Artist: Skepticism
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Skepticism are Finland's undisputed champs of funeral doom. They pioneered the genre back in the early 90s and they're still leading the way today as one of the world's slowest, most heaviest bands with the release of "Alloy", quite possibly their best album yet. As always, the monstrous pipe organ takes center stage, but as their recordings have gotten better, the band has learned to balance their sound more evenly across the board. No longer are the guitars huge wash of white noise, neither are the vocals an indecipherable rumble. The drummer still refuses to employ a proper snare drum, but that's always been part of their charm. And speaking of charm, I have to say that "The arrival", the album's opening track, might be Skepticism's catchiest material yet. It's not just totally crushing, it's also incredibly melodic and daresay, uplifting in its majesty. That's the thing about funeral doom - it doesn't just wallow in misery, it revels in it. As Aleister Crowley says in "The Titanic", "A crown of thorns is still a crown!"
Skepticism - The arrival
Finnish doom masters Skepticism will finally return with their new album "Alloy" on October 20 via Red Stream. Same lineup and same instrumentation so that means they still have no damn snare drum for tr00 heavy dooooooom-ness. This will be the band's first release since 2003's "Farmakon".
I've been doing a little trolling around on myspace trying to discover new bands and while, for the most part, I'm not really uncovering anything incredibly exciting but they are definitely a few diamonds in the rough. One such disovery was Circle Six, a doom band from Linköping. I'm not sure that I'd consider most of the bands following in the footsteps of Isis to be worthy of the doom title, but Circle Six knows what's up. Not only are they incredibly heavy, but they are slow. Agonizingly slow. So slow that the cymbal ring almost completely decays between drum hits. It's like being bludgeoned to death in slow motion. Most of you probably think that sounds perfectly awful, but I'm sure that any aficionados of the genre are stoked by that description. It's also worth noting that instead of the more typical death-metal growls (ie. Skepticism) or hardcore-style shouts (ie. Cult of Luna, Isis), the vocals are a crusty black-metal rasp. Just the way I like it: kvlt and evil. Sometimes "brutal" is a positive adjective, y'know?
I've been doing a little trolling around on myspace trying to discover new bands and while, for the most part, I'm not really uncovering anything incredibly exciting but they are definitely a few diamonds in the rough. One such disovery was Circle Six, a doom band from Linköping. I'm not sure that I'd consider most of the bands following in the footsteps of Isis to be worthy of the doom title, but Circle Six knows what's up. Not only are they incredibly heavy, but they are slow. Agonizingly slow. So slow that the cymbal ring almost completely decays between drum hits. It's like being bludgeoned to death in slow motion. Most of you probably think that sounds perfectly awful, but I'm sure that any aficionados of the genre are stoked by that description. It's also worth noting that instead of the more typical death-metal growls (ie. Skepticism) or hardcore-style shouts (ie. Cult of Luna, Isis), the vocals are a crusty black-metal rasp. Just the way I like it: kvlt and evil. Sometimes "brutal" is a positive adjective, y'know?
Circle Six - Broken
Circle is teaming up with Sunn 0))) for a few Finnish dates:
3/29 - Klubi, Tampere
3/30 - Nosturi, Helsinki w/Skepticism
Some of Finland's best bands are getting together for the BaF aka "Boring as fuck" festival at Hima & Sali, Kaapelitehdas in Helsinki on February 11-12. Acts confirmed include Avarus, Kometa, Lowlife Rock'n'Roll Philosophers, Mother Goose, Mr Velcro Fastener, Niko Skorpio, Skepticism and The Verticals. More info: http://www.mediumminus.net/festival
It took awhile, but Aversionline has finally updated with a new issue featuring an interview with Born from Pain out of Holland, around 130 new reviews including Darwin, Darkthrone, Disfear, Enslaved, Fleurety, General Surgery, Imperious, Isengard, Muskel, Skepticism, Ulver and Ved Buens Ende, plus tons more. Check it out.
While they may hint at the passing hipness of Swedish psychedelic folk, the latest Aquarius Records New Arrivals list does cover a ton of great music including the newest one from Finland's Skepticism.