Information Page about Doom Metal Music and Bands , The information is a combination of knowledge from long time fans, bands and labels.all information below are taken from www.Doom-Metal.com :WHAT IS DOOM ?This is probably one of the trickiest questions to answer and has been the issue of many heated debates. There are however a few things that we can be certain about.Doom-metal is a sub-genre of the highly diverse metal genre. This means that the first criteria will always be that the music must be metal at its core. There are also many misconceptions about what metal really is, but that particular topic does not fall within the scope of this article.Whilst the general public may think that all music belonging to this genre sounds very alike, if one takes the time to scrutinise the genre it is apparent that the real situation is very different from this. If this is the case, what makes doom-metal so different from other metal genres? One answer is that doom-metal is filled with heaviness, darkness, sadness, depression and melancholy. It emanates a dark and brooding atmosphere that cannot be found with such intensity in any other genre.For some, the earliest examples of doom albums are Black Sabbath's self-titled debut album, and their second album, 'Paranoid'. Both of these records were released in 1970 upon a largely unexpecting audience. Whilst the first album retained a heavy dose of Sabbath's blues roots, "Paranoid" remains one of their darkest records. This leads some people to hail Black Sabbath as the originators of doom-metal. Whilst this opinion is a controversial one, Black Sabbath are definitely one of the founders of modern heavy metal. To claim that Black Sabbath is a doom band would be misleading in that it would be akin to saying that all metal bands have doom influences because they depict the dark side of music. Still, it must be said that Black Sabbath heavily influenced the bands that genuinely helped form the doom-metal genre. However, this is not to say that Black Sabbath did not play an important role in creating the metal genre as a whole.Several forms of Doom-Metal have existed since 1970 or thereabouts, but most doom bands originated in the late 80s and onwards. Bands such as Trouble, Saint Vitus and Candlemass are examples of some of the earliest doom-metal bands. The descriptive label "doom-metal" is attributed to Candlemass' 'Epicus Doomicus Metallicus' album, although some believe the term comes from the Black Sabbath song 'Hand of Doom'. The bands of the past used clean vocals and it is therefore a misconception that a band needs to resort to grunts to be considered part of the doom-metal genre.Death/Doom-metal, is thought of by many as a reaction to death-metal, just like death-metal originated from thrash metal. As a reaction to the incredibly fast death-metal riffs some bands began playing ultra slowly, with low-pitched guitars and dragging grunts. One of the most noteworthy examples of this is Lee Dorian, formerly the vocalist of Napalm Death, who started his own band: Cathedral. The early Cathedral albums were extremely slow.This brings us to another possible factor that can be used to define doom-metal. It is slow music, in sharp contrast to most metal. This has given rise to a school of critics that dismiss doom-metal as being a"boring" genre in which little ever happens. As with any genre, there exists some indubitably talentless, thoroughly unoriginal bands out there who are indeed boring, but in general saying that Doom-metal is boring means that one has not been paying attention to the music. One of the true attributes of Doom-metal is that it can be extremely slow, yet not at all boring.Although previously mentioned, it ought to be stressed that the sheer heaviness of the music is an important characteristic of the Doom-metal genre. This takes many shapes, from the gut-wrenching sounds of a band such as diSEMBOWELMENT, to the Sabbath-like riffs of St. Vitus, to the trancendental sounds of Esoteric, and the romantic depression of My Dying Bride. All these bands share a quest for heaviness in their music.At times, this also leads Doom-metal close to another genre called "Stoner-rock". Both genres clearly strive to create the heaviest sound ever and often intermix (indeed there is such a grey area as Stoner/Doom). However one misconception made by a lot of Stoner fans is the notion that pure Stoner rock or Stoner/Doom is the only form of Doom (sometimes referred to as "True Doom" by fans, but not to be confused with the "True Doom" as claimed by a small number of Traditional and Epic Doom-metal diehards). On the same tack however, the ignorant ideas of some Death/Doom fans that theirs is the only true form of Doom-metal is equally insupportable, this being the cause for many a heated debate. We would rather concentrate on the great diversity Doom-metal has to offer us.EARLY DOOM BANDS OF THE SEVENTIES:Most people agree that Black Sabbath is amongst the most influential bands for all heavy metal in general, and Doom-Metal is no exception. Their early albums 'Black Sabbath', 'Paranoid', 'Master Of Reality', 'Vol. 4', 'Sabbath Bloody Sabbath', and 'Sabotage' are all without doubt, masterpieces, and without them Doom-Metal (or even metal in general) would not exist at all.Whilst Black Sabbath were definitely well ahead of their time, and as such one of a kind, they certainly weren't without their contemporaries (Pentagram, Blue Cheer, Black Widow). Some of the earliest prototypes of Doom-Metal were in fact songs of the late sixties and early seventies that, whilst not wholly doomy, contained countless great riffs that came to shape the sound of Doom-Metal in later years. Such songs include Iron Butterfly's 'Inna Gadda Da Vida'.One of Black Sabbath's main contemporaries - Pentagram - can be counted as one of the earliest Doom bands around, often intertwining with the band Bedemon one could perhaps best label their style of music as "Proto Doom". Black Sabbath has a huge impact on their sound but they focused more on the doomy side of this style. Thus creating some of the first ever Doom-metal records!THE EIGHTIES :The 1980s brought with them the first bona fide Doom-Metal acts. This was the era in which bands such as Def Leppard, Warrant, and Bon Jovi came to the foregrounds and professed to be "heavy metal", and where thrash/speed and death metal bands ruled the metal scene.The press also applied the term "heavy metal" in a nasty pigeonholing manner to any band that wore tight spandex and big hair. Whilst there are so many bands during that time that were truly deserving to fly under the banner of Doom-Metal, they were vastly outnumbered by these Glam-metal acts. The eighties were also known for the end period of the NWOBHM, another semi-fast style of metal. So in an era where speed was the prominent factor in extreme music, Doom-Metal acts where greatly outnumbered, but this is the era where Doom-metal was mostly developed and created a name for itself.One 80s band that made Doom big was Trouble. Originally from Chicago, this band got together in 1979 but gained popularity from 1984 onwards. Trouble's music stands for slow, dragging heavy metal, clearly influenced by Black Sabbath. Due to Christian beliefs of the band and its effect on their lyrics the band initially fell under the label White-metal.Saint Vitus, another early doom-oriented band, had perhaps the biggest influence on the Doom-metal landscape (together with Candlemass). Their early work was on SST (Greg Ginn from Black Flag's label) and was mostly fronted by Wino who gained more fame later with semi-doom majors The Obsessed. Wino became one of the most legendary figures of Doom-metal in his own right. From his beginnings with The Obsessed, moving on to St. Vitus, and re-forming The Obsessed, he became one of the most prominent and influenctial figures within the Doom-metal scene. He now frequents the Stoner scene with his current band Spirit Caravan.In 1986, Swedish band Candlemass released the album 'Epicus Doomicus Metallicus', a milestone in early Doom-Metal. Once called "the heaviest band in the world" they picked up where Black Sabbath left off in 1976. The material on 'Epicus Doomicus Metallicus' was in the same style as old Black Sabbath (with Ozzy) but with modern contemporary influences. Candlemass' best years were those with vocalist Messiah Marcolin, a man with an exceptionally clear, deep voice. For doom newbies the CD 'As It Is, As It Was: The Best Of Candlemass' (Music For Nations, 1994) gives a good overview of their works.Another doom pioneer in the late eighties was Lee Dorrian's band Cathedral. When Lee left Napalm Death in 1989 nobody expected such a volte face. As opposed to Napalm Death's ultra-fast music Cathedral's first releases were ultraslow, super-heavy doom in its purest form. Check out the albums 'In Memorium' and 'Forest Of Equilibrium'. Cathedral's later works are more seventies-rock oriented and the doom atmosphere has slowly faded away.One label that was very important to this first generation of Doom-metal, and was mainly active during the very end of the eigthies to the mid nineties, was the Hellhound Label. This label signed a great deal of Doom-metal acts whose sound later became known as the "hellhound sound", industriously forming a clear foundation for future Doom-metal acts to build upon. Bands like The Obsessed and Count Raven released many records through this label.THE NINETIES :The early 90s heralded a change in the Doom-Metal landscape. With Death-metal having taken over the metal torch halfway through the eighties, Doom-Metal enjoyed a revival. New bands emerged that sought a mix between original Doom-Metal and Death-metal. Early pioneers like Winter with their release 'Into Darkness' in 1990 and Thergothon with their brilliant demo 'Fhragn-nagh Yog-Sothoth' in 1991 broke through the original boundaries of traditional Doom-Metal and formed the building blocks for modern day Doom-Metal. Lets also however not forget a band like diSEMBOWELMENT.Bands like Winter, Thergothon and diSEMBOWELMENT could not gain the success later doom bands would have with this new style. Three bands from England, whom all shared the same label, Peaceville, propelled the Death/Doom genre to the level at which it stands today; Paradise Lost being the first with their release of 'Lost Paradise' in 1990 (which still had a strong death-metal influence). With 'Gothic' in 1991 they however almost single-handed set the standard for modern-day doom.Fellow label mates My Dying Bride succeeded in opening the gates for countless new Doom-Metal bands. Their first official release on Peaceville, 'Symphonaire Infernus Et Spera Empyrium', in 1991 already showed this band was destined for greatness and with their second full length 'Turn Loose the Swans' in 1993 they set their status as the largest modern-day Doom-Metal band. Another influence on this new form of Doom-Metal was the third Peaceville band called Anathema. Despite being one of "the big three" they always remained the smallest and least influential.Also worth mentioning is that at the beginning of the ninties, a band called Earth (no, not Black Sabbath with their orignal name) created some of the heaviest Sabbath influenced music ever. This band became a huge influence on so-called "Drone Doom", an extreme form of Doom-metal.Nor can we overlook the rise of an odd child within the Doom family, Sludge Doom; very heavy, miserable sounding Doom-metal that perhaps lacks the mournfull and emotions of Doom but fills those with pure filth, discust and anger. Of course also attoning to the teaching of Black Sabbath.Midway through the nineties the need for experimentation within the metal genre as a whole also touched the Doom-Metal genre. Bands like The 3rd and the Mortal created a more atmospheric type of doom with albums like Tears Laid in Earth' and were one of the first metal bands to have a fulltime female lead singer. Following in the wake of Thergothon, slower and more extreme acts than normal Death/Doom also started to emerge like Funeral, Skepticism and Esoteric. The experimentation "disease" lead to the many different types of Doom-Metal we know today. From the slow and emotionless sounds of Esoteric, Evoken and Skepticism to the Gothic/Doom-Metal hybrids like Theatre of Tragedy. And let's not forget that there is a whole host of new and old bands who still play the orignal style of Doom from the 80s.Owing to this flurry of experimentation, the boundaries between genres faded and various great Doom-Metal giants moved away from the sound they helped create, giving the whole Doom-Metal genre a creative input of which we have not yet seen the last. The new millenium has already proven that by making 2001 one of the best years for heavy Doom since the early ninties. This indeed promises much for the future...
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