Thanks for your in-depth review. They are a favorite of mine. One thing you overlooked in the lyrics: the songwriter is wrestling with the notion of whether the presence of goddess will help or not. Not only is there the repeated lyric "it will be better", but this is followed up by "it won't be better." Did you check out more of their songs yet? If not, I have 3 recommendations: • singer Zofia normally has a good bit of harsh vocals in a song, so check "Nastiez". • for a song with a good mixture of her 2 styles, check out "Nothing Left". • Thaumaturgy II was their one-off try at ambient doom, and it's great! Try "Hope" from that. Thaumaturgy I is actually a live concert. It's fantastic, and available with brilliant videography here on UA-cam. Zofia is a magnetic performer. Everything is on Bandcamp too.
@@CriticalReactions I know this is extremely late, but: 1. ABSOLUTELY check out Bleed In Me from their first album 2. Obscure Sphinx releases a new album early January 2025.
This is primarily post-metal with sludgy elements. The atmospheric intro reminded me of Isis, the constant flowing of the track into different sections reminded me of SubRosa. I remember checking out this album when it came out not knowing anything about Obscure Sphinx and it was a really great discovery, I'm glad someone suggested them!
@@CriticalReactions awesome, you might wanna check out The Otolith then. Subrosa called it quits a while ago, but most of their members decided to continue on as a new band. They just released their debut last year.
I recently discovered this band who unfortunately seems to have only one official song video. Watched a full concert of theirs and am totally sold. Singer Wielebna is amazing and consistently good songs.
This was awesome! One of the best songs from a new/unknown band I've heard on the channel in a while. Honestly, I'm with you on the genre classification: this sounds much more like proggy doom with the vocals being influenced by classic metal or even the OG doom bands like Candlemass that had clean/operatic vocals. I can maybe hear a bit of "post" in the slow-burn to emotive climax elements, but that's about it. Beyond the genre I just think this did everything it does at an extremely high level: great singing, great riffs, great textures, super powerful and dynamic rhythm sections, deeply emotional substance. There's nothing not to love here. Also, if you love this I really think you'd love early Candlemass. That's the band this reminds me of the most, with the major difference being that Candlemass's guitar riffs and rhythms have more Black Sabbath influence, but the epic and emotive approach to the singing is very similar.
@@CriticalReactions I think their second album (Nightfall) is a good starting place. Their first album is probably the most influential doom album of the 80s, but it's rougher production-wise and has their first vocalist that wasn't as good as Messiah Marcolin who was with them through the rest of their "classic" period (from Nightfall in '87 to Tales of Creation in '89). Tales of Creation is probably their best sounding album, but I don't think the songs are quite as strong.
It's fun to see you enjoy a song so much =D Was curious to see whether this wound bounce off of you like a lot of other post-metal has, but yeah, I absolutely love this song and this band. It's a perfect example of building tension and gradually introducing ideas, to then combine everything for a cathartic finale. I'm not a drummer myself either, but I'm always enchanted by the drumming in their music. In terms of genre, this is atmospheric sludge metal (don't know if you've come across the term before, but it's essentially post-metal + sludge. Cult of Luna and Amenra are some of the atmosludge bands you've checked out), but there's definitely some doom in here too. On another note, saw you mention that you like SubRosa as well in another comment here. Have you heard of The Otolith? It's the band that four of the members formed after SubRosa split up, and they released their debut album last year. Definitely recommend checking it out (I actually even prefer it to any of SubRosa's albums, and I'm a huge fan).
It's funny that now that I know it's post-metal I can hear those elements in the track, but I didn't get anything post-y out of my first listen. I didn't think I had heard of Otolith but they're in my youtube history so I dunno. I listened to a bit of the track in my history and it wasn't familiar but I was intrigued.
Really enjoyed this one. The track is journey music, it brings you places without really cycling back to a location in the soundscape you’ve already been. It’s one of the qualities I love about more of Opeth’s music and most other bands I listen to regularly. There might be a call back or a melody transfers to another instrument, but you’re not hearing the exact same chorus or verse.
It is funny, generally speaking Post Metal is a Sub-Genre of Sludge (if you consider Atmospheric Sludge as the alternative name for Post, some don't consider that the definition though) and Sludge itself is a sub-genre of Doom, most people agree on this.
A nice surprise, my favourite song & band. Waiting for the Bodies Down the River Floating is a close second from the same album If you are looking for more female vocal doom bands give Bathsheba or Universe217 a shot
Thanks! Another one to add to the list. I have a stacked weekend ahead of me as I explore all of these doom and sludge bands that have been suggested in these comments. :)
@@CriticalReactions I'm sure you're not short of things to listen to, but anything by ISON with Heike Langhans on vocals is great too (she's not their current singer). I don't think it's strictly doom, but very similar (they refer to it as 'cosmic drone'). She's been in / currently has many other great projects too. Her voice is incredible. I'd recommend 'Everything's About to Change Forever', or 'Equals'. I had to double check whether I'd discovered them via your channel, but I didn't.
There's no need to get too hung up on the doom/sludge/post distinctions, there's a ton of overlap between these genres, including in this case. You already seem to have a firm grasp on doom. Sludge could almost be considered a subgenre of doom. It's doom but more aggressive and abrasive sounding, also with varying degrees of punk/hardcore influences. Post-metal is like post-rock but more metal :D. Lots of focus on atmosphere, slow buildups and lengthy songs. I'd say the majority of post-metal sounds doomy/sludgy, but it's not necessary.
You seemed a bit confused at the sludge label for this. If memory is serving me correctly, this song is slightly atypical for Obscure Sphinx (this one’s probably 70-80% beautiful/20-30% harsh; they normally skew a bit closer to the inverse of that). Caveat: it’s been a minute since I listened to a bunch of their stuff, so I could be talking out of my ass on that. In your sludge week, you came away with the conclusion that sludge is a lot like black metal in that its more of a production style than a “true” genre. In sludge’s case, weight is the through-line. There’s often a heavy crossover with doom, so you get these massive, plodding lines that feel like something struggling under its own weight. By that definition, I don’t know that I’d call this individual track sludge (you’re spot on calling it proggy doom), but I wouldn’t balk at the sludge label for the band in general.
Thanks for your in-depth review. They are a favorite of mine. One thing you overlooked in the lyrics: the songwriter is wrestling with the notion of whether the presence of goddess will help or not. Not only is there the repeated lyric "it will be better", but this is followed up by "it won't be better."
Did you check out more of their songs yet? If not, I have 3 recommendations:
• singer Zofia normally has a good bit of harsh vocals in a song, so check "Nastiez".
• for a song with a good mixture of her 2 styles, check out "Nothing Left".
• Thaumaturgy II was their one-off try at ambient doom, and it's great! Try "Hope" from that.
Thaumaturgy I is actually a live concert. It's fantastic, and available with brilliant videography here on UA-cam. Zofia is a magnetic performer. Everything is on Bandcamp too.
Nope, I haven't had the chance to explore any more of theirs yet. Thanks for the recommendations on where to go next
"waiting for the bodies down the river float" ...my favorite
@@CriticalReactions I know this is extremely late, but:
1. ABSOLUTELY check out Bleed In Me from their first album
2. Obscure Sphinx releases a new album early January 2025.
their live performance is incredibly captivating. saw them at Brutal Assault, which is also the perfect setting for them.
3 albums on YT all of em very epic!
This is primarily post-metal with sludgy elements. The atmospheric intro reminded me of Isis, the constant flowing of the track into different sections reminded me of SubRosa. I remember checking out this album when it came out not knowing anything about Obscure Sphinx and it was a really great discovery, I'm glad someone suggested them!
Oh yeah, Subrosa. That's another band that I've come to enjoy.
@@CriticalReactions awesome, you might wanna check out The Otolith then. Subrosa called it quits a while ago, but most of their members decided to continue on as a new band. They just released their debut last year.
@@tiarkrezar Thanks!
Love me some Obscure Sphinx
My favorite band
I recently discovered this band who unfortunately seems to have only one official song video. Watched a full concert of theirs and am totally sold. Singer Wielebna is amazing and consistently good songs.
I like this band. Waiting For The Bodies Down The River Floating is my favorite track.
Thats a great one! My favorites, top are:
1. Nastiez
2. Nasciturus
3. Paragnomen
This was awesome! One of the best songs from a new/unknown band I've heard on the channel in a while. Honestly, I'm with you on the genre classification: this sounds much more like proggy doom with the vocals being influenced by classic metal or even the OG doom bands like Candlemass that had clean/operatic vocals. I can maybe hear a bit of "post" in the slow-burn to emotive climax elements, but that's about it. Beyond the genre I just think this did everything it does at an extremely high level: great singing, great riffs, great textures, super powerful and dynamic rhythm sections, deeply emotional substance. There's nothing not to love here.
Also, if you love this I really think you'd love early Candlemass. That's the band this reminds me of the most, with the major difference being that Candlemass's guitar riffs and rhythms have more Black Sabbath influence, but the epic and emotive approach to the singing is very similar.
I'll have to add old Candlemass to the list then. Any specific album to start on?
@@CriticalReactions I think their second album (Nightfall) is a good starting place. Their first album is probably the most influential doom album of the 80s, but it's rougher production-wise and has their first vocalist that wasn't as good as Messiah Marcolin who was with them through the rest of their "classic" period (from Nightfall in '87 to Tales of Creation in '89). Tales of Creation is probably their best sounding album, but I don't think the songs are quite as strong.
It's fun to see you enjoy a song so much =D Was curious to see whether this wound bounce off of you like a lot of other post-metal has, but yeah, I absolutely love this song and this band. It's a perfect example of building tension and gradually introducing ideas, to then combine everything for a cathartic finale. I'm not a drummer myself either, but I'm always enchanted by the drumming in their music.
In terms of genre, this is atmospheric sludge metal (don't know if you've come across the term before, but it's essentially post-metal + sludge. Cult of Luna and Amenra are some of the atmosludge bands you've checked out), but there's definitely some doom in here too.
On another note, saw you mention that you like SubRosa as well in another comment here. Have you heard of The Otolith? It's the band that four of the members formed after SubRosa split up, and they released their debut album last year. Definitely recommend checking it out (I actually even prefer it to any of SubRosa's albums, and I'm a huge fan).
It's funny that now that I know it's post-metal I can hear those elements in the track, but I didn't get anything post-y out of my first listen. I didn't think I had heard of Otolith but they're in my youtube history so I dunno. I listened to a bit of the track in my history and it wasn't familiar but I was intrigued.
@@CriticalReactions Oh, I think I suggested a track for the best of 2022 week, so it's probably in your history from putting together the playlist
@@ElizaSkold Yup, that would do it. 😄
I really liked this on a first listen. The outro was very calming for me. Never heard of this band. I'll be checking them out.
Also, another thing I should probably note: it's six string bass.
Really enjoyed this one. The track is journey music, it brings you places without really cycling back to a location in the soundscape you’ve already been. It’s one of the qualities I love about more of Opeth’s music and most other bands I listen to regularly. There might be a call back or a melody transfers to another instrument, but you’re not hearing the exact same chorus or verse.
It is funny, generally speaking Post Metal is a Sub-Genre of Sludge (if you consider Atmospheric Sludge as the alternative name for Post, some don't consider that the definition though) and Sludge itself is a sub-genre of Doom, most people agree on this.
Alt alt-rock elements of this reminds me a lot of Total-era Seigmen
React to Rodrigo and Gabriela please.
A nice surprise, my favourite song & band. Waiting for the Bodies Down the River Floating is a close second from the same album
If you are looking for more female vocal doom bands give Bathsheba or Universe217 a shot
Thanks for the suggestions. Have any recommendations for a starting album for either of them?
Check out Black Moth if you like doom with female vocals. I'd recommend Blackbirds Fall from The Killing Jar album
Thanks! Another one to add to the list. I have a stacked weekend ahead of me as I explore all of these doom and sludge bands that have been suggested in these comments. :)
@@CriticalReactions I'm sure you're not short of things to listen to, but anything by ISON with Heike Langhans on vocals is great too (she's not their current singer). I don't think it's strictly doom, but very similar (they refer to it as 'cosmic drone'). She's been in / currently has many other great projects too. Her voice is incredible. I'd recommend 'Everything's About to Change Forever', or 'Equals'.
I had to double check whether I'd discovered them via your channel, but I didn't.
@@richardjones38 Tossing that on the list too 😅
There's no need to get too hung up on the doom/sludge/post distinctions, there's a ton of overlap between these genres, including in this case. You already seem to have a firm grasp on doom. Sludge could almost be considered a subgenre of doom. It's doom but more aggressive and abrasive sounding, also with varying degrees of punk/hardcore influences. Post-metal is like post-rock but more metal :D. Lots of focus on atmosphere, slow buildups and lengthy songs. I'd say the majority of post-metal sounds doomy/sludgy, but it's not necessary.
You seemed a bit confused at the sludge label for this. If memory is serving me correctly, this song is slightly atypical for Obscure Sphinx (this one’s probably 70-80% beautiful/20-30% harsh; they normally skew a bit closer to the inverse of that). Caveat: it’s been a minute since I listened to a bunch of their stuff, so I could be talking out of my ass on that.
In your sludge week, you came away with the conclusion that sludge is a lot like black metal in that its more of a production style than a “true” genre. In sludge’s case, weight is the through-line. There’s often a heavy crossover with doom, so you get these massive, plodding lines that feel like something struggling under its own weight. By that definition, I don’t know that I’d call this individual track sludge (you’re spot on calling it proggy doom), but I wouldn’t balk at the sludge label for the band in general.
Liked this song, but can't see the rest of their work as 'digestible'