Obscure Metal Roundup 18: Three 80’s Doom Classics
Everybody loves doom metal! It’s loud, it’s slow, it’s crushing, it’s atmospheric, and it’s the perfect soundtrack for preparing your next tabletop role-playing session. The 1980’s will forever be known as the decade in which metal began to branch off into its many subgenres, and because of the mid-decade thrash metal explosion, this process is considered a competition of pure speed in the popular conception. But there were a handful of bands who were just as dedicated to finding new frontiers of heaviness who possessed the vision to go in the opposite direction.
This quasi-triumphant return of Obscure Metal Roundup is dedicated to doom with a survey of three pioneering bands, each of whom was instrumental in the development of doom metal as we know and love it today, but each of whom also brought their own unique spin on slowing metal down. None of these bands or albums is ‘obscure’ in anything resembling the absolute sense, but none of them are household names, either, and more importantly, it’s my blog and I can do what I want. If you don’t like it, start your own obscure metal roundup.
Candlemass – Epicus Doomicus Metallicus (Released 1986)
The first album of this survey serves up its slow metal with a hefty heaping helping of prog-and-power metal adjacent trickery. The guitar solos offer neoclassical shredding, the negative space from the slowest riffs is often filled with double bass drum fills, some of the other riffs are based around twin guitar harmonizing, the band sneaks some synthesizers in from time to time, and the tracks are long, layered, and complex, rarely sticking to a single riff fore more than a couple of minutes. Vocalist Johan Längqvist is best described as a crooner; refined but not operatic, powerful but not snarly, an actor but not an everyman, providing real pathos but in near-constant danger of crossing the line into melodramatic cheese.
This is a fine collection with real highlights, but suffers from a handful of unmemorable stretches. Ironically, the busier the music gets, the less of an impression it makes. It is at its best when the riffs actually slow down and breathe while drummer Matz Ekström (the undisputed MVP of this collection) pummels the negative space created, driving the music forward. Opening track Solitude exemplifies the virtues of this framework, and also stands out precisely because it is the slowest and sparsest. The vicious groove of Black Stone Wielder is also a real highlight. This is a very good album and worth your time, even if not every idea presented is a winner. (Please note that the above linked version of this album also includes a 1988 live set. Neat!)
Saint Vitus – Born Too Late (Released 1986)
If I have one goal for this survey, it’s to reiterate that genre classifications are games of semantics, and subgenre classifications are more so. These three bands all chose to take their riffs slow when their contemporaries chose to speed their riffs up, and despite the many, many differences in their approaches they are all classified together because of it. That being said, how else can one describe Born Too Late if not through highlighting its’ principled lack of speed?
Not only are the tempos themselves glacially paced (120 beats per minute is a sprint for these guys), the riffs themselves are constructed almost entirely out of negative space. Guitar chords strike and take their time to ring out and decay before progressing, leaving only the fuzzy sludge of each individual chord to reverberate and decay; note that the other two albums here have much crisper guitar tones. Drum fills are limited to occasional quick hits, guitar solos tend towards atonal minimalism, and while the bass moves a bit more underneath, the tone is so warm and blending and supportive of the guitar that this one bit of slight rhythmic contrast heightens the lurching tension. I’m not saying that the bass steals the show here, but I am saying that it ties the band’s sound together. The end result is a unique masterpiece of an album, with no weak tracks and a sound that sticks with you long after the music stops playing.
Alas, if you’re a dumb asshole like me who is still stuck using Spotify out of sheer inertia, you will soon notice that this album needs a remaster in the worst fucking way. These songs are clearly meant to hammer the skulls of even the most seasoned metalheads, but the Spotify version here just does not get loud enough; hearing the album as intended requires a bit of imagination on the listener’s part. I’m also not a huge fan of the reverb-drenched drum sound, but we are all victims of our circumstances and metal bands who are doing everything in their power to go against the grain of their contemporaries are no exception. Not even Saint Vitus could escape the 80’s entirely. (Please note that the above linked version of this album also includes 1987’s Thirsty and Miserable EP. Also neat!)
Trouble – Psalm 9 (Released 1984)
We move from the very slowest album of this trio to the fastest. Whereas Epicus Doomicus Metallicus occasionally speeds things up to New Wave of British Heavy Metal in sections to prog up the proceedings, Psalm 9 has no shortage of tracks built around chugging mid-tempo eighths and triplets, and in these stretches it fits more neatly with the rest of the early decade classic metal canon. Make no mistake, the next section of anti-speed, towering, tri-tone soaked guitar crunches is never too far away, but if genre and subgenre classifications are meant to frame expectations, calling Psalm 9 straight up doom metal does a poor job of it.
It is for this reason that I found myself needing to give Psalm 9 a few listens to grow on me. Even if the album is slower by plurality, I expected a sound closer to Saint Vitus than Dio-era Black Sabbath. Once I moved past these expectations, I found a lot to like. The band’s sound is crisp but still heavy, with the guitars erring on the side of buzzing but preserving crunch and heft; the attack is pummeling, but not sludgy. The varied tempos are also a feature, not a bug; opening track The Tempter is built on contrasting slow/fast sections, while Victim of the Insane ratchets up tension and releases it in a flurry in the final minute.
Of course, the real elephant in the room is the album’s Christian tendency; hell, it’s called Psalm 9. You can’t argue they were being coy or shy about it. And so, in my capacity as an atheist metalhead, I hereby instruct you not to worry about this or get stuck on it. Lots of metal is about made up stuff. This is an excellent classic metal record, and its influence on the whole of metal is beyond question. Go in expecting no more and no less, and many happy headbangs will follow. (Please note that the above linked version of this album also includes a cover of Cream’s Tales of Brave Ulysses. Eh. Clapton always sucked.)
NFL Confidence Pool – Week 3
Week 2 Correct Picks: 11/16 (0.688)
Season Total Correct Picks: 24/32 (0.750)
Week 2 Points: 96/136 (0.706)
Season Total Points: 215/272 (0.790)
16 Points: Packers over Browns
15 Points: Bills over Dolphins
14 Points: Ravens over Lions
13 Points: Eagles over Rams
12 Points: Chiefs over Giants
11 Points: Buccaneers over Jets
Finally! At long last, we have an absolutely unimpeachable mismatch on the schedule, as the best team in the NFC gets to whale on the not completely hapless but offense deficient Browns. Put 16 on this and don’t think twice, and if you’ve been paying attention you don’t even need me to tell you so. Gross Football Lunch no longer recognizes the Miami Dolphins as a professional football organization. I am dinging this game one point solely out of respect for division rivalry chaos. The Ravens/Lions tilt is the latest Game of the Century of the Week; 14 points is ambitious when both teams can go full Death Star on their opposition. But whereas the Lions are merely the Death Star from Super Star Wars, the Ravens are the Death Star from X-Wing (if you know, you know).
The rest of these high assignments frighten me a great deal, but since Jayden Daniels doesn’t look like he’ll play this week at the time of this writing, I am left with few teams who are probably good. The Eagles have not played up to the world-beating expectations that follow every defending champion, but beating your archrival and the Chiefs in Arrowhead is nothing to sneeze at. If nothing else, it’s more impressive than the Rams’ AFC South exclusive resume. Also, Philly has better lines on both sides; when in doubt, bet on the QB, and when that’s in doubt, bet on the trenches.
Speaking of the Chiefs, I would love to give them more but 0-2 is 0-2, and their offense remains unwatchable. I’m not saying they can lose to the Giants, but I am saying the Giants still have a nasty front four and I had to think about it. The good news is that this game is so putrid a Sunday night showcase that we can all skip it with glee, so starting planning accordingly. For my part, I’m just about ready to storm Drangleic Castle, and if any of these hollows have a problem with it, my Mace +10 will set ’em straight in three hits or less.
10 Points: Chargers over Broncos
9 Points: Falcons over Panthers
8 Points: Seahawks over Saints
7 Points: Cowboys over Bears
6 Points: Texans over Jaguars
I often refer to this middle grouping as the Tier of Suspicion and Mistrust, but this week I’m tempting fate and choosing to view these teams with optimism, however faint and misguided it may be. For one week only, this is the Wait and See Division. I was higher on the Broncos than the Chargers going into this season in large part because I though the Chargers’ offense was going to tread water and the Broncos’ offense would improve, but so far the inverse has proven true. Let’s see if the Chargers can keep it up against a rival with a great defense, and let’s see if the Falcons’ pass rush is for real.
I’m ever so mildly impressed with the Seahawks scoring 31 points last week, as I figured they would struggle mightily to score 21 on their best day. But whatever trouble they have getting points on the Saints, the Saints will have a worse version of it. There isn’t any universe in which this year’s Cowboys are good as the word is traditionally understood, but the Bears are horrendous on both sides of the ball. That the Cowboys are still only getting single digits against them is condemnation, not praise. I saw just enough of Bengals/Jaguars to see Trevor Lawrence disrupt the throwing interceptions space; I’m not giving up on the Jaguars just yet, but the Texans are desperate and too good to go 0-3 without a fight.
5 Points: Colts over Titans
4 Points: Steelers over Patriots
3 Points: Commanders over Raiders
2 Points: Bengals over Vikings
1 Point: Cardinals over 49ers
With the bye week not too far off, I will spare everyone my Vikings-related bloodletting for now; suffice to say, Carson Wentz coming off the bench and taking McCarthy’s job is the funniest possible outcome, which means it’s also the saddest. But there’s no real reason to believe this will happen, whole we know Jake Browning can at least get the ball to his playmakers. I’m still picking Washington on the off-off-off chance Daniels does get the start, but my assignment reflects the likelihood of it. I am also assuming the Colts are a bad team that happens to be 2-0 and not a sleeper, but if they keep it up I may start putting real points on them just in time for the collapse.
Speaking of bad 2-0 teams, the Cardinals barley survived a roaring Bryce Young comeback, which tells me all I need to know. The 49ers are probably but not necessarily starting Mac Jones; in any event, I urge you ignore the records and assign as few points as you can stomach here. The chaos potential here cannot be comprehended by mortal minds.
Enjoy the games, everyone!
Rob Writes About Whatever 