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.

Emerging from the heavy underground of Australia comes a grim new act out of Adelaide: GRAVES FOR GODS. I confess knowing little about the members of the band, but their preamble got me curious:

Your path into the beyond. Through ruins of ancient ceremony. Hymns echoed off stone, beneath grey skies. Monuments to those once worshiped. Now lost like tears to the rain. Their stories revived on a platform of the Peaceville 3 and all things doom. This is Graves for Gods!

Tracing their musical lineage to Anathema, My Dying Bride, and Paradise Lost, the Graves for Gods sound is funeral and bleak, to be sure. “Embalmed Embrace,” the first single from the band’s forthcoming full-length debut, saunters at an adagio’s pace, with grave, gruff vocals and stinging, emotive guitar leads.

January 21st is the watch date for ‘The Oldest Gods’ (2022) on Sleeping Church Records, available soon for pre-order here. It’s the same French label that brought us that excellent spin The Life And Works of Death by Carcolh (which Doomed & Stoned introduced to you earlier this year).

Today being one of the coldest, crispest days of the season thus far in Oregon, Graves for Gods has been in regular rotation keeping me company as I soldier through the bleakness of sunless days and long dark nights. Somber and overcast, yet deeply expressive and atmospheric, The Oldest Gods is as effective a debut as one could ask for.

Give ear…

Meet EMBER SUN the new project from Lorthar, one of the original members of the Athens occultic black metal band Order Of The Ebon Hand. Later this month, he’s dropping the full-length solo effort, ‘Of Earth And Heaven’ (2021) via Aural Music/Code666.

Harmonic rumbling surrounds our senses as the album opens, giving way to a slow rhythm that somehow reminds me of the slave galley powering some ancient sea-faring vessel into the chaotic waves of war, steadily slogging along in rowing movement to the task-master’s slavish beat. There’s not a spike of adrenaline in sight, for this is a reluctant battle we face – not of swords against shields or javelins tearing through flesh, but the struggle with sorrow. And we are spent.

“Swallowed Back Into My Sorrow” implies by title alone that we’ve faced this enemy before, won some battles, lost too many to remember. Now we can feel the dread of those gray, low-hanging clouds gathering oppressively around us. The mood the song strikes is not one of abject despair, however, but stoic contemplation. We’ve learned to grow comfortable in the fog of uncertainty and confusion these last two years. Perhaps it’s impossible to envision better days from this vantage point. Maybe the point is to endure until the fog lifts. But will it ever?

“Respawn” is up next, striking a slightly more upbeat stride than its predecessor. In fact, it’s almost hypnotic. The atmosphere is charged with an uneasiness as we wander deeper into the mist looking for signs that mark some discernible path – closer to this Ember Sun.

This leads into “On Earth And Heaven,” which surrounds us in a comforting blanket of grief. In last year’s excellent miniseries The Third Day, a confused Jude Law is consoled by Emily Watson. “Pain doesn’t know time,” see says, adding: “Most people are scared of pain. They don’t know how warm it can be.” As a long time depressive, I can vouch for that fact. It’s not a place I want to be in, but when I am sad it feels familiar to me. Maybe that strange solace comes through radical acceptance of the situation (as opposed to wishful thinking that it will somehow change on its own) and this has a way of dampening the “fight or flight” alarm so it isn’t constantly blaring at me and I can think rationally about where we stand. Then, seeing the situation for what it really is, I can quietly plot the next best step forward. As the song comes to a close, the drums pound out those steps so clearly. It’s an all-uphill climb, but that’s precisely the hill we have to scale to see what’s on the other side, where maybe, just maybe, there is hope.

“Ember Heart Of Me” is significantly sadder, a funeral march with Gothic and esoteric touches. It also boasts one of the album’s grandest choruses, perhaps our first sun-break of the journey so far. Anger sometimes has a way of clearing the fog and here Lorthar vows, “I’ll haunt you in your dreams.” The synth fingers out a familiar arpeggiated pattern, followed by an outpouring of singing guitar expression and an aggressive battering of the percussion. The sun is rising, the mist dissipating, the path becoming more discernible.

“The Chapel” is the penultimate track and, like the opening salvo, the hum of reverberating sound seems all-encompassing. The thud of the drums marks out this place as significant. Have we been here before? It feels so familiar. A place of absolute transcendency, where one can experience the death of ego, followed by a certain clarity of vision we didn’t have previously. This isn’t a place of feeble worship and quiet solitude, but a space that invades our senses. And the raven’s caw beckons…

The ten-minute-plus album closer feels positively sanguine by the time we reach it, with melodic highs and lows acting like a series of heavy sighs. Nothing is scarier than thinking about one’s death, until you come to peaceful acceptance of your own transient mortality. Who knows what, if any, existence we will have beyond this one (consciously or not), however your philosophy rationalizes it. Painting in lush, deeply affective tones, the singer embraces the mystery of life, sure of one thing: “My Essense Fades In Time.”

Today, Doomed & Stoned gives you a first listen to the album single, “Ember Heart of Me.” A song which Lorthar depicts as “our inner consciousness that never fades, never goes away” – adding that “even if the fire can’t be seen, it still burns.” The composer continues:

This track was challenging to record with 3 different types of vocals to mix and layer one over the other.

The 1st voice represents our living body.

The 2nd voice represents our fear.

The 3rd voice represents our subconsciousness.

Together, these 3 voices embody our selves. These 3 voices exist within you, within me, within everyone.

On Earth And Heaven by Ember Sun releases October 22nd via Code666/Aural Music in digital, compact disc, and vinyl formats (pre-order here).

Some Buzz

Ember Sun is releasing their new album, titled On Earth and Heaven, on October 22 via code666, the cult sublabel of Aural Music.

The band commented about the signing:

“When code666 contacted me and proposed to release my debut album, it was like I was dreaming that such a label wanted to join their roster. It’s a blessing to us that this respected label believed in us. Now Ember Sun are ready to uncover the deep, primordial feelings of sorrow, sinisterness, and solitude under the banner of Code666”

Ember Sun is the new solo project born in 2021 of Lorthar (founder/ex-member of black metal band Order Of The Ebon Hand) from Greece, playing atmospheric funeral doom death with influences of gothic scene. Lorthar has been and still is a member of several bands in the metal music scene and also on ambient style bands. Ember Sun is a mix of all the music styles haunting Lorthar’s temperament.

'On Earth And Heaven’ is a hymn of solitude and sorrow. It expresses the fear of reaching our end; the despair of not seeing again all those we loved or hated; the incomprehensibility of being devoid consciousness; the sorrow of never seeing the dawn again.

By Billy GoateArtwork by Gogo Melone

Every time I hear GHOSTHEART NEBULA the music takes me on incredible journies of the mind and soul. The Milan handful were previously introduced to us through the melodic doom gem, ‘Reveries’ (2018). Now the band is poised to release their first full-length record, titled 'Ascension’ (2021).

Many of their songs are mournful, dire, and overcast, but they seem to strike just the right shade of grey for me because I don’t find their vibe tiresome or overwrought. Maurizio Caverzan’s vocal approach is generally brusque and gravely (comparable in tone to Enslaved), biting with death-infused ire.

Meanwhile, the crew of Nick Magister (guitar), Aron Corti (guitar), Bolthorn (bass), and Panta Leo (drums) conjures up misty dreamscapes and holds them together with the greatest art. Like one of those big bubble blowers at the fair, the songs grow expansively forward in a highly organic fashion. You keep waiting for it to burst open, but it trudges on – played with great empathy and inventiveness by all involved.

Songs like “Chrysalis” strike me with the saddest of sorrows. Join this to the last song on Present Serpent by Moanhand and you’ve got yourselves quite a gloomy pair, capable of generating the most disconsolate of feelings. I easily listened to the album several times through without ever wanting to skip ahead or change to something else. Maybe it was just one of those days and I found the perfect music to match. Perhaps it will be for you, as well.

Ghostheart Nebula’s Ascension drops September 17th on Black Lion Records (pre-order here). In the meanwhile, they’ve given us a deep cut in “Ascension Pt II: My Burial Dream,” here presented to us as a music video (directed by Katerina Karp).

Ghostheart Nebula remarks on this particular track:

“The fear of death silently accompanies our lives, but in the last moments on this earth, what we should really dread is the confrontation with ourselves. At the end of the day, before vanishing forever, the great truths will be revealed, with no exception for anyone.”

Ascension is a respite for the weary, weatherworn soul.

Give ear…

SOME BUZZ

Ghostheart Nebula is a cosmic doom metal band rich with post rock hints, offering a soundtrack to intimistic and dreaming moments.

Ghostheart Nebula was formed by Nick Magister, Maurizio Caverzan, and Bolthorn in the last months of 2017. Their first EP, “Reveries”, has been released by the band itself in December 2018 and the process was carried out between Norway and Italy: recorded and mixed by Aron Corti at StreetRecstudio in Albese con Cassano (Como), mastered by Øystein G. Brun (Borknagar) at Crosound Studio in Bergen (Norway). “Reveries” was well acclaimed by the music press and was chosen as the independent production of the month by Italian magazine Rock Hard.

Later, in the first months of 2020, Aron Corti (guitar) and Panta Leo (drums) permanently joined the band and Ghostheart Nebula released the stand-alone single “Apathetic Lacrymae” plus a remixed version by Therese Tofting (who was already featured on the track “Denialist” in “Reveries”) mastered by Andy Testori.

“Ascension" is Ghostheart Nebula’s first full length album as a whole band, slated to be released on September 17, 2021 through Swedish label Black Lion Records. This new chapter, unraveling in a trail of empathy and introspection, contains the main stylistic and emotive nuances of their music.

The album has been recorded at StreetRec Studio (Como, Italy), while mixing and mastering have been done by Øystein G. Brun (Borknagar) at Crosound Studio (Bergen, Norway).

Gruff, gravelly vocals buttressed by a razer sharp guitar motif and a sorrowful theme on violin greet us as INTAGLIO begins the new song, “Subject To Time.”

Surely not a new name for longtime fans of funeral doom, but perhaps a fresher face to Westner listeners, founding member Evgeny Semenov (based in Oryol Oblast, Russia) has been going at it since at least 2004. In fact Intaglio (a name that essentially is “engraving,” but carries a more nuanced etymological meaning) last gifted us with their eponymous full-length premiere (entitled Инталия) in 2005 – remixed just last year for its 15th anniversary.

Now surrounded by a new lead vocalist and a half-dozen or more friends taking up various instruments, Intaglio embarks on a new album that carries fresh inspiration around matters of life, death, and the mystery of it all.

The first single, “Subject To Time,” is presented here in abbreviated format as a kind of “first impression” of the new album’s melodic, lyrical, and conceptual framework. A number of classically trained instrumentalists and singers contributed to the record, as well. Take a look at the stellar line-up that surrounds this herculean effort:

• Evander Sinque - Lead Vocals
• Evgeny Semenov - Guitar, Bass
• Alexey Batrakov - Double Bass
• Nadia Avanesova - Cello
• Roman “V” - Drums, Percussion
• Tres Hunter - Bass Vocals
• Andy Grig - Tenor Vocals
• Reverend B. - Spoken Words
• Aleksey Samoschenkov - Flute

I am obviously anxious to hear the song in all its fullness, with anticipation of the second album releasing in late-2021 via Solitude Productions. For now, we can look forward to downloading the single on Friday, May 14th. Today, Doomed & Stoned gives you an advance listen.

Give ear…

One would think that with the Doomed & Stoned in Russia compilation just being released, one would be up to speed with what’s up and coming regarding the doomy goodness coming from the world’s largest country. Well, think again, because here comes PALE KEEPER. Formed in 2019 and hailing from Moscow, the trio released their self-titled debut EP a mere week after the release of what is arguably our most crushing compilation to date.

Pale Keeper managed to grab my attention right away with vocalist Mark Davydov’s old school guitar sound and ditto riff. After a while the rest of the band, drummer Denis Sulimkin, who’s also responsible for the synths on the record, and Denis Chelnokov on bass, join in to give the doom riff some extra oomph. It doesn’t take long though, before the track takes a turn to a more progressive sound, reminiscent to the likes of Pallbearer. It’s clear that these guys know how to write a dynamic doom track. If there’s one way to introduce your band, “Tower Lord” is the way to go.

On the second track, “Sylvan,” the band takes a turn towards a Pink Floydian ambient soundscape. It’s a well executed piece of music, transporting me towards the tundras in seconds, but it’s also a harsh break from the thing they started on “Tower Lord” and continue on the following “Getting High.”

This track immediately found it’s way into my (quite extensive) list of great doom tracks because of the absolutely neck-breaking intro. The over the top guitar solo is just icing on the cake. It also makes me more forgiving towards the “demon voices” throughout the track. These take some of the focus away from the musical skills which are portrayed here.

“Emerald Grave” is the darkest track on this EP, emitting some of that Windhandian sense of melodic dread. The band finishes things off with another instrumental track, “Placid,” which feels like a peaceful, almost optimistic finish of a dark and dreary debut.

The only comment I have on this record is that it’s a collection of songs that doesn’t feel like a coherent whole. Then again, EPs rarely do so. What the EP does do is showing us what a talented pack Pale Keeper is. They show that they know what makes a good song and have the skills to hit it home by combining elements without blatantly copying them. I hope they will continue down this path. I foresee great success for these guys if they flesh out their sound a bit more. Make sure to keep an eye out for them!

Greenville, South Carolina’s LEGBA return with their fourth release, ‘The Demon Inside’ (2021). The demon inside all of us? The demon inside people in our government? Probably. This album is what great doom is built on – a solid foundation of sadness, lament, and fear.

“Let Us Count Our Dead,” the forth track off the album, is holding a mirror up to modern day society fighting to stay alive and survive a worldwide pandemic. Legba has great use of samples on this song, as well. Samples quoting news reporters talking about Trump’s nonchalant attitude and handling of this deadly virus. Another reporter talks about the morgue filling up to capacity and having no room for bodies, but still maintaining dignity and compassion for precious life lost.

Legba recorded an album that took a snapshot of a society in fear and anger, yet resilient. This album is how a lot of people feel these days. For some of us, we have a demon inside our head. Some of us have demons in our hearts. The Demon Inside entered at #7 on the Doom Charts, sure to become a doom classic that is both beautiful and haunting.

Doom and gloom enthusiasts, rejoice! APHONIC THRENODY is about to unleash their third opus, and there will be plenty of forlorn melodies and trampling riffs to go around.

With the aptly named ‘The Great Hatred’ (2020), the duo delivers an album filled with songs of woe and sorrow. Aphonic Threnody conjured up six tracks of its unique brand of funeral doom. Keyboards, atmospheres, and guitar leads slowly unfold and soar as the bass, drums and rhythm guitar trudge along mirthlessly, crushing every bit of hope in its wake. Nevertheless, the band manages to create and retain a feeling of beauty and even serenity at times, like a moonlit, snow-covered landscape.

The Great Hatred paints mesmerizing pictures of desolation with each track and each riff, which is a distinctive mark of a well crafted, meaningful funeral doom album.

“The Fall” is the closing track of the 56 minute-long elegy that is The Great Hatred. Aphonic Threnody keeps the listener emotionally engaged until the very end of the album and doesn’t hesitate to throw scathing heavy riffs supported by a hammering double-kick between atmospheric moments of bleakness and beauty to create contrast and dynamics.

The Great Hatred is an ode to funeral doom in all its glory with a very personal take on the genre, and “The Fall” is a perfect closing track for such an album. It is richly layered, oozes with heart and authenticity, and never fails to impress with each listen.

The album is set for release on October 16th via Transcending Obscurity Records (pre-order here). What better season and what better year to revel in the poignant, sorrowful tunes splendidly crafted by Aphonic Threnody?

We’ve been following the THE HAUNTING GREEN for some time, at least since their EP Debut in early 2014. The atmospheric Italian duo of Cristiano Perin (vocals, guitars, synthesizers) and Chantal Fresco (drums and percussions) actually started playing in in 2012, experimenting with a deadly combination of sludge metal, ambient drone, and dark electronica.

Their latest effort, ‘Natural Extinctions’ (2019) is their first full-length record, and dabbles in strains of funeral and ritual doom, as well. The new album “explores the inability of human beings to preserve their innocence and the bond with nature during their existence.” Fans of Amenra and Trypticon with find much to love here, as will any adventurous soul that follows Doomed & Stoned.

“This isn’t an ordinary concept album,” the band discloses. “Actually, there is a hidden thread connecting the seven tracks, relating the inevitable destiny of every human being to inhibit, suppress and lose, along his life, some of the most pure and atavistic aspects of their own soul, to adapt and live with the hostile environment that surrounds him. Adaptability on the one hand strengthens and leads to move forward, but, on the other hand, corrupts and makes us lose the most spiritual and pure side of us: the most precious.”

Natural Extinctions is a contemplative, at times harrowing, listen that kept me engaged throughout. To start the week, Doomed & Stoned is giving you a look and a listen to the new music video, “Where Nothing Grows, beautifully shot by Maurizio Polese, Laura Sans, and Massimo Cracco, and directed by Maurizio Polese and Chantal Fresco. If you dig it, look into getting the album via Hypnotic Dirge Records (order here).

Give ear…

Italy has had a healthy output of heavy music for quite a while now. From psychedelic sludge heavyweights Ufomammut to quality labels such as Heavy Psych Sounds and Argonauta Records putting out a slew of great albums, the boot-shaped country has plenty of reasons to keep fans interested. While I never really associated Italy with doom-death metal, the Milan-based band ESOGENESI is the living proof that my southern neighbors have even more to offer than I thought! The band’s first album is reminiscent of bands such as Un, Loss, or early Ahab in its combination of melodic guitar work and sheer heaviness. The least I can say is that it came up as a very unexpected and pleasant surprise.

“Exogenesis” is the hypothesis that life as we know it on Earth originated elsewhere in the universe. Now, pair this idea with a very intriguing artwork by Italian artist Korvuz Korax and you have great hook to grab the attention of any curious mind looking for a musical journey. Formed in 2016, the Italian combo Esogenesi is about to release its first album on Transcending Obscurity Records. With a wide array of bands in its catalog, ranging from black metal and death metal to doom/sludge metal, and names such as Jupiterian, Gaerea, Eremit, Heads for the Dead, Paganizer, and Lurk in its roster, Transcending Obscurity means business and hits another home-run with Esogenesi’s first album. Esogenesi plays a mixture of doom and death metal which draws inspiration from science-fiction and philosophical concepts. So if you’re looking for massive slow to mid-tempo tracks with atmospheric parts and abyssal growls, you’re in for a treat.

The album begins with “Abominio,” a nine-minute piece showcasing the band’s ability to craft complex and thoughtful tunes. The album sounds very clean and tight, which highlights perfectly the musicians’ technical abilities. Although I usually like grittier productions and I am easily turned off by recordings that sound too crisp and clean, the sound fits the band music and I cannot imagine Esogenesi’s album any other way. If I were to describe this album in a couple of words, “subtlety” and “balance” would be it. Esogenesi sounds heavy, at times otherworldly, but never overdone or stuffy. This is one of the most notable aspects of this album – top-tier musicianship and songs that are written in a very thoughtful way, which results in longer tracks that never become boring or bull.

I cannot emphasize enough how much I enjoy the cohesiveness of this band. The two guitars are complementing each other really well, the bass lines are tasteful and melodic without ever being showy or over-the-top, and the drums provide a solid backbone for the tracks. It makes no doubt that the members of Esogenesi are seasoned musicians and that they have mastered their instrument to the point that they know exactly how to shine while leaving room for the rest of the band. Not only is it extremely enjoyable to hear but it is something any musician can appreciate and applaud.

The tracks work really well together and form a cohesive album which takes you through an interdimensional journey you will not want to leave. As I previously mentioned, the difficulty with long tracks is to master this format without becoming over-indulgent. This is a pitfall that Esogenesi manages to avoid with a great sense of style. There is always something going on and the riffs are never redundant for the sake of it. It is also particularly pleasant that the vocalist knows when to leave room for music, rather than trying to cram as much lyrics as possible. By using vocals sparingly and letting music speak when it is more befitting, every word becomes meaningful and brings extra weight to the songs.

Even after listening to Esogenesi’s album many times, one cannot help but be amazed by the maturity and tastefulness of this first effort. The first two tracks of the record, “Abominio” and “Decadimento Astrale,” are perfectly cohesive and form what could be considered the first act of the album. Many a time, I let myself drift away along with the melodies created by the intertwined bass lines and guitar leads.

The half-way mark of the album comes in the form of “…Oltregenesi…”, an almost four-minute long post-rock influenced instrumental piece which feels like a bridge between the two acts of the record. The melancholic arpegios joined by layers of acoustic and electric guitars tastefully build up to the following track, “Esilio Nell’Extramondo.”

The pace slows down a bit for the second act of the album. The gloomy atmosphere thickens up, giving the impression that we’ve ventured far into an unknown world. The forlorn melodies, pounding bass-drum combo, and solemn vocals of “Incarnazione Della Conoscenza” give way to a final burst of energy with closing blast beats accompanied by tremolo picking guitars which lead us to the end of our journey.

Esogenesi’s first album is impressively balanced and mature. The melodies are expertly woven with heavy and airtight riffs and there is always something going on to catch your attention. The band never gets self-indulgent, every note and every silence serves a purpose. Wherever you ear may wander, it will find something interesting in Esogenesi’s world.

Last but not least, I believe that an album artwork should be more than something purely esthetic and non-related to the content. Experiencing an album as a whole is important, especially in a day and age where downloading music and listening to it on-the-go has become standard practice. Transcending Obscurity Records never disappoints when it comes to artwork, especially with the label’s gorgeous CD and LP box sets. Esogenesi’s album is no exception. The surrealist space creature floating in a world of grays and blues superbly illustrate the band’s music and the atmosphere the music paints through this album. This is a remarkable debut album and Esogenesi is displaying a lot of promising potential. I am looking forward to see where the band goes after such an accomplished first album and you should, too.

It’s fair to say that much of our view of the world is muddled by a cloud of politics, whether that comes from the strong opinions of family and friends, the news media, or our elected officials. When I heard such casual joking of bombing Iran during the 2008 US presidential elections, I cringed. Now more than 10 years later, the bluster of obstinate world leaders looms large once again, posturing with the weird flex of war. What most people are missing is real perspective on the people of Iran and, I would argue, the music of that country.

Hell, I was woefully uninformed myself, so when I started noticing more and more offerings from the heavy music community out of Tehran, I struck up a friendship with one doomedshinobi on Instagram, mastermind of the one-man band Roaring Empyrean, “a musical project aiming to create atmospheres where feelings in contrast meet, in a combination of funeral doom metal and New Age.” Intrigued, I asked doomedshinobi for an interview and we exchanged words over oceans and breached the cultural divide for one of the more fascinating discussions about the joys and trials of being an artist I’ve encountered since starting Doomed & Stoned.

What’s it like being a heavy musician in Iran? Most of us have no clue about what’s acceptable and not in the culture there.

When you are dealing with a radical ideological regime, you can’t reason with them. All kinds of art are seen forbidden here, unless they preach Islam or government ideologies. Things get worse when you are dealing with some art that is Western in nature. Metal is, in nature, Western. And even there, it had its problems sometimes from church and common beliefs. Here, it doesn’t matter what you make and what you sing. As long as you are metal, you are seen as Satanic!

I remember reading an article in some magazine about Metallica being black metal, just because they have an album called Black. The author claimed, “They are black metal artists and black metal is Satanic, so they are making music to take away our people from God and Path of Light.” I remember reading somewhere that even Pink Floyd was labeled Satanic. So things are hard for you if you are an extreme musician, like metal. You are alone in the scene here. Producers and labels mostly refuse to work with you. Stores won’t sell your physical releases and stages to perform are hard to get. There have been many cases when a band got a show and then right before the show or even in the middle of performance, it was forced to be canceled. Many musicians even get arrested afterwards.

Now imagine you are a musician, a metal musician, a darker and extremer type of metal musician. You are mostly alone on your own to make your own studio, produce your music and release it. This leads to many Iranian bands using free social media to share their music and send the word mouth by mouth. Platforms like Bandcamp, Soundcloud, and YouTube are blocked by the regime and someone like myself has to bypass filters in various ways to get access to these platforms. Due to the poor economy and fall of Iran Rial value, getting a full set of proper equipment costs a fortune. Many young musicians leave all they have to pursue musicianship.

The good thing, though, is people. They are welcoming metal and heavier musical styles more and more with each passing day – especially the younger generation. But as is all over the world, heavy and extreme metal styles have less fans than most other genres. And if you are to be a heavy style musician, you have to accept this. You either want to pursue money and fame or do what you like for its own sake. There you have something like pop and hip-hop, and doom metal is scarce.

What are you thoughts about the band Confess being imprisoned recently?

Confess is just one example known to the rest of the world of a band that has been imprisoned. I didn’t know of them until I read that article, but the things that happened to them are not something new or uncommon among artists of all kinds, and it clearly is unfair. This happens in the extreme to artists pursuing foreign styles of art.

There are some charges that each time they face an opposing idea, they declare it upon the person. Like speech against Islam, against supreme leadership, and against national security! And these charges bring high punishments. I don’t want to talk politics and stuff, as I am in Iran. I just wish every artist freedom to express their minds and souls, which is hard to come by. Years of prison for some art is what only a stone age ideology can decide is fair!

How did you first get into the darker, more expressive side of music? For example, what records have been most influential to you? When did you first start playing an instrument?

This is the most interesting question so far. As a child, I remember my father starting the day with some Pink Floyd, continue it with Metallica, sometimes going softer to Eagles or Eloy. This made me to not get into mainstream pop media even at an early age. He also listened to a lot of Kitaro and Enigma back then. And I got some Vangelis compilation from my uncle. Before 10, I was listening to rock and new age more than anything else, but I was always looking for the extremes in my life, in whatever aspect.

And so in music, I started listening to Linkin Park and System of A Down. They were fast, harsher, and wilder. But you know, there is always a loop. What is hotter than red? When you heat something, it turns red, then yellow and white. What’s next? It turns blue! A cold color, but it’s even hotter. I liked to have this hotness of blue which is cold! So, instead of speed (red) I turned into slow (blue), which is more extreme.

I don’t know if I make any sense at this point or not, but this is the real motivation for me to dig deeper in slower, heavier music. When I found doom, I was like someone who had reached his destination after a long journey. Doom is that hot blue. It is that extreme paradoxical matter to me. However, I didn’t enter doom from the traditional door.

In Iran, metalheads find interest more in death and black metal, as well as power and symphonic. It is hard to come by someone who started metal with stoner, sludge or psychedelic rock. Not impossible, but hard. I entered the doom from the gothic, folk, and death subgenres with acts like Empyrium and Saturnus. But now I appreciate every good metal, especially any doom I can find. That ache for extreme, however, made my primary taste to be funeral doom as we talk now.

Many records helped my musical imagination to go diverse. Vangelis’ ‘Direct’ (1988) is amongst the most influential to me. Each track on that record is in a different style and different color. Vangelis has a diverse musical ground and his works have always been an inspiration to me. You can go right from electronic to orchestral and back to a more rockish sound all in one track! “Intergalactic Radio Station” is definitely my favorite track on that record.

On the metal side, I can’t imagine anything more influential than Empyrium’s LP, 'Songs of Moors and Misty Fields’ (1997). The heaviness and agony in the sound, accompanying various folk and symphonic elements which lead to ever rising feel of the music. It’s a rising agony. Truly a masterpiece. Many bands are cold and sad. Empyrium’s music is warm and sad to me. This makes them unique. A folksy, symphonic, heavy doomy sound.

And it is not good of me to fail to mention Arvo Pärt, the Estonian classical composer. His minimal depressing compositions made me look at music from a whole new perspective. There is always that minimalist sadness in it, but a call is always moving you forth in his works. Then there is one sudden glorious, majestic rise and a tragic fall afterwards in most of his compositions. My more recent neoclassical elements are definitely due to his works.

How did you get inspired to start writing your own music?

I’ve always loved making music. Composing, rather than playing an instrument. And there was this other thing, called synesthesia. It is a kind of rare mental condition in which two or more of the five primary senses find a way to connect, which aren’t connected normally. It has many types. I, however, can see the sounds. It makes me see every sound in my mind in terms of a shape, color, movement/direction, surface roughness, and brightness. I have had this condition since I can remember.

I don’t see anything meaningful though, just some random shapes. Like the cello has a thick, dark green, rough line shape at lower notes and a bright, shining, thin green light at higher notes. So when I listened to music, there was a world of colors dancing in my mind and it fascinated me so much. I didn’t know this was a thing until age 15.

Being able to bring my own desired colors in music was something I wanted to do for a long time. I first started playing guitar back in high school, but that didn’t give me the diversity I wanted. So I started creating instrumental tracks which were nowhere near metal – mostly New Age music with synths. As time passed, my love for doom and heavier sounds found a way into my music. I used many instruments to paint my tracks: cello for green, piano for purple and blue, violin for yellow, sitar synths for shining red points, and guitar riffs for orange – like a massive wall. My love for New Age and doom metal made me think of that paradoxical extreme once again. Why not try combining dark and heavy doom and funeral doom with bright atmospheric new age? This was when Roaring Empyrean came to life back in 2011.

As many New Age acts, I’d like my music to take the listener on a journey in their minds and make them think – think about themselves and their existence. People today just follow what they are made to follow, and don’t ask why. They don’t think about why things are the way they are in this modern world. They lack thinking. They just obey and overfill themselves with whatever joys the unwritten rules are giving them.

What instruments, pedals, and amps do you have access to?

As for the gear, I’m afraid I rely so much on synthesizers and samplers – not that I want to, but the poor economy here prevented me many times from getting the equipment and instruments I want. We don’t produce any non-Iranian instruments, so everything is an imported product, and comparing the falling Rial to GBP or the US dollar, for someone like me, it is still impossible. But I have plans to leave Iran. Maybe then I can get the gear I want and make more lively sounds. But I can’t keep quiet and not make music 'till then.

Have you had the opportunity to perform publicly?

No, never have I performed public. And I have no intention yet, unless I gather the gear I want. However, I’ve always liked to perform in a symphony once in my life. Maybe one day.

If you could play anywhere in the world, what would be your top scenes and would there any bands you’d love to be on the same bill with?

Interesting question! My doomy, metallic side likes to perform in the doomiest places. I’d like to perform in a sanctuary or a cave, as I have seen in some festivals like Doom Shall Rise, which is sadly is no longer going on. But there are many. Tokyo, London, and the US are generally places I’d like to perform. The other, non-metal side of me would like to perform at the Vienna Musikverein concert hall with a full orchestra and metal set together performing Roaring Empyrean.

These dreams surely seem impossible now, but there is this Persian saying: “Let the youth dream.” I’d be honored to perform alongside Shape of Despair, Pantheist, Worship, Mournful Congregation, and Ankhagram more than others in the scene, but I’d be glad to play along any at all.

Mournful Congregation has a track called “The Rubaiyat” in which they sing translations of Hakim Omar Khayam’s Rubaiyat – short poems in a certain style. This makes them so respected in my heart, as I love Omar Khayam and we read those poems here as they are in native Old Persian. I’d like to play an opener for them.

I do believe this is a first time that Doomed & Stoned has featured music from Georgia. No, not that Georgia; this Georgia.   The ancient country sits at the intersection of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, a region commonly referred to as Eurasia, once known as the Kingdom of Iberia. Okay, enough for the geography and history lesson (trust me, I could go on). Suffice it to say, this is a fascinating region of the world and getting to know the heavy music scene in საქართველო (ain’t Georgian script pretty?) has been an entirely enlightening experience.

Allow me take you to the city of Tbilisi (თბილისი) along the banks of the Kura River, which flows from the imposing Caucasus Mountains into the Caspian Sea. It is here we meet ENNUI. Hardly new to the scene, the Georgian funeral doom duo have now have three full-length records to their name, with a fourth on the way: ‘End of the Circle’ (2018).

There are those who say that funeral doom is too slow or boring and you might have a case. After all, Ennui is French for “boredom” (though I have a feeling the band has in mind the languor and weariness of a meaningless life). All I can say is that funeral doom is music suited for the mood. It commiserates with your misery. More than that, the medium explores the quandary of human consciousness, existential dread, and a life beset by suffering, treachery, and senseless loss. Of course, you don’t have to be depressed to partake of Ennui’s fruits, for there is much beauty to behold in these compositions. You simply must be willing to let this wall of sound and fury wash over you like the downpour of dark clouds.

Fronted by founding member David Unsaved (guitar, keyboards, vox) and joined by Serge Shengelia (guitar, bass, vox), Ennui’s sound is a dense, foggy atmosphere of gloom, with only the crystal clarity of sadness able to cut through the electric haze. At times, the grief is too much to bear, as in the opening 30-minute title track, and the music crescendos to a boiling point and spills over in rage. There is definitely an arc to these songs, indeed to the album itself. "The Withering Part I” is the most despondent on the record, unveiled last month by No Clean Singing. As I listened, I felt my heart genuinely ache with that sickening feeling of inexpressible loss.

Today, Doomed & Stoned is bringing you the world premiere of the third track from End of the Circle, called “The Withering Part II.” The song is a 20-minute odyssey through the esoteric paradigms of time, space, and memory. There is a sense of wonder that manages to envelop even the omnipresent sorrow that has been with us thus far. As the song advances toward its end it notches up the awe-factor minute by minute, step upon step, until we are emptied us of all self-importance in the face of cosmic paradoxes. I’m reminded of pivotal scenes in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and the more recent Interstellar (2014). As its final moments waned, I found I’d been holding my breath…and slowly exhaled.

Asked about the track before us, the band had this to say:

“The song 'The Withering Part II - Of Long-Dead Stars’ is the album’s final track and the conceptual continuation of the 'The Withering Part I - Of Hollow Us.’ The 'Part I’ is about fading humanity under the empty and forever silent cosmic void, whereas 'The Withering Part II - Of Long-Dead Stars’ reflects concept about the stars upon us – that billions of stars had faded long ago, but we are still able to observe their ghostly shine. By going through this 20 minute-long-track, a listener can forget about his life goals, sense of being, and his presence in this world, but feel absolute loneliness, abandonment, void, and uselessness, being on the edge of forgotten Universe.”

Ennui’s End of the Circle manifests on September 5th, releasing digitally and on CD through Non Serviam Records and available for pre-order here.

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Formed in 2012 by David Unsaved in the city of Tbilisi, Georgian duo ENNUI explores a variety of styles within the genres of funeral doom and death Metal, and delivers a refined blend of dark melodies, crushing riffs and technical percussion together with the dramatic and poetic storytelling.

After years of intense work, headlining the Shadow Doom Festival in Russia, ENNUI is proud to present their fourth album, “End of the Circle”, containing three epic songs, according different canons of genre, and sustaining mind blowing atmosphere of funeral doom/death metal madness. ENNUI is ready to unleash the album that will mark the zenith point in their discography.

Indeed, it’s the most dark, inventive and extreme music written by the band to date. This is the opus about the death and funeral of all being, existential madness, and final cycle in a whirl of life and death. Throughout the dismally lumbering pace prolonged songs, ENNUI supremely showcases musical technicality in performance and composition without sacrificing melodic and dynamic proficiency.

This album was mixed and mastered at the prestigious Grindhouse Studios Athens. Brilliant cover artwork created by high skilled W. Smerdulak. “End of the Circle” will be out via Non Serviam Records on digipak CD and digitally on September 05, 2018.