Doom comes in many shapes. There’s doom that combines elements of stoner rock and then there is doom that touches the waters of atmospheric death and black metal, such as pioneered by bands like Katatonia, Paradise Lost, Evoken, and others. The release before us ‘Latitudes Of Sorrow’ (2025) brings together two bands who pull their origins from the same year that Doomed & Stoned began: 2013.

First up are three grey clouds from SHORES OF NULL. The Roman quintet brings harsh vocals and growls contrasted with clean, melodic crooning, and this is pitted against a dark ensemble of guitar, bass, and drums. It’s the ideal time of year for this kind of sound, as it matches the gloomy weather and provides a morose commentary on the state of human existence in contemporary times.

The band provides us with a walk-through of these tracks:

“An Easy Way”

It is the song that opens the split, and it is the most straightforward of all our songs in there. It has a dual nature: on the one hand, it’s quite catchy and memorable; on the other, it retains a deep inextinguishable darkness that leaves very little room for hope. Lyrically, it deals with depression and the inner struggle, as well as the temptation to surrender when everything seems utterly bleak. It is a reflection on human frailty that can lead to self-destruction.

“The White Wound”

This song was inspired by the avalanche that struck Hotel Rigopiano on January 18, 2017, in the Central Italian region of Abruzzo, near where I grew up. Imagine 120.000 tons of snow coming down from the mountain at the speed of 100 km/h and destroying everything on its way. 29 people died and only 11 survived. Musically, it blends doom-and-gloom passages with sudden blackened blastbeats, reflecting the unpredictable violence of nature. Lyrically, the song meditates on grief, loss, and the anger over the negligence that allowed the tragedy to happen, leaving lasting emotional scars.

“The Year Without Summer”

Browsing the web for catastrophic events, I came across an unprecedented volcanic eruption that took place in 1816 in modern-day Indonesia, which triggered devastating consequences. Sunlight was obscured, temperatures plummeted, and the world faced famine, floods, and epidemics. The song captures the fear, uncertainty, and despair of that time, exploring both the material devastation and the inner turmoil of those who lived through it. It’s a meditation on fragility, loss, and the inescapable force of nature. It features MN of Convocation of growls.

The CONVOCATION side is no slouch, and everything fans of the band love about the Finish crew is here. Furious roars that seem to manifest as pure flame, plaintive guitar strains, swelling rhythms, and bewildering atmosphere that will sweep you away into its aura. “Abaddon’s Shadow” is a watery behemoth like none other and you’ll dissipate right into the molecules of “The Empty Room.”

Latitudes Of Sorrow is deeply affecting and powerful through and through. Shores of Null and Convocation are ideally paired on this release and provide a good balance to this ship adrift in nihilistic fog. Releasing on cassette and CD, in addition to digital format, on Friday, November 21st via Everlasting Spew Records (get it here).

Stick it on a playlist with Enslaved, November’s Doom, Marche Funebre, and Endonomous, along with your favorite death and funeral doom bands.

Give ear…

SOME BUZZ

Shores of Null stand out from their contemporaries with their ability to blend seemingly disparate elements into their sound, overwhelmingly heavy and soothing at the same time: blackened aggression stands alongside gothic-doom sections without either sounding out of place. Their music can be both melancholic and majestic, made of chorale-like guitar textures across the instrument’s entire range, sustained by a powerful rhythmic section and punctuated by a refined mixture of clean and growled vocals, along with extensive use of pleasing vocal harmonies which have become the band’s trademark through the years.

The Rome-based metal band has been an unwavering presence within the metal underground since their musical outset in 2013, churning out a series of impressive records: the melodic and somber Quiescence (Candlelight, 2014), the darker and more complex Black Drapes For Tomorrow (Candlelight/Spinefarm, 2017), and the ambitious Beyond The Shores (On Death And Dying) (Spikerot Records, 2020), a 38-minute long doom manifesto that sees guest appearances of the doom-titans Mikko Kotamäki (Swallow The Sun) and Thomas A.G. Jensen (Saturnus), along with the angelic voice of Elisabetta Marchetti (Inno).

Shores Of Null’s fourth album, The Loss Of Beauty, released in March 2023, was hailed as one of the best albums of the year within the genre. The band supported the release with an extensive EU/UK tour alongside Swallow The Sun, Draconian, and Avatarium, followed by standout performances at major festivals like Hellfest, Rock Imperium, and 70000 Tons Of Metal, among others, further solidifying their status as one of the rising forces in the metal scene.

In 2025, Shores of Null released Beauty over Europe, a powerful live album capturing the raw energy and emotional depth of their performances across the continent. The release serves as a testament to the band’s commanding stage presence and the resonance of their music with audiences worldwide. Looking ahead, the band is set to unveil Latitudes of Sorrow, a highly anticipated split album with Finnish funeral doom masters Convocation, promising a profound exploration of grief, atmosphere, and sonic weight.

Convocation started as a death metal project that later developed more close to darker doomish soundscapes, an outlet for really heavy and slow music with the will to experiment including synths, organs etc. This brought in 2017 the release of the 4 apocalyptic anthems comprised in “Scars Across”.

Three years later Convocation came back with the grandeur of “Ashes Coalesce”, an aural study of concepts encircling death while 2023 finally brought the third album “No Dawn For the Caliginous Night”, their most majestic and immersive release.

During this week long retrospective on the best albums of 2020, Doomed & Stoned contributors are sharing 25 of their personal favs from a year that was full of surprises, some dreadful and others delightful.  Svempa Alveving (IG: @doomsdayjesus) is the curator of our beloved compilation Doomed & Stoned in Sweden and a periodic guest on the Into The Void podcast.

• Electric Hydra - Electric Hydra
• Thou and Emma Ruth Rundle - May Our Chambers Be Full
• Novarupta - Marine Snow
• Elder - Omens
• Hällas - Conundrum

• Steve Von Till - No Wilderness Deep Enoug
• Lowrider - Refractions
• Covenspell - Circle of 13
• Dopelord - Sign Of The Devil
• Kvll - Death/Sacrifice
• Ockultist - Festering Wounds
• Occlith - Gates, Doorways, and Endings
• Sleepwulf - Sleepwulf

• Bonehawk - Iron Mountain
• End - Splinters From an Ever-Changing Face
• Huanastone - Third Stone From The Sun
• Malsten - The Haunting of Silvåkra Mill
• Hymn - Breach Us

• Bongtower - Oscillator
• Pallbearer - Forgotten Days
• Slift - Ummon
• Bell Witch & Aerial Ruin - Stygian Bough
• Weed Demon - Crater Maker
• Convocation - Ashes Coalesce
• Vinnum Sabbathi - Of Dimensions And Theories