Ahoy, reckless music lovers. You who came across the recent meme trend invading our screens over the past few days, suddenly asked yourself healthy questions such as: “But wait, who’s this crazy old man? And what’s with that groovy music that sounds as demonic as it is psychedelic?” Well, the man is Bobby Liebling and he’s a LEGEND. And his band is Pentagram. And their story is as cult as it is eventful and disastrous.
Bravo, you’ve just discovered doom in its most traditional form. You’re not yet aware of it, but you’re gearing up for a long initiatic psychedelic-satanic journey and you might even end up growing the ranks of worshippers of slow-paced, mountain-heavy fuzz and repetitive riffs. Doom is life — well, it’s more about death but c’mon, you get the idea. The name of our idols rhyme with “i”: Ozzy, Iommi, Bobby.
“You can only trust yourself and the first six Black Sabbath albums.”
Your journey will start with “Iron Man”, “War Pigs”, “Sweet Leaf”. Now that you’ve taken a bite out of bat stuffed toys and wondered how to quench your thirst for doom, take a look at our recommendations and favorites from classic players to the new wave of doom. Enjoy!
Acid Mammoth
Recommended album: Under Acid Hoof
Song to get started: Berserker
Looking for Ozzy-worshipping classic doom played by two generations of Greeks ready to fight it out on stages all over Europe? Craving a healthy dose of psychedelic riffs as warm as the Hellenic sun? Acid Mammoth is the next generation. It’s family. And it’s performances filled with smiles from guys so happy to be able to crank up the volume and get their rocks off on timeless riffs in style and sincerity. Already a classic.
Witchthroat Serpent
Recommended album: Trove of Oddities at the Devil’s Driveway
Song to get started: Nosferatu’s Mastery
France has its own classic doom torchbearers, ones with a strong inclination for lost exorcism tapes found during an urbex session in the south-west. Witchthroat Serpent started as an über-heavy 70s doom band, only to get heavier and heavier over the years. A delicious blend of classicism, dissonant guitars and a true sense of mastery oozing from their albums make Witchthroat Serpent a force to be reckoned with within the scene. – MATT
AHAB
Recommended album: The Call Of The Wretched Sea
Song to get started: Below The Sun
What’s the deepest, darkest grave on Earth? Any sailor will tell you the ocean, the one that submerges you, swallows you and drags you into the abyssal depths. Ahab takes its name from the famous captain in Herman Melville’s story. Never before has doom developed such evocative atmospheres while remaining faithful to the genre’s codex. With guitars rippling like waves and drones lamenting like whales, the whole thing sounds as Moby Dick crushing its frail skiff, ending up drowned in the cold, gloomy waves. The Germans call it “nautik funeral doom”. Welcome to the world of silence.
Spelljammer
Recommended album: Abyssal Trip
Song to get started: Lake
The post-Monolord Swedish school of doom is a thing. Spelljammer is one of the worthy heirs of this crushing, rumbling bass-driven brand of heavy. Add ominous riffs as heavy as an anvil dragging you down, put through a rhythmic crusher… and you’ve got the Spelljammer sound. Slowly getting rid of their early days’ stoner identity one album after another, the Swedish trio’s latest two releases are a modern graft of the Esben Willems legacy and the hazy ambiences of Sleep. Creepy, overwhelming and highly immersive. – YANNICK K.
Saint Vitus
Recommended album: Born Too Late
Song to get started: Born Too Late
These doom forerunners alongside Pentagram are the sheer embodiment of this slow and massive music, tuning down the recipe as much as possible alongside vocals of a black mass preacher. Saint Vitus are also capable of lightning-fast accelerations to shake your brains out, influencing several bands that would later be described as hardcore or thrash. Saint Vitus executes their heavy riffs perfectly, giving you the impression that gravity disappears with each listen. “Born Too Late” (the song and album) is the historical foundation of the genre and one of its most cult tracks. Period.
Dopelord
Recommended album: Children of The Haze
Song to get started: Navigator
Fresh from the smoldering remains of a funereally scarred civilization, Poland’s Dopelord are nothing less than the heirs to the legends of Doom. Far from being copycats, they have elevated the genre to heights few bands can reach, while defending the genre’s death-laden and occult-inspired themes. “Children of The Haze” is their absolute cornerstone, their most accomplished and ferocious record, and the crucible in which subsequent albums will be forged (and which other bands will vainly try to copy). – LORD PIERRO
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats
Recommended album: Blood Lust
Song to get started: I’ll Cut You Down
The horror aesthetic (whether they are B-movies, Z-movies or gialli) is truly inherent to the doom genre. Without Black Sabbath (Mario Bava, 1963) there would be no Black Sabbath. No naked women being sacrificed in the background of Electric Wizard’s shows. Now imagine if John Lennon had traded in his obsessions with Elvis and peace, to focus on Charles Manson and knife murder: you’d get Kevin Starrs and his grating, perched voice, detailing over psychedelic doom riffs the different ways of being the victim of ritual murder. Retro-sounding, stripped-down and venomous… but not without a touch of melancholy (“The Night Creeper” album).
Bongripper
Recommended album: Satan Worshipping Doom
Song to get started: Hail
With an album entitled “Satan Worshipping Doom” (and its four tracks “Hail”, “Satan”, “Worship”, and “Doom”), it’s hard to overstate the Chicagoans’ allegiance to the genre. Fully committed to the idea of digging into the heaviness and repetitiveness of The Doom Riff, the instrumental foursome craft their albums as long descents into hell for any masochist willing to follow. The journey is as grueling as it is exhilarating, and even more so live. – SYLVAIN GOLVET
All this is only the beginning, and as you’ll soon discover, Doom Metal is a genre with endless ramifications that will take you to unexpected lands, blending perfectly with all its sister subgenres: Sludge, Stoner, Death, Grunge, Post-Hardcore, Post-Metal, Black Metal, Epic Metal, Heavy Metal and so on. In other words: doom us a favor, listen to it all and join our cult!
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Top-level acts: Electric Wizard, Cathedral, Candlemass, The Obsessed, Windhand, Acid King
New gen: Domkraft, Messa, Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, Ufomammut, Yob, Sunnata
Subterraneans: Conan, Sunn O))), Thou, Primitive Man
French quality: Wormsand, Witchfinder, Witchorious, Barabbas
Weedian: Sleep, Monolord, Egypt
Serial killers: Church Of Misery (what else)
Last modified: 14 March 2025
