#d&s reviews

[doomedandstoned]

UMBERSOUND Brings Heavy Atmosphere to New Lovecraftian Music Video

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

By Billy Goate

I love an album I can really sink my teeth into, viscerally and intellectually. UMBERSOUND have big aspirations on this latest offering, 'Tracks From The Slither' (2026), crafting deep strains of mournful doom that stir feelings of sorrow and tragedy over ten thematically interlocking tracks.

"My God, It's Coming From The Ocean!" The title alone of the latest single grips the heart. Lyrically, some of the language strikes Pauline motifs of Christianity ("Lord of the cosmos," "I live for your truth," "You won't forsake me when I rise," "Even death may die") -- though this is in fact a sendback to H.P. Lovecraft's beloved Cthulhu lore. "The follower seeks connection, but what answers back is not comfort," says Umbersound, "it's exposure to something beyond that the human mind can’t handle."

The album is going old school and tactile in every way, complete with recording on magnetic tape (imagine!). I get proud chills at that, with definite flashbacks to my Memorex mixtape days. And, as a side note, I am thrilled by the backlash I am seeing to AI among the youth of today, as well, but I digress. It's time for a mass movement of getting Back To Human again.

The video appears to be of the "old fashioned" editing sort, too (you know, art that takes time, patience, concentration, and joyful sweat). It's murky, unsettling, and very, very wet. There are moments that were appropriately indescribable, because, as old H.P. understood well, words fail when contemplating the Great Old Ones (and one in particular who homes in terrifying black depths).

Brainchild and passion project of New York's Joe D’Angelo (whose band Grey Skies Fallen we have featured in these pages before), it is entirely evident to me that this man knows his doom. The tracks drew me in because they had something definite to say, ethereal places to take the imagination, and didn't overstate their case. This is why concept albums rule, because they tend to take the musician to risky and rewarding artist realms.

The riffs are just killer, from the sick groove of the opening title track to the churning slow grind of "Foundations of Strife," finishing with heart-stopping dread in "The Loop Closes." This man knows his doom and is capable of bringing it to life with subtlety as well as bravura. And you should definitely get to know it, too, oh lovers of doom metal.

Brimming with fire and fury, Umbersound's Tracks From The Slither emerge to dominate your speakers on vinyl, cassette, and CD via Red Book Records on July 17th (pre-order here).

Stick it on a playlist with My Dying Bride, Celtic Frost, Tiamat, Cathedral, Amorphis, Opeth, Paradise Lost, and Katatonia.

Give ear...

SOME BUZZ

Umbersound is a NYC-based doom metal project created by Joe D’Angelo (Grey Skies Fallen). The music centers on slow, heavy compositions that blend crushing riffs with melancholic, atmospheric textures.

At its core, Umbersound is about introspection—musically and psychologically. The songs move at a steady pace allowing weight and emotion to unfold over time rather than a full assault. Drawing from themes of internal struggle, avoidance, and consequence, the music reflects the parts of life people tend to ignore until they can’t anymore.

Rather than offering escape, Umbersound creates an immersive space where listeners are pulled into dense soundscapes shaped by analog warmth and stark melodic contrast. Each song builds on this approach, pushing deeper into a sound that is both oppressive and reflective.

With Tracks From The Slither, Umbersound continues to evolve—focusing on the slow emergence of buried thought, anxiety, and identity. The album will be available digitally via Bandcamp, with physical editions—including vinyl, cassette, and CD—released through Red Book Records.

Umbersound‘s upcoming album “Tracks From The Slither” expands further into psychological terrain, exploring avoidance, internal decay, and the consequences of neglecting one’s inner self. Much of the album was captured in single takes, prioritizing instinct over precision and allowing each moment to exist as it happened.

Tracks From The Slither by Umbersound

“Tracks From The Slither” continues UMBERSOUND’s yearly release cycle - each record evolving in process while remaining rooted in the project’s core doom atmosphere.

This time, the approach shifts toward a raw, analog-driven methodology. Nearly the entire album was recorded through tape, pushing saturation to the limit. The result is loud, dirty, and heavily textured—an intentional departure from a cleaner digital production in favor of something more raw this time around. The record leans into a heavier sonic weight than previous releases, with more screaming vocals as opposed to clean. The tape machine itself becomes part of the album…the harmonic saturation that shapes the album’s character.

The sound evokes the feeling of discovering a lost late reel buried in a vault - something unstable, and almost cursed. That sense of an unearthed presence runs throughout the album. Performance-wise, “Tracks From The Slither” strips away the extra bells and whistles. Much of the material was captured in single takes, prioritizing instinct over precision. The goal was not perfection, but directness - committing fully to each moment as it happened.

Tracklist:

1. Tracks From The Slither 2. The Hands That Built Beauty 3. Foundations Of Strife 4. My God, It’s Coming From The Ocean 5. It Still Breathes 6. The Loop 7. Shifting Tides 8. The Gnawing 9. Highway Of The Fever Dream 10. The Loop Closes

Recorded and mixed by Joe D’Angelo. Mastered by Acle Kahney at 4Dsounds. Album Cover by James Hutton.

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[doomedandstoned]

Boise’s MYSTIC TAPE DECK Present New Vid “The Soothsayer’s Bone”

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

By Billy Goate

First of all, I've got to say that I love the band's name: MYSTIC TAPE DECK. I have fond nostalgia for the cassette tape format, with all its hiss and possibility. Here comes another band out of Boise, to join those we've premiered on this blog (including Ghorot and Ealdor Bealu), and this pair with roots in the DIY '90s scene seems to be aiming for something big and out of the ordinary.

Tags I've never seen before appear connected with their projects, including garage jazz and gutter prog. Whatever you want to call it, it'll get right under your skin and into your bloodstream. At times bizarre, baddass, and amusing; at others sublime and soothing. That is how I would sum up the most entertaining 16-song collection that was Bards: Of The Shimmering Seraphs last year, the third in a series reaching back to 2019. Each installment has been a labor of love production, complete with books and artwork exploring hidden knowledge of the underground.

The duo loves experimentation, venturing into realms of folk, electronica, rock, and metal -- sometimes mashing things up obscenely, but at the same time tempered with an accessibility that pulls magnetically toward rhythm and harmony. You can tell they're having fun with it, and that makes me smile.

"The Soothsayer's Bone" is Mystic Tape Deck's latest single, and I appreciate that it comes with a lore of its own, continuing with the theme of the wandering bard that seems to umbrella their opus well. The band frames this song with an old Shakespeare quote, most apropos for our time: "Hell is empty and all the devils are here."

If you are a fan of randomness, but with intelligence, mystery, and history behind it, I'm betting you'll dig what this band is dishing.

Look for more on Mystic Tape Deck website and Bandcamp page.

Stick it on your own eclectic playlist with bands like Tenacious D, Mr. Bungle, Gentle Giant, Frank Zappa, Melvins, System of a Down, and Psychedelic Porn Crumpets.

Give ear...

THE LORE

"The Soothsayer’s Bone" is said to be the femur of a prophet and psychic so ancient, their name has been forgotten to the mists of time. The bone has been passed down through a long chain of people in positions of great power around the world. It is said to possess great fortune telling powers, granting whomever holds it the ability to use it as a sort of divining rod to merge normally disconnected timelines and open a window through the astral veil - through which the future can be seen. The outcomes appear as implanted “memories” in the mind of the user, who can then “see” the future outcome of a chain of causal events as though they are recalling something they had already experienced.

The relic has a history of being passed down through a long chain of tyrannical rulers who have used the powers of the bone to forecast the outcome of military battles and political upheavals. It was especially useful in the hands of despots and oppressors who used it only for personal gain and securing their continuing authoritarian power.

While the bone could potentially be used to advance humanity and create a more just and peaceful world, instead it has passed the eons in the hands of simple minded evildoers who use it instead for personal gain and power over others. Some legends say that it was always meant to serve only the needs of its most selfish and hateful masters, but that one day it will fall into the possession of someone who will make great peace with it and vanquish evil from the Earth.

Nazilic scholars say that the relic has existed through multiple iterations of the great cycle, and is fiercely guarded by those in power who hold it, preventing it from landing in the hands of the one who will use it for the goodly benefit of all humankind. Many of these despotic leaders have insisted they be buried with the artifact, being unwilling to part with it even in death, but it has been dug up and robbed from their graves each and every time.

Nazilic monks believe it is their destiny to finally possess the bone, and that it will play a role in the final dissolution of the shining one by falling into the hands of one who shall rise from amongst their own ranks. So far, however, they have not been successful in obtaining it through several iterations of the great cycle.

MYSTIC TAPE DECK will reveal "The Soothsayer's Bone" on April 13th, 2026.

Photo credit Patrick Perkins

LYRICS

They plough their fields, They sow their rows They weave their blankets for the nights when the cold wind blows They swing their scythe, They reap their stow And they grind their crusty bread with the soothsayer’s bone

They light their fires, Burn their effigies All dancing deep in madness, rapt in ecstacy They wave their flags, They wail and moan And they beat the war drums with the soothsayer’s bone

They’re the prowlers on the prairie They’re the keepers of the key They’re the shadow steppers stepping, stepping over you and me They’re the dreamers of the desert And they’re never at home And they stir their bubbling stew with the soothsayer’s bone

They pour their wine, They fill their grail Collect the seeping gore in gilded golden pails They nod and chant, Ascend the throne And they pierce the astral veil with the soothsayer’s bone

They pick their battles, They win their fights Adore their kings and revere their shining knights They sacrifice the innocent, For sins they must atone And they pick their rotten teeth with the soothsayer’s bone They’re the prowlers on the prairie They’re the keepers of the key They’re the shadow steppers stepping, stepping over you and me They’re the dreamers of the desert And they’re never at home And they stir their bubbling stew with the soothsayer’s bone

SOME BUZZ

Initially conceived in the minds of two 11 year old boys making up imaginary bands and drawing album covers for them, Mystic Tape Deck was officially forged and magnetized in a successfully funded Kickstarter campaign in 2019.

This was when Patrick S. Perkins (ref. as “PS Perkins”) and Ron Thomas came together (again*) to make the first installment of Mystic Tape Deck’s BARDS series, “BARDS: Of The Morning Star.”

The initial edition was a 52 page book and a 78 minute CD containing DIY home recordings which served to tell the story of a mystical being known as “The Shining One.” This first book/CD was intended as a Minerval’s gateway and guide to a vast and mysterious parallel universe where a deeply strange and art-obsessed cult of followers lurk in urban communes they call “encroachments” and who use performance art as both ritual and religion, referring to themselves as “The Cloak of Nazili” or simply, “The Cloak.”

Since the first installment was published, Mystic Tape Deck have produced an additional two book/CD installations in the BARDS series which further expand on the home-spun mythology underpinning this imaginary and eldritch monastic tradition. At least two more of these are in the works, with book 4 already underway and nearing completion (est. release date late 2026).

BARDS: Of The Morning Star [Part 1] by Mystic Tape deck

Taken as a whole, the BARDS series also stands as a testament to the diy ethic and what is possible if you just continue moving forward a little at a time. The project begins with a decidedly lo-fi approach to the music and books as we embark on a “figure it out as we go” type of journey that progressively gains clarity of vision and production as its creators gain experience by creating it.

It has always been of paramount importance to us that above all else, it gets made, and put out into the world - rather than allow it to languish and rot for a pretense of “perfection” in the dark and spidery basement where we create it. The story of its creators learning how to create and conquer these ideas is inextricably woven throughout the entire experience.

Mystic Tape Deck has always kept at the center of its vision a simple motto: “More Than Sounds,” and we continue to deliver on that promise with everything we create. This isn’t just music. This is multimedia storytelling, in a realm where we can be as weird and wild as we want (dare) to be.

The project explores many deeply spiritual concepts, ancient alchemical and hermetic wisdom, mixed with a healthy dose of decided absurdity, as it drills into the mechanisms of The Cloak and the mythical being at its center known simply as “The Shining One.”

BARDS: Of The Next Revolution [Part 2] by Mystic Tape Deck

Perkins and Thomas spent most of the 90’s playing together in various incarnations of bands such as “Godzoundz”, “Size Of…” and others. They self released many cassettes, did a couple DIY tours, and played some pretty wild shows, serving as one of the more bizarre fixtures of the Boise underground DIY scene for over a decade. Perkins and Thomas also form the experimental improv performance art and musical duo known as “The Pleasant Company” (indefinite hiatus).

Perkins played drums for Boise band “The Universal” from 2005 - 2011 releasing a self titled EP recorded at local Chop Shop studio, and a full length recorded by Grammy winning producer Art Hodge “Everything is Everywhere (2009)” for which Perkins also designed the six panel cover art.

Perkins was also a founding member of seminal Boise band Caustic Resin, playing drums on 2003’s "Keep On Truckin” (Up! Records) as well as guest appearances on several other albums.

BARDS: Of The Shimmering Seraphs [Part 3] by Mystic Tape Deck

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[doomedandstoned]

Doom-Drone Duo UNGRAVEN Summon Conan Levels of Dread For New LP

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

By Billy Goate

Drone is a medium of heavy music that took me a long while to get into. Seeing Sunn O))) perform at Psycho Las Vegas gave me with a migraine headache (admittedly I was a tad dehydrated from the Nevada sun), but I left in deep appreciation for the craft. Years later, I would finally be won over by the UK's Orme and their incredible self-titled debut, which brought me to chills. I realized then the unlimited potential for immense and emotionally moving soundscapes the genre holds in store.

Now comes the combined talents of the legendary Jon Davis (Conan) and David Perry (The Laze, ex-Conan & Dead Void) into the UK doom-drone project UNGRAVEN. While new to many, they pair has been active since 2018, already dropping a split with Slomatics in addition to a live album and two demos. Now comes their Heavy Psych Sounds label debut and the razing 43 minute tour de force 'Hollows Made Homes In Their Sunken Cheeks' (2025).

Two tracks, approximately 20 minutes a piece, comprise the pillars of the new album. The first track "Nothing Is Less Than Zero" (excerpted by The Obelisk one month ago) is majestic and transcendent, with ego-destroying mass and maddening weight. The screeching, growling low-end of Jon Davis' guitar scratches an itch in my brain in a way that's hard to describe but impossible to deny. When the organ joins (and it is a true to life full-scale pipe organ, folks) it is truly wondrous and terrifying. I'm beyond awe-struck by this collaboration.

The second track, "Hollows Made Home," can be unsettling and disorienting, making me think of being lost in the woods with no definite sense of direction, no landmarks to speak of, and surrounded by an overwhelming sense of the coldness and ferocity of nature -- removed entirely from human creature comforts and the salvation of technological connectivity. 11 minutes into the lumbering track the resounding low-end of the synth combines with the rumbling vibration of downtuned strings to create a blackout of consciousness, as one is suddenly overwhelmed in an incredible burden of awareness.

Wordless and atmospheric, the experience becomes all the more powerful when you let the speakers shake your walls. Here is a taste of the album's second track, "Hollows Made Home." Get lost in the full release of Ungraven's powerhouse record on April 18th (pre-order here).

Give ear...

SOME BUZZ

Ungraven has reincarnated with a new form. Founder, Jon Davis remains with his infamous slabs of guitar terror and is joined by David Perry on synths, organ and piano. The direction has shifted towards a more haunting ambient approach to sonic devastation. Fall untethered into a bleak and expansive soundscape of psychedelic terror, experience a new chapter in Ungraven's tome of tone.

Hollows Made Homes In Their Sunken Cheeks came into existence as a result of Jon’s wishes to take the Ungraven sound somewhere other than a standard ‘rock band’ setup. Moving away from the traditional ‘drums / bass / guitar’ structure has allowed Ungraven to experiment further with both sound and composition. ‘Hollows….’ Is an experiment in sonics and allows both Davis and Perry to perform a sickening sonic duet as their respective instruments carve a universe shaped hole in your consciousness.

Inspired by the duo's past collaborations on Conan tracks such as "Older than Earth" and "Grief Sequence" as well as artists such as Tangerine Dream, Circle, Zombi and Harold Budd. Hollows is a combination of composed and improvised elements, constructed remotely from their bases in England and Denmark. The addition of Perry’s synth, organ and piano to Davis’s slab-like 6 string delivery has produced two epics that are both introspective and pummelling at the same time.

On “Hollows Made Homes In Their Sunken Cheeks”, the duo launches a glacial barrage of heaviness using synths, keys, organ, vocoder and guitar, conjuring images of social decline projected across imagined landscapes of a ruined future.

Its dark and cinematic atmosphere speaks volumes as layers of sound gradually build the tension, diving deeper and heavier into synthesizer realms where restrained forces lurk beneath the surface. Like threatening vessels silently hovering overhead, it teeters on the brink of psychedelic spheres, a haunting progression culminating into nothing but nothingness.

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[doomedandstoned]

New Zealand’s SIDEWINDER Reveal 2nd Single “Prisoner” from upcoming ‘Talons’ LP

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

By Billy Goate

It's been just a minute since we released our compilation Doomed and Stoned in New Zealand, which we were honored to have preserved by The National Library of New Zealand. The current of underground heavy rock and metal is still strong in The Land of the Long White Cloud (or if you prefer, Middle Earth).

Our latest discovery is Wellington five-piece heavy rock beast SIDEWINDER, who today air their latest single "Prisoner" from the upcoming LP 'Talons' (2024), an album that has some monumentally heavy moments (wait'll you hear "The Depths"). We've already gotten a taste of the band's bouncy heavy psychedelic groove with the first single "Disarm The King," and the second showcases their swagger even further with soaring melodic lines, crunchy southern sludge riffage, chugging bass, and workhorse drumming.

Jem Tupe is a powerful vocalist, on the order of Laura Donnelly from King Witch. She can really belt it out with ferocity and it meshes really well with the swampy might of the band's hefty, hefty low-end. Sidewinder is taking no prisoners with this one -- a big sound through and through.

"Prisoner has been a staple for us with our live shows for years," says guitarist Ben Sargent. "It was our opener for a while and quickly became a crowd favourite. We did a few things we hadn't tried before with the recording: like the whisper track through the verses. A lot of the lyrical content refers to Tartarus too which tied in with overall themes of the album. Big riffs, dissonant verses, lead breaks and heavy bridge sections – Prisoner's got it all."

"Prisoner was one of those songs that came together naturally and without too much difficulty," adds guitarist Thomas Rousell (yes, we've got two axemen at the ready with Sidewinder). "Ben had a banging riff, we threw in some rolling verses and great melodies, it all came together to make a killer track. The crowd have been hearing this one for quite some time now, but there's some special bits added to the recording that really lift the track to new heights."

Sidewinder's Talons strikes on August 23rd c/o Wyrmwood Records (pre-order here).

Give ear...

Talons by Sidewinder

SOME BUZZ

Since their formation in Wellington back in 2021, NZ heavyweights Sidewinder have always summoned the biggest riffs and most monumental of grooves possible to carve their own path out from the underground.

In a short space of time, they’ve proven themselves to be an integral part of the burgeoning NZ hard rock/stoner scene and this summer they return to the fray with their eagerly anticipated follow-up to their 2022 debut, Vines.

Due for release this August, new studio album Talons is a breathtaking byproduct of their tight, high-energy performances and sold out shows with bands like Orange Goblin and Sasquatch. A swirling tempest of bluesy southern rock and grunge in keeping with the quintet’s heavyset approach to sonic exploration, it draws on influences that span decades, from the hard-driven strut of Kyuss to the spirited sensibilities of Church of Misery.

"We’re really excited for this album,” explains guitarist Ben Sargent. “It’s a lot darker and heavier than our last. There are some monster riffs throughout, some great psych and doom sections and plenty of that eerie, swampy blues thing we do too."

Featuring new vocalist Jem Tupe; guitarists Ben Sargent and Thomas Rousell, bassist Sean Fitzpatrick and drummer Grant Lister, Sidewinder is primed and ready to bring it all home in the most spectacular of fashions, with their, “wall of riff-heavy psych, with lashings of delta-blues.”

Produced by James Goldsmith (Beastwars, End Boss, Planet of the Dead) and mastered by Will Borza (Deftones, Smashing Pumpkins), just one listen to "Prisoner" showcases just how heavier, darker, and more powerful they’ve become.

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[doomedandstoned]

ACID MAMMOTH Presents Searing New Number from 'Supersonic Megafauna Collision’

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

By Billy Goate

Get ready for yet another banger from ACID MAMMOTH, a follow-up to the Greek foursome's 2021 Caravan. We're into the band's fourth opus now, with the impending release 'Supersonic Megafauna Collision' (2024), and it is absolutely the kind of fuzz-filled, atmospheric escape that doomers are craving.

Today, new sounds emerge from Acid Mammoth's fourth album. "Atomic Shaman" is the track, and the band clues us in on the fantastic story behind it:

The surface burns day and night and dwellers of the deepest caverns have embraced the pitch-black corridors below as their new dominion. No one dares to venture above it would only mean certain death by the all-consuming hellfire that came from the skies. The dwellers are secluded in the deep chanting frenziedly and calling upon the spirits from the otherworld for salvation. This is the dismal world of “Atomic Shaman” the track that opens side B of our upcoming new album. Our goal with this song was to capture all the despair and hopelessness of that horrific turn of events and put it in one song greatly inspired by the 1986 movie “Dead Man’s Letters.”

We start with dark, subterranean riffage. Guitar tone is warmly irradiated, with powerful, doomy, bittersweet leads that drill right through rocky passage ways. Drums unleash the pattering of acid rain two-minutes in. Vocals are touched by numbed grief, lamenting the hellscape that planet earth has become. Is there a future for humanity in this blanched, cadaverous world? Only the Atomic Shaman sees clearly through the smokey morass to chart a way forward.

It's the second single to surface from Acid Mammoth's Supersonic Megafauna Collision. Look for their new full-length to drop on April 5th, as Heavy Psych Sounds issues the LP on four varieties of vinyl, as well as in compact disc and digital formats (pre-order here). Stick it on a playlist with Electric Wizard, Dopelord, Monolord, Witchorious, and Slomatics.

Give ear...

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[doomedandstoned]

Austin’s AIWASS Resurrect  Scottish Folk Song ‘Cruel Brother’ in New Single

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

By Billy Goate

Artwork by gozien_crayon

It has been estimated that some four million new songs are being released into the world of sound every year. Certainly, it's been hard -- neigh, impossible -- to keep up with all the new albums churned out just in the doom scene. As a consequence, it is all too easy to loose touch with the great songs of the past. I'm not talking about songs from the '70s, '80s or '90s, but those written generations and generations ago, stretching back into Medieval and Renaissance times.

That's why it's so refreshing to encounter a band taking on an old Scottish ballad like the one before us. Taking a cue from Battlefield Band, the traditional folk group who brought "Cruel Brother" to a wider audience decades ago, Austin, Texas band AIWASS gives this tragic tale a unique twist.

Dark, moody synthesizer surrounds the senses as the track begins, as if to transport us hundreds of years into the past to a scene unthinkable: a dying bride, a spiteful brother, a grieving knight, and an atmosphere teeming with sadness and revenge. Gently plucked mandolin strings cross with acoustic guitar. Misty, forlorn vocals tell the tale of love found and lost, eventually engaging the full powers of the doom metal quartet, complete with foreboding drums and bluesy, bittersweet guitar riffs.

Frontman Blake Carrera comments:

The themes of the song, despite being an old Scottish ballad, are quite familiar to listeners of doom and metal in general: love, lust, violence, and loss. By reinterpreting this song, we hope to bring the past into the future. The screams at the end of the song are not just an identification that this is “blackened doom”; they are also the screams of loss and sadness that are perpetuated throughout time by all of us.

Aiwass caught my ear during the pandemic, when we premiered and gave a detailed review of their first LP Wayward Gods. Since then, the band has expanded with founding member Blake Carrera (vox, guitar, mandolin, synth) joined by Eddy Keyes (vox, acoustic guitar, bass), Pablo Anton (guitar), and Grant Husselman (drums). As a result, the Aiwass sound has evolved into something wonderfully nuanced and altogether powerful.

"Cruel Brother" will be issued as a standalone single on Friday, March 28th (get it here). Fans of Green Lung, take notice

Give ear...

AIWASS - Cruel Brother

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LYRICS

[Verse 1] There were three ladies played at baw Hey wi the rose and the linsey o But a knight cam by, played ower them aw Doun by the greenwood sidie o

[Verse 2] This knight bowed low tae aw the three Hey wi the rose and the linsey o But tae the youngest, he bent his knee Doun by the greenwood sidie o

[Verse 3] O lady fair, gie me your haun' Hey wi the rose and the linsey o And I'll mak ye lady ower aw my land Doun by the greenwood sidie o

[Verse 4] Sir knight, ere you my favour win Hey wi the rose and the linsey o Ye maun gain consent ower all my kin Doun by the greenwood sidie o

[Verse 5] He gained consent fae her parents dear Hey wi the rose and the linsey o And likewise fae her sisters fair Doun by the greenwood sidie o

[Verse 6] He's gained consent ower all her kin Hey wi the rose and the linsey o He forgot tae speak tae her brother John Doun by the greenwood sidie o

[Verse 7] When the wedding day was come Hey wi the rose and the linsey o This knight would take his bonnie bride home Doun by the greenwood sidie o

[Verse 8] Her mother led her through the closs Hey wi the rose and the linsey o And her brother John stood her on her horse Doun by the greenwood sidie o

[Verse 9] He took a knife baith long and sharp And he stabbed the bonnie bride tae her heart

[Verse 10] Lead me tae yon high, high hill Hey wi the rose and the linsey o And I'll lie doun and I'll mak my will Doun by the greenwood sidie o

[Verse 11] And what will ye gie tae your brother John Hey wi the rose and the linsey o The gallows tree for tae hang him on Doun by the greenwood sidie o

[Verse 12] And what will ye gie to your brother John's wife Hey wi the rose and the linsey o The wilderness tae end her life Doun by the greenwood sidie o

[doomedandstoned]

BLACK PYRAMID Release First Single from Astounding Comeback Album

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

By Billy Goate

One of the albums doom metal fans can legit look forward to in coming months is the return effort from Massachusetts legends BLACK PYRAMID, one of the most visionary, commanding, and influential bands of the first two decades of the 21st century.

That may sound like some heavy lauding, and it is, but the band continues to live up to their reputation in their first new album since 2013's Adversarial.

Today, Doomed & Stoned brings you the world premiere of the first single "Bile, Blame, and Blasphemy" from the upcoming saga, 'The Paths of Time Are Vast' (2024).

The song begins with gentle electrified picking of a motif that's immediately accessible, met by warm bass tones and tapping cymbals. After introducing us to the main theme, it's developed with the full power of the band -- complete with swaying, downtuned riffs, Sabbathian trills, an unrelenting rhythm section, and the heroic vocal attack of Andy Beresky.

The chorus brings me back to the doom classic "Mirror Messiah" from the band's first album, 'Black Pyramid' (2009), which was (and continues to be) a hallmark of the genre. I love the sound of rolling chords during the breakdown and the solo is replete with depth and emotion. There are long stretches of instrumental work that simply buoy the imagination.

"Bile, Blame, and Blasphemy" introduces us to a narrative that runs throughout these 8 tracks, giving us lyrical clues as the record progresses. It is indeed "an epic tale of loss and redemption, death and rebirth, fire and frost."

Black Pyramid's The Paths of Time Are Vast is nothing short of sheer conviction from the band, giving the evolving medium of metal a much needed shot in the arm as the year progresses. It digs deep into the craw and you may find yourself thinking about it even when it's not rumbling the stereo speakers. Album of the Year contender for damned sure.

Look for Totem Cat Records to release Black Pyramid's fourth full-length on May 3rd in vinyl, CD, and digital formats, with pre-orders beginning soon. Stick it on a playlist with High on Fire, Elder, Stoned Jesus, and Aleph Null.

Give ear...

SOME BUZZ

Evoking the molten, sludgy tones and the immersive atmosphere of their self-titled debut album, Black Pyramid greatly expands upon what worked wonders in the past, then seeks the transcendent path, pushing each element of their alchemistic sound to its unparalleled cosmic conclusion.

Slated for a May 3rd release, “The Paths of Time Are Vast” features Andy Beresky on guitar and vocals, Eric Beaudry on bass, and Andy Kivela on drums. This lineup of the band is now the longest running incarnation, actively gigging and touring since 2018, all the while honing their collective songcraft and solidifying their onstage chemistry. Working with Justin Pizzoferratu (Dinosaur Jr, Witch, Elder) at Sonelab, the band sought to capture the same visceral magic and sonic wizardry of their live performances onto tape, and then embellish in the psychedelic decadence of studio experimentation.

The resulting production is equally immense and ethereal, massive and otherworldly, elemental and insubstantial, as much an earthquake as an astral projection. Each song embodies the power trio’s raw energy, atavistic power and impassioned performances, juxtaposing elaborate arrangements with fiery free form improvisation.

Although past Black Pyramid albums were conceived as collections of stories told through individual songs, this marks the first time that the band has composed an album which tells a single solitary story. Utilizing both musical themes and lyrical imagery, “The Paths of Time Are Vast” relates an epic tale of loss and redemption, death and rebirth, fire and frost. This album is your golden ticket to voyage beyond the realms of birth and death, to take the journey through the many doors of radiant reality and dark dimension, to tread the celestial pathways carved in the carcasses of the stars, and to finally taste the vastness of time and space.

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[doomedandstoned]

England’s ERRONAUT Stuns with Hefty Stoner Metal Debut ‘The Space Inbetween’

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

By Billy Goate

We're going for cosmic with the new record by Hertfordshire, England stoner metal four-piece ERRONAUT, with roots in the Bedfordshire band Black Atlas (they had a 2016 EP and an LP in 2018 that caught the many of our attention). Before us it the outfit's much anticipated first LP, 'The Space Inbetween' (2024).

"Way Down Below" comes charging out with big bellowing drums from Sam Gates, followed by a swaggering stoner metal riff with tons of reverberating fuzz from the guitars. Mikey Ward's singing has a modern metal sheen as he croons:

I dream of a perfect day I’m alone and so far from view The sea breeze it carries me Miles and miles away from you

Bassist Simon Wilson grabs the bounce at 2:35, then a sassy metallic solo from guitarist Peter Hunt with hints of blues, Mikey Ward joining the rhythm on second guitar. The pace slows down to a dirge as the song ends and it's a very satisfying slow headbanging moment, an instrumental contemplation of last words spoken: "You make this a perfect hell, I need to go back to the start."

"Lost Cause" is a clear standout of the album, as the band's first single it has classic radio appeal (though much longer at 7 minutes in length). Again the band aims for long, sweeping riffs with bossy drumming that's anything but boring tap-tap-tap joined by beefy bass sound. The singing is strong and melodic, with a powerful, soaring chorus.

The intro to "Per Contra" really got my attention, I really like the contrasting choices between strummed and crunchy electric moments on the guitars. The verve of this one is undeniable, it's a badass riff for damned sure. One of my favorites, especially for the trippy distorted slow psychedelic direction it goes in mid-section. The bass provides a deep resonating heartbeat for the journey. I like the band's use of noise, too, as the track comes to a head.

"1202" was the album's single. The chorus on this is effectively orchestrated and will be welcome by fans of Chevelle especially. Part of this is the authenticity of the lyrics, which hint that we're not free, but could be...should be. The constricted, tightly knit group-think of the modern world and its interlocking infrastructure keeps us hemmed in, and seems to deny us our essential humanity, siloed into isolated realities. Or perhaps it's about a personal relationship that does much the same.

These red flags are a warning Don’t believe all that you read These red flags are a warning Time to leave this place and be free

"Underneath the Sun" has a massive dominating doom sound with intimidating Black Sabbathesque motifs. The low-end is massive and deserves full speakers to really be appreciated. It contrasts effectively with Mikey Ward's searching vocals.

"Dark Horizon" is another one of my favorites, and has a larger than life feel, as if we're on a scouting mission in a slow trance searching for habitable worlds deep in the black, forbidding void of space. "It's slipping away, to the darkness I'm awake." The words seem to be speaking of a state of mind, of a man giving way to inner demons dragging him down.

Picture in my mind Can make it all feel right But I can’t find a way Toward darkness I can try

If you've been taking the album as it presents itself and just letting the record do its thing, you'll be well into the band's vibe by the closing pair of tracks "Beyond Sleep" (presented in two parts). "Somebody sing me to sleep," is the cry and it's the perfect way to end this record. The second half seems to answer the plea to soothe a soul "awake until dawn" with a beautiful heavy psych guitar passage and an interstellar progressive-psychedelic portal into an 8-minute alternate universe, entirely instrumental.

Look for Erronaut's The Space Inbetween when it is released this Friday, August 30th, on London Doom Collective (pre-order here). Definitely one of the year's best. Stick it on a playlist with Devil to Pay, Lamassu, Apostle of Solitude.

Give ear...

The Space Inbetween by Erronaut

SOME BUZZ

Originally formed in 2015 as Black Atlas, the Hertfordshire-based quartet – born anew as Erronaut – are thrilled to announce the official worldwide release of their debut album, The Space Inbetween, this summer on London Doom Collective.

Consisting of vocalist/guitarist, Mikey Ward; fellow guitar slinger, Peter Hunt, bassist Simon Wilson, and drummer Sam Gates (whose arrival sparked this new iteration of the band) Erronaut’s singular sound has continued to evolve at every turn. Drawing inspiration from the iconic 70s rock of Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd, the 90s grunge of Soundgarden, and stoner metal of modern torchbearers Lowrider and Fu Manchu, the band seek to conquer new frontiers.

"When we sat down to start writing, we made a concerted effort to push and explore ourselves as artists and collaborators," explains vocalist Mikey Ward. "With the amount of work we've done to create it, we’re really proud of how this album has turned out, and we feel this is a real representation of what we are trying to achieve, both in the studio and as a live act on stage."

Employing heavy atmospheric rock to power lyrical subjects that focus on love, loss, and existential introspection, the dynamic foursome has well and truly delivered The Space Inbetween. Hook-laden guitars conjure soaring post-metal vistas and showcase a huge progression in their song writing. From the volatile cosmic sludge of ‘Way Down Below’ to the down-tuned, distorted environs of new single ‘Lost Cause’, the band crafts immersive sonic landscapes that transport listeners to distant realms.

More than just a studio project, Erronaut is also a force to be reckoned with live. Known for their electrifying stage energy, their formidable reputation precedes them having performed at gigs and festivals across the UK as well as appearing at Bloodstock 2021.

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