Fantastic how you "got them" right away. With this and their first album "From Sorrow to Extinction" it's such an attention to individual instrument sounds. I love just to listen to the high-hat rumble in "Given to the Grave". Who needs strong melody when there's a feast in details? That, and they're actual doom - with growls it would rather be death doom.
@@CriticalReactions Yup, I remember in my early forays being surprised on learning growls weren't a given in the genre. If you look up histories of doom metal, most of them agree that the first doom song was "Black Sabbath" by -- you guessed it. Early entries in the genre are in a similar vein to this Pallbearer track. But a bunch of doom metal subgenres have growls in them: death doom, gothic doom, blackened doom, other subgenres often use them too, and I feel like the big names in doom these days (or possibly just what I've gravitated towards) incorporate growls.
Yeah, doom wasn't merely a 'genre' but a way to darken a song by slowing and tuning it down. Sabbath never did a ''full doom record" I think, but then e.g. Pentagram and others did and by the time the "second wave"(?) came with Candlemass it became more of a "genre" within the metal community. I"d say doom is a common "effect' used by lots of bands at times in songs och for some full songs while relatively few bands use the style more consistently. That's my impression and understanding anyway - I'm not an old metalhead, just a proghead who ran his head into metal (and stuck with it) Edit: it's rather common combining stoner with doom (together or merging in and out between styles) - both styles accredited to Black Sabbath...
Oh man, this was gorgeous. I love how it retains a lot of the classic elements of early doom (and honestly early heavy/hard rock music, with a lot of psychedelic elements and even some slight bluesy flourishes here and there). It has a bit of a sludge and stoner feel at times, but I kind of feel it has a bit to do with production issues and some choices with texture/tone. Great insight as always, Bryan!
Great stuff! Glad you checked them out, and that you "got it". They're probably my favorite band at the moment, at worst there are songs that I'm not crazy about but will still listen to and enjoy. Not all of their songs are as slow as this, but none of them would be called fast either. Their latest album, 'Forgotten Days' is worth checking out. My personal favorite song from it is 'Riverbed', but any song off of it is worth checking out IMO.
For real, from 2024 if he hasn't already. I've been training my vocals to cover Ablaze by YOB, it has a range that really hits a sweet spot in my pre-existing vocal experience, and it's allowed me to extend the ranges and octaves that I can reach by several multitudes. It's still not perfect (my cover) as it's the most complex and newest song I've discovered, I can't believe I'm so late to YOB But hell to the yes, do some YOB. And then go to bed right after. You can't. You're gonna call your brother. :)
@@trowabarton222 Yeah, same for me. A friend was, like, listen to this.... *mind blown* xD He introduced me to Shrinebuilder the same day. Epic supergroup album.
The vocals and overall feel of the song are giving me 70s vibes. It was a good song. Though I tend to prefer some of doom’s other subgeneres to this one. (I think this counts as stoner doom?) Your saying the slow tempo gives weight rather than lethargy I think captures the feeling perfectly for me. I love when slow tempos are more about conveying emotions, like despair or darkness, rather than pure sludge.
One of my favorite songs of all time. Amazing album. Definitely a weighty album all the way through. If you check out another track or two from this one, I would suggest Worlds Apart and Watcher in the Dark. (I know I’m 3 years late to the comments on this one)
Now we have finally some real doom =D Many people expect some really harsh vocals because of the genre name but many doom metal bands like Pallbearer, YOB, Oceans of Slumber, The Cathedral, Dautha, Candlemass, Khemmis, My Dying Bride etc. utilize very clean vocals. Then we have other side of doom metal with growls like for example Swallow the Sun, Draconian, Shape of Despair, (some albums) of Paradise Lost, On Thorns I Lay....
@@thewhorocks515 Yup, both Swallow the Sun and Draconian mix cleans and growls in most of their songs. And actually both bands' most recent albums had way fewer growls than previous albums. They both seem to be embracing the more melodic side of things.
If you end up doing SubRosa I'm sure you'll be pretty surprised by those vocals too. If you end up doing Primitive Man... you'll get exactly the type of vocals you expected haha. Doom is a pretty broad genre though.
This is one of the tracks I enjoyed the most when checking out the Doom bands up for vote. Will be checking out more of their stuff at some point. This hits me in a similar way to post-rock/metal I enjoy. I actually ended up liking a bunch of the band's up for vote. My personal favorite was the SubRosa track so I'm hoping that gets one of the remaining week's slots. The heavy oppressive parts, the intimate minimalist parts, the melancholic emotional parts, the haunting female vocals, the layers, the use of strings, it all came together. I also really liked Woods of Ypres, Khemmis, Swallow the Sun and Draconian, and moderately liked a few more. Not sure if you've made your pick yet for Friday but my guess is you'd like Draconian the most. I'd describe them as melodic Doom with female cleans and male growls. Although you know you like Church of the Cosmic Skull so they're the safe bet. I think you'd like Primitive Man or maybe Amenra the least. The Primitive Man track is just completely unrelenting brutal as fuck Doom. It's even too much for me to enjoy. The Amenra track is a heavy super slow burn with wailing screams so you probably wouldn't like it, but it does do a great job with atmosphere. But both those do fit the theme, unlike the Katatonia track, and I also feel like the Novembre track isn't really Doom either. Even the Khemmis track which I really liked is more stoner sludge (a la Mastodon) than Doom sounding, but at least the last 5 minutes feel Doomy for sure. Anyway, looking forward to the rest of the week and will be praying to the randomizer gods for some good picks.
Oh man, which Swallow the Sun track was recommended? They're good but utterly depressing. Draconian would get my vote is it's one from the latest album.
@@LaughingMan44 In my opinion the Swallow the Sun track is not that depressing it's actually kind of a jam. The track would be Rooms and Shadows. The Draconian track would be Dishearten. Oh also, sick youtube icon! Love GITS.
Agreed swallow the sun can be utterly depressing, but in an enjoyably cathartic way -- like their song From Happiness to Dust (the title really does give away what kind of a vibe it's going to be XD).
Great pick, though Pallbearer is still more "classic" doom metal. If you want to dive deeper into the world of doom, I definitely recommend some funeral doom bands, like Abyssic (orchestral funeral doom), Shape Of Despair, Esoteric, Frowning, Hamferd, Aeonian Sorrow, Altars Of Grief, Clouds, Vacant Eyes,
I love the riffs a lot. I felt like listening a slow Ulcerate or Gorguts haha. Much atonal than I expected. But I don't know theoretically atonal or not , I just felt like it. I really like that one , added to playlist.
Yay! You finally got to hear some actual doom! Pallbearer are a solid band. They don't epitomize the genre at its heaviest, but they have other qualities that make up for it. I especially like how they've found room in that sound for emotion and even some melodicism; maybe they have some post-rock influences? They're a great band to introduce people to doom. As others have mentioned, not all doom metal has growls; growling doom metal is usually called death doom. Doom metal basically began as Black Sabbath worship, and if you go back and listen to those early-70s Sabbath albums you'll hear most all the ingredients of the genre. One of doom's early key bands was Candlemass, and their Epicus Doomicus Metallicus even gave the genre its name, which is why it's a shame they didn't end up on the poll of bands to check out this week. I also think you totally got what the genre is about: heaviness, weight, etc. Good analysis as always.
I would definitely do Khemmis. They're pretty similar to this, but just a bit more interesting (in my opinion of course). Anything off the Hunted album would be my preference. Beyond the Door is probably my favorite off that one.
You've gotta do more Pallbearer. Dropout, Thorns, Watchers in the Dark, Dancing in Madness, Forgotten Days... Phenomenal songs that you'd definitely enjoy. You should also check out Conjurer (ffo Mastodon, Necrosis and Gojira) I'd recommend Of Flesh Weaker than Ash, Hadal, or Thankless.
I enjoyed this more than I was expecting! I have some pretty hard biases going against Doom stuff but I could jam this. Neat atmosphere to it - a little toooo sparse for me, but nothing I can’t get past.
About the vocals, original Doom Metal indeed does not have harsh vocals. Doom Metal is one of the original metal genres together with Heavy Metal and it was also born from Black Sabbath, just from the slower side of them where Heavy Metal came from the faster side, especially the Dio era. Growls and screams came later (Death/Doom metal) when people figured out that deep growls of death metal go really well together with slow and low tuned music. Hooded Menace is a good example. Obviously even this got taken to their logical extremes with extremely low tunings, inhuman demonic vocals/screams and extremely slow droning paces of Funeral Doom. Nortt, Wormphlegm and Tyranny are good examples. And then there is also gothic doom which also uses growling vocals together with alternating angelic female vocals in "Beauty and the Beast" fashion. Music is still slow but more melodic. Older stuff from Tristania and Draconian is an excellent example of this gente.
Hey Bryan another great reaction thank you. I would be blown away if you could react to an amazing young Prog band from the States called Aviations. Check out track called "Outliers" it is a simply amazing 11 min song with many styles. Stay safe Bryan
Bro you need to check out Fat Freddy's Drop from NZ. You have never heard anything like them...... Start at the beginning with the song 'Ernie' of there first album. I guarantee it will blow your mind!
If you want to go real hard in (funeral) doom genere , then Shape of Despair is possibly best band in there - I personally love Fragile Emptiness. For something that defines doom for me it would be The Poorest Waltz by My Dying Bride. For not that doom but more prog-gloomy thing I would go back to... Cult of Luna from their "Something along the highway" Album. Finldand, Dim or especially Dark City, Dead Man would do a thing.
I'd love to See you do more Cardiacs! I wouldn't Say that Tarred and Feathered is the best Song to start with. You Should check out Dog Like Sparky, Buds and Spawn or Dirty Boi
Oh so THIS is doom. I was mistaken, thanks Cynips for pointing out the difference in doom/death doom not a terrible song either, thought I was gonna be bored to tears lol
Fantastic how you "got them" right away. With this and their first album "From Sorrow to Extinction" it's such an attention to individual instrument sounds. I love just to listen to the high-hat rumble in "Given to the Grave". Who needs strong melody when there's a feast in details?
That, and they're actual doom - with growls it would rather be death doom.
Interesting distinction. So Doom didn't start with growls but there is a subgenre with them?
@@CriticalReactions Yup, I remember in my early forays being surprised on learning growls weren't a given in the genre. If you look up histories of doom metal, most of them agree that the first doom song was "Black Sabbath" by -- you guessed it. Early entries in the genre are in a similar vein to this Pallbearer track. But a bunch of doom metal subgenres have growls in them: death doom, gothic doom, blackened doom, other subgenres often use them too, and I feel like the big names in doom these days (or possibly just what I've gravitated towards) incorporate growls.
But I would say the subgenres are also "actual doom"
Yeah, doom wasn't merely a 'genre' but a way to darken a song by slowing and tuning it down. Sabbath never did a ''full doom record" I think, but then e.g. Pentagram and others did and by the time the "second wave"(?) came with Candlemass it became more of a "genre" within the metal community. I"d say doom is a common "effect' used by lots of bands at times in songs och for some full songs while relatively few bands use the style more consistently.
That's my impression and understanding anyway - I'm not an old metalhead, just a proghead who ran his head into metal (and stuck with it)
Edit: it's rather common combining stoner with doom (together or merging in and out between styles) - both styles accredited to Black Sabbath...
The ending feels like feeling someone that just lets go at the end of death.
Oh man, this was gorgeous. I love how it retains a lot of the classic elements of early doom (and honestly early heavy/hard rock music, with a lot of psychedelic elements and even some slight bluesy flourishes here and there). It has a bit of a sludge and stoner feel at times, but I kind of feel it has a bit to do with production issues and some choices with texture/tone. Great insight as always, Bryan!
Great stuff! Glad you checked them out, and that you "got it". They're probably my favorite band at the moment, at worst there are songs that I'm not crazy about but will still listen to and enjoy. Not all of their songs are as slow as this, but none of them would be called fast either. Their latest album, 'Forgotten Days' is worth checking out. My personal favorite song from it is 'Riverbed', but any song off of it is worth checking out IMO.
Gotta do some YOB please!
For real, from 2024 if he hasn't already. I've been training my vocals to cover Ablaze by YOB, it has a range that really hits a sweet spot in my pre-existing vocal experience, and it's allowed me to extend the ranges and octaves that I can reach by several multitudes. It's still not perfect (my cover) as it's the most complex and newest song I've discovered, I can't believe I'm so late to YOB
But hell to the yes, do some YOB.
And then go to bed right after. You can't.
You're gonna call your brother. :)
Awesome pick! These guys used to play in my town regularly. If you revisit I recommend "Foreigner" from their first album.
For doom you should really check out Electric Wizard - Dopethrone and Khemmis - The Bereaved.
Or Electric Wizard - Weird Tales: Electric Frost/Golgotha :D Great track too
@@ambient6668 for sure, Dopethrone was just the track that got me into them.
@@trowabarton222 Yeah, same for me. A friend was, like, listen to this.... *mind blown* xD
He introduced me to Shrinebuilder the same day. Epic supergroup album.
The vocals and overall feel of the song are giving me 70s vibes. It was a good song. Though I tend to prefer some of doom’s other subgeneres to this one. (I think this counts as stoner doom?)
Your saying the slow tempo gives weight rather than lethargy I think captures the feeling perfectly for me. I love when slow tempos are more about conveying emotions, like despair or darkness, rather than pure sludge.
Pallbearer is a great pick for doom!
One of my favorite songs of all time. Amazing album. Definitely a weighty album all the way through. If you check out another track or two from this one, I would suggest Worlds Apart and Watcher in the Dark. (I know I’m 3 years late to the comments on this one)
Now we have finally some real doom =D Many people expect some really harsh vocals because of the genre name but many doom metal bands like Pallbearer, YOB, Oceans of Slumber, The Cathedral, Dautha, Candlemass, Khemmis, My Dying Bride etc. utilize very clean vocals. Then we have other side of doom metal with growls like for example Swallow the Sun, Draconian, Shape of Despair, (some albums) of Paradise Lost, On Thorns I Lay....
Nice lists. I'll be able to get the right expectations going into most of the bands this week.
The Swallow the Sun and Draconian tracks up for vote actually had a mix of cleans and growls. Not sure if that's the usual for them or not though.
@@thewhorocks515 Yup, both Swallow the Sun and Draconian mix cleans and growls in most of their songs. And actually both bands' most recent albums had way fewer growls than previous albums. They both seem to be embracing the more melodic side of things.
Subrosa - Beneath the crown is a must my dude !!!!
If you end up doing SubRosa I'm sure you'll be pretty surprised by those vocals too. If you end up doing Primitive Man... you'll get exactly the type of vocals you expected haha. Doom is a pretty broad genre though.
I'm really hoping for SubRosa. I think Bryan would absolutely not enjoy the Primitive Man track, but who knows for sure.
He did SubRosa a few weeks ago.
This is one of the tracks I enjoyed the most when checking out the Doom bands up for vote. Will be checking out more of their stuff at some point. This hits me in a similar way to post-rock/metal I enjoy.
I actually ended up liking a bunch of the band's up for vote. My personal favorite was the SubRosa track so I'm hoping that gets one of the remaining week's slots. The heavy oppressive parts, the intimate minimalist parts, the melancholic emotional parts, the haunting female vocals, the layers, the use of strings, it all came together. I also really liked Woods of Ypres, Khemmis, Swallow the Sun and Draconian, and moderately liked a few more. Not sure if you've made your pick yet for Friday but my guess is you'd like Draconian the most. I'd describe them as melodic Doom with female cleans and male growls. Although you know you like Church of the Cosmic Skull so they're the safe bet. I think you'd like Primitive Man or maybe Amenra the least. The Primitive Man track is just completely unrelenting brutal as fuck Doom. It's even too much for me to enjoy. The Amenra track is a heavy super slow burn with wailing screams so you probably wouldn't like it, but it does do a great job with atmosphere. But both those do fit the theme, unlike the Katatonia track, and I also feel like the Novembre track isn't really Doom either. Even the Khemmis track which I really liked is more stoner sludge (a la Mastodon) than Doom sounding, but at least the last 5 minutes feel Doomy for sure. Anyway, looking forward to the rest of the week and will be praying to the randomizer gods for some good picks.
Thanks for this rundown. My Friday pick isn't set in stone yet and I'll probably be changing my mind right up until I record it now 😂
@@CriticalReactions Haha totally understand. We'll get an enjoyable critical reaction regardless.
Oh man, which Swallow the Sun track was recommended? They're good but utterly depressing. Draconian would get my vote is it's one from the latest album.
@@LaughingMan44 In my opinion the Swallow the Sun track is not that depressing it's actually kind of a jam. The track would be Rooms and Shadows. The Draconian track would be Dishearten.
Oh also, sick youtube icon! Love GITS.
Agreed swallow the sun can be utterly depressing, but in an enjoyably cathartic way -- like their song From Happiness to Dust (the title really does give away what kind of a vibe it's going to be XD).
Great pick, though Pallbearer is still more "classic" doom metal.
If you want to dive deeper into the world of doom, I definitely recommend some funeral doom bands, like Abyssic (orchestral funeral doom), Shape Of Despair, Esoteric, Frowning, Hamferd, Aeonian Sorrow, Altars Of Grief, Clouds, Vacant Eyes,
Do KYLESA - ONLY ONE next!!!!!!
I love the riffs a lot. I felt like listening a slow Ulcerate or Gorguts haha. Much atonal than I expected. But I don't know theoretically atonal or not , I just felt like it. I really like that one , added to playlist.
Yay! You finally got to hear some actual doom! Pallbearer are a solid band. They don't epitomize the genre at its heaviest, but they have other qualities that make up for it. I especially like how they've found room in that sound for emotion and even some melodicism; maybe they have some post-rock influences? They're a great band to introduce people to doom. As others have mentioned, not all doom metal has growls; growling doom metal is usually called death doom. Doom metal basically began as Black Sabbath worship, and if you go back and listen to those early-70s Sabbath albums you'll hear most all the ingredients of the genre. One of doom's early key bands was Candlemass, and their Epicus Doomicus Metallicus even gave the genre its name, which is why it's a shame they didn't end up on the poll of bands to check out this week. I also think you totally got what the genre is about: heaviness, weight, etc. Good analysis as always.
I would definitely do Khemmis. They're pretty similar to this, but just a bit more interesting (in my opinion of course). Anything off the Hunted album would be my preference. Beyond the Door is probably my favorite off that one.
Really lovin this sound
Cathedral first album would definitely fit this theme and earlier Candlemas 👌
Id love to see you react to watching from a distance by warning. very original doom metal. appreciate your videos man
I’d really like to see Bryan’s reaction to something from Khemmis or Ghost Brigade.
You've gotta do more Pallbearer. Dropout, Thorns, Watchers in the Dark, Dancing in Madness, Forgotten Days... Phenomenal songs that you'd definitely enjoy. You should also check out Conjurer (ffo Mastodon, Necrosis and Gojira) I'd recommend Of Flesh Weaker than Ash, Hadal, or Thankless.
Conjurer is awesome band!
@@juhosuomi2551 yeah they are. Found them when they toured with Rivers of Nihil. That was a good day.
Aaaaahhhh, one of their best songs🖤 Hopefully you can listen to some Heartless in the future as well, beautiful record
I enjoyed this more than I was expecting! I have some pretty hard biases going against Doom stuff but I could jam this. Neat atmosphere to it - a little toooo sparse for me, but nothing I can’t get past.
They have that same effect with me. They're the only doom band I can really get behind.
About the vocals, original Doom Metal indeed does not have harsh vocals. Doom Metal is one of the original metal genres together with Heavy Metal and it was also born from Black Sabbath, just from the slower side of them where Heavy Metal came from the faster side, especially the Dio era. Growls and screams came later (Death/Doom metal) when people figured out that deep growls of death metal go really well together with slow and low tuned music. Hooded Menace is a good example.
Obviously even this got taken to their logical extremes with extremely low tunings, inhuman demonic vocals/screams and extremely slow droning paces of Funeral Doom. Nortt, Wormphlegm and Tyranny are good examples.
And then there is also gothic doom which also uses growling vocals together with alternating angelic female vocals in "Beauty and the Beast" fashion. Music is still slow but more melodic. Older stuff from Tristania and Draconian is an excellent example of this gente.
Pallbearer are to me one of the best classic doom bands from the USA along with Elder from Boston. Check out Sorcerer from Sweden also
If you're looking for harsher vocals you'll want to look into death/doom or black(ened) doom.
Hey Bryan another great reaction thank you.
I would be blown away if you could react to an amazing young Prog band from the States called Aviations.
Check out track called "Outliers" it is a simply amazing 11 min song with many styles.
Stay safe Bryan
You have to react to commerce by Primitive Man. Doom pushed to its absolute limits.
Bro you need to check out Fat Freddy's Drop from NZ. You have never heard anything like them...... Start at the beginning with the song 'Ernie' of there first album. I guarantee it will blow your mind!
If you want to go real hard in (funeral) doom genere , then Shape of Despair is possibly best band in there - I personally love Fragile Emptiness. For something that defines doom for me it would be The Poorest Waltz by My Dying Bride. For not that doom but more prog-gloomy thing I would go back to... Cult of Luna from their "Something along the highway" Album. Finldand, Dim or especially Dark City, Dead Man would do a thing.
I'd love to See you do more Cardiacs! I wouldn't Say that Tarred and Feathered is the best Song to start with. You Should check out Dog Like Sparky, Buds and Spawn or Dirty Boi
Oh so THIS is doom. I was mistaken, thanks Cynips for pointing out the difference in doom/death doom
not a terrible song either, thought I was gonna be bored to tears lol
hello! i'm Delia. please check a metal band from Sweden, Orbit Culture
you could start with Redfog or Saw. thanx!
🤟
If Dark Souls was a band it would be Pallbearer.