks from older albums and the new ones are good music but not really doom, imo.
Oh, other good Doom Metal bands - Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride and Anathema are the three main shapers of Doom Metal as we know it today. Personally, I haven't heard any of My Dying Bride's music but I have read excellent reviews about them. Katatonia is another decent band which like Anathema have become more of an Emotional Rock rather than Doom band.
I like My dying bride, Katatonia and Nemesis. But My dying bride is the best of the three. Haven't heard of Anathema, but i'll sure check them out now.
Hmm...doom metal is like very slow death metal. Its more melodic and more melancholic. It is heavy but not intense. Many people conisder "Black sabbath" to be the pioneers of this genre. More specifically their songs "Cornucopia" and "Under the sun" to be the first in Doom.
Enthusiastic Fans.... n really the genres don't matter... The early pioneers of Doom were indeed Black Sabbath but doom as we know it began with the second wave of doom metal bands like the three I mentioned - Anathema, My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost. Like tejas said, doom metal is slow and the lyrics are usually very depressing themes, originally intended to be full of hopelessness - challenges to drug abuse was a very major theme in the early years. These days the lyrics deal mosty with personal feelings of hopelessness. Doom is not satanic, unlike many people's belief. In fact there are many Christian Doom Metal Bands as well. The songs are generally characterised by long slow music and vocals ranging from clean male and female to sopranos, death growls and screams. A large variety of instruments are used apart from the conventional metal instruments (guitar, bass, drums, keyboard) such as violin, flute, cello and harp. For people who love genres and sub genres, some of the sub genres of doom I can recall are - proto doom, traditional doom, death doom, funeral doom, stoner doom, atmospheric doom and emotional rock. A dying bride and Paradise Lost and early Anathema were Death Doom. Current Anathema and Katatonia are emotional rock. I particularly like Atmospheric Doom.
Some more decent doom metal bands for anyone who's interested - Winter, diSEMBOWELMENT, Thergothon, Earth. Winter (Into Darkness) is my favourite from among here.
I have heard 4 songs by Anathema. Alternative 4 - I love the haunting atmosphere and drum beats. Amazing song! Destiny - Sounds best just after Alternative 4. Short and melodious riff played for about 2 minutes with really doom lyrics. "I try to murder the lonely - contemplate our mortality." No drums. A perfect way to finish off the previous song. Together these two blend as one track. One Last Goodbye - Not very doom, I think (but I am not an expert), but one of the best songs I have heard. Its hard to believe that this singer is supposed to have been horrible in his early albums especially when he sings that part (In my dreams... till the end ). Very emotional voice. Nice and simple Lyrics. Empty - Nice song. From reviews this should be the best among the 4 I have mentioned. I think this is more of hard rock, than doom metal.
I own 'Glorious Burden' by Iced Earth but that's not really doom is it? Seems more like progressive thrash to me.
Iced earth are good but they are not doom, jay. They are your typical band which merges Power, Thrash and Heavy metal.
