NOVEMBERS DOOM have been putting music out for almost 25 years and this year they’re gearing up for the release of their 11th full length album, ‘Nephilim Grove’ (2019). Available on November 1st through Prophecy Productions, Nephilim Grove assembles 9 tracks of death/doom done Chicago style – and is it ever an excellent album to listen to.

I’m somewhat new to this group, having only heard their last record, 'Hamartia’ (2017). I wasn’t really into their style then, which almost robbed me of the opportunity to hear this very cool album. I initially received the email, saw the name, and I instantly thought, “Eh, not interested.” Thankfully, after deciding not to judge a book by it’s cover, I gave it a chance. If I had gone with my first instincts, I’d never have bothered listening.

“Petrichor” takes control straight out the gate. That seething, odd sound in the intro is creepy, but pretty effective as an anticipation building technique. Then these enormous sounding guitars enter, with a pulsing drum beat behind them – this part is intense! The verse reminds me of older Mastodon in the guitars and the vocal tone is clear, despite them being pretty brutal. Then there’s a section that was so mellow and pretty, with a gorgeous clean vocal part. This is an expert use of dynamics as the next section is heavier than expected because of that light interlude beforehand.

The next track I’d like to discuss its called “Nephilim Grove”. This track makes very good use of minor key notes, making the intro and verse sound depressed and sad. This is a fitting feel, if you listen to the lyrical content.

Another favorite of mine is “What We Become”, which is the fourth track here. This one has tons of melody just within the intro, not even mentioning the rest of the track. It’s the verses that won me over, though, with the metal-meets-doom riffs and amazing vocal performances. As the chorus gets closer, they use a bridge that closes the gap perfectly and the chorus hits you in the chest with a heavy, but not overwhelming, melodicism.

“Still Wrath” comes in with a bruising riff and heaviness in full effect. As the song goes on, the clean vocals from the verse mesh with the growls to create an ambience that is intriguingly brutal and totally beautiful, all at once. That drum breakdown has a great sound with some cool elements behind it and then it gets crushing for the bit, before the guitar solo enters. This is another great track, in my opinion.

November 1st isn’t very far away, which means this album is coming sooner than you even realize. Go pre-order it, stream any singles that are already out, and enjoy this excellent record!

Some of you may know me who travel in doom-stoner circles, but let me introduce myself to kick off this new series. I’m Matt Bacon, I work at Ripple Music and Prophecy Productions (which organized the recent Prophecy Fest in Brooklyn) and make my living as a music industry consultant. I’ve been involved with this scene for a long-ass time now and I wanted to use this first article with my noble new hosts at Doomed & Stoned to talk about a huge issue that has emerged in this scene over the years, and that is market differentiation.

We are all familiar with the classic tropes of the stoner/doom genres and it’s a big part of why some criticize the bands involved so heavily. A lot of people, for better or for worse, view many stoner rock bands as essentially interchangeable. So the question that we so frequently wonder within this scene is, “How do we fix this?” How do we move past the same sort of Electric Wizard/Sleep worship that has the world at large confused by this great music? What’s the way for an enterprising band to show that they are different?

First, I want to point out that I referred to a lot of modern stoner rock as worship of Electric Wizard and Sleep, not Black Sabbath or some other classic band. I think that when you really pick apart the influences in riff stylings in a lot of the bands in this scene you will find that their work isn’t so much an interpretation of Sabbath, but rather an interpretation of certain essential ‘90s bands. It’s the same with the look, while the “stoner witch” image was pioneered by Jinx Dawson, I feel that a lot of that aesthetic has since been reinterpreted by later generations of women in the world of heavy music. Now I back this and think it’s great that we are seeing evolution, but I also think that if you want to truly differentiate yourself within a scene it’s important to have a deep understanding of the scene in question, ensuring you will be able to have an approach that is a bit more comprehensive, which is key.

One of the fundamental issues of the stoner rock scene today is that really any sort of hard rock ends up getting brought into the scene, because at present stoner rock is really the only kind of underground rock community that has any real infrastructure. That is to say, if you’re a bar band that wants to go anywhere you might as well brand as stoner rock because all the mainstream rock labels sure as hell aren’t signing you –- there just aren’t that many good ones out there who are invested in the scene.

You want the community, since that’s key to growth and you don’t get it elsewhere. This has led to a diversity of sounds within the scene, which is great. However, I think that embracing that diversity is going to be important if you want to be a band who are able to grow. When it comes down to it, a lot of fans are here for the same reason as the bands: this is really the only place you can get mature heavy underground rock. The thing is, the fans are like you, they like a diverse range of sounds, so go out and make it a point to showcase that diversity.

All this is to say, if you are a straight stoner rock band, good! Own it. If you started your band trying to play post-rock, but found that it was really only stoner rock guys doing something meaningful in the underground, own that too! The biggest focus that is going to help bands in the underground right now is going to be emphasizing their communities, rather than trying to stick to any sort of general broader genre aesthetic. While genre aesthetics are important, if you want clear market share you also need to work out how to play within them to ensure that you have a distinct place to fit in.

One example of this is Forming The Void, simply by changing their logo in 2018 they were able to go from being “just another stoner metal band” to having an aesthetic that felt distinctly more pro and as if it had some very serious mainstream potential. Finding that balance is extremely tricky, but essential. Being able to address your core fans, but also show what makes you different is the trick of growing in the underground.

In other words, look at what makes all the other bands the same and try to figure out a way to make your approach distinctly your own. Every band tries to have their shtick, but I think that sometimes the real value comes in pushing away from that – or pushing so far beyond that you can’t turn away. A perfect example of this is Conan, who took the Orange amplifier worship to a whole new level and have perfected a sound that is ridiculously heavy and beloved across the scene. They understand what makes people get into this music and give it to them in droves.

If you don’t want to be the “over the top” band, then figure out other ways to push the frills, to make people talk, to give people a reason to come back. This can be any number of stupid things, from sharing really good memes to simply being the sort of band who play in cool and weird costumes. Take some aspect that makes you different, emphasize that as much as you can, and then you will start to have a brand. Once the brand starts to get formed, build around that. Why do you think that I emphasize the cigars in my Bacon’s Bits? I don’t smoke that many cigars, but it gives you something to associate with me and that’s where the victory is.

So get yourself plugged in and have a serious chat with your band. How are you going to make yourselves different from your peers in a way that is meaningful and can be treated as a unique selling point when talking to a promoter, booking agent or label? What’s the factor that people are going to latch onto? Here’s a hint: it almost always has to be visual, most people can’t pick apart a unique set of musical influences unless the music is that good, or if you have copious guitar harmonies (copious guitar harmonies always turn heads, I’m just saying). To get back to the simplest iteration of all this, figure out the number one thing that makes your band unique from all the other bands and double down on that. Give people a reason to turn their heads and that way in a sea of peers you can stand a head and shoulders above the rest.

Matt Bacon is a consultant, A&R man, and journalist specializing in the world of heavy metal. Having worked with everyone from glam rock icon Phil Collen of Def Leppard to black metal titans Enslaved by way of legendary thrashers Exhorder, as well as labels including Prophecy Productions and Ripple Music, Matt has dedicated his life to helping young bands develop. He started his own blog at the age of 14 and views his career in artist development as “a hobby that got out of hand.” In 2015, he formed Dropout Media in order to better support the artists he loves. “We sit here now, years later, with countless tours booked, records released and deals signed,” he says, “and loving every minute of it.” This is Matt’s first contribution to Doomed & Stoned.

Lassoing the grey area between folk, psychedelia, and gloom rock, the duo of King Dude’s Tosten Larson and Shawn Flemming seem comfortable swimming in delicious ambiguity.

In my first listen to Becomes Awake by THE DARK RED SEED, I found it hard to describe what I was hearing without giving a long trail of hyphenated references to this genre and that. It’s the music critics’s trap, really. Some sounds are designed to be felt, to be experienced, even lived, not so much written about – but I’ll not go to far down that tangent.

Perhaps dark folk has resonated with me strongest as a descriptor of The Dark Red Seed vibe, especially after spinning last fall’s EP, Stands With Death (from which we were gifted an arresting song, “The Antagonist”). Suffice it to say, I was anxious to see the outcome of this “study in death.”

Today, we get another hint of what The Dark Red Seed are up to in their full-length debut, the band having previously shared the album’s finale, “Diana and Ouroboros Dance,” with us. Before us now is “Awakening,” an effective blending of Eastern and Western musical influences couched in the hypnotic medium of shoegaze. The track represents “a movement from darkness into light,” which is the overall vision of the new record.

On May 18th, Prophecy Productions will release Becomes Awake by The Dark Red Seed. You can pre-order it here.

Give ear…

Some Buzz:

The Dark Red Seed is the musical outlet of Tosten Larson, guitarist for Seattle dark folk musician King Dude. A self-coined ‘metaphor for the heart’, The Dark Red Seed represents a direct reference to life – and death – itself. The duo, which also includes King Dude engineer Shawn Flemming, will now release its debut album, 'Becomes Awake’ (2018).

The full-length follow-up to the group’s 2017 debut EP, 'Stands with Death’ (2017), a dark, dusty discourse on the departure and ultimate dissolution of life, 'Becomes Awake’ symbolizes a movement from darkness into light; finding balance through acceptance of one’s own qualities of both the light and the dark; the good and the bad. The struggle of finding balance is never ending.

While King Dude channels dark folk in a manner that fits along with former tour mate Chelsea Wolfe, The Dark Red Seed veer down a much heavier path. Standing equally in the tradition of dark folk and modern heavy psych, Larson notes that the three albums that most inspired 'Becomes Awake’ are Spiritualized 'Ladies and Gentlemen We are Floating in Space,’ The Beatles’ 'Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,’ and 'No Quarter: Jimmy Page & Robert Plant Unledded.’ The resultant powerfully dark, rich sound of The Dark Red Seed carries an emotionally gripping weight that draws you in and refuses to let go. Striking cover art by Paul Romano (Mastodon, Dälek) furthers the album’s potent allure.

The instrumentation and scales on 'Becomes Awake’ are heavily inspired by Indian and Persian music as well as Roma music. Densely arranged with string, horn and percussion sections the album features contributions from musicians Kelly Pratt (LCD Soundsystem, War on Drugs, St Vincent) and Steve Nistor (Sparks, Marissa Nadler, Daniel Lanois). The harmonic, rhythmic and formal structures release a potent richness and depth of sound created by the collision of Eastern and Western music and the merging of tones specific to each.

Are you ready to Become Awake?