Ever since the release of their ‘In Gallows By Mass’ EP in 2017, Sheffield’s Ba’al have always been committed to pushing the boundaries of metal. That EP’s three tracks explored the extreme end of post-metal riffing, doom laden sounds, and even dropped in some black metal vocals for good measure. With a few melodic twists that explored a slightly more commercial goth based sound with clean vocals, there were concessions to some great melodies too, but didn’t offer anything particularly accessible to those not into extreme sounds.
Tag Archives: goth metal
SHADOWCLOAK – Shadowcloak EP
North Carolina metal band Shadowcloak aren’t messing around on their debut EP. Its five songs tap into some really heavy riffs, but they aren’t content with just hacking out the Sabbath obsessed sounds of so many doom-centric bands. The opening track on this self titled offering, ‘Dark Days’, seems as concerned with substance as much as the heaviness itself. By opening with a slow intro where a burst of feedback appears to emulate the howling wind, there’s an immediate atmosphere, but with a rumbling bass borrowing from 80s goth metal meeting with a cymbal-free drum part, the band’s more thoughtful approach builds a brilliant sound from the off. When the expected heaviness arrives, the riffs take on more of a Paradise Lost quality than a more typical Electric Wizard vibe, with the guitars adopting a dominant mid tempo chug, whilst the vocal falls somewhere between a 90s groove metal growl and a post-hardcore shout. In terms of a hybrid sound, their mix of post-metal and doom gets off to a superb start, but it’s once the mid section kicks in, introducing a more traditional doom riff, that things really get going. That leads into a brilliant sub-goth instrumental, where cleaner guitars take on a fuzzy blues tone and their more melodic stance is countered by a wibbling keyboard hinting at a love of old space rock. Eventually bringing the two moods together and topping the doom with a perfect twin lead guitar, this track shows off a near perfect mix of heaviness and old school melody. If there’s anything here that’s caught your ear, then Shadowcloak will likely hold you in their doomy grasp for the duration.
EMBER BELLADONNA – The Grove
The flute has often been a pivotal instrument within prog rock – Jethro Tull have much to answer for, but other bands like Focus and Tempest were never shy of making the instrument a core part of their arrangements – but its gentle sounds aren’t always associated with metal. In that regard, flautist Ember Belladonna’s debut album fills an important gap in the market. Its eight songs dart between different styles – from flawless new age sounds, to deep gothic grooves, to riff driven jigs – but Ember’s deft playing holds everything together with ease, and presents a classic tone that would be just as home on more of a classical oriented outing.
FORLESEN / LOTUS THIEF – Split EP
Extreme metal band Forlesen closed 2023 in a grand and uncompromising fashion by offering an abrasive cover of Type O Negative’s ‘Red Water (Christmas Mourning)’ as festive bait. Transforming the slow, heavy gothic tune into an abrasive black metal/doom metal tour de force, they not only gave the track their own twist, but also made it sound like an original cut – something that originated from somewhere deep within the American band’s blackened souls.
MOTHER OF GRAVES – In Somber Dreams EP
Hailing from Indiana, Mother of Graves take massive musical cues from My Dying Bride and early Paradise Lost and apply those sounds to the broader musical canvases of the likes of Swallow The Sun. From the off, the material on this debut EP (originally released in 2021) really values huge, dark melodies, but in order for those metallic backdrops to not sound too commercial – relatively speaking – a really abrasive melodic death metal growl has also been applied. This, at least at first, sounds like an act of slight self-sabotage since the bulk of the music would definitely be better suited to a Type O Negative influenced croon. There’s nothing about that voice – even at its most extreme – that will be too off-putting to the hardened doom fan, of course, but it might stop the material appealing to a broader spectrum of metal fans.