What is doom? (taken from Doom-metal.com)
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.
For a full overview of the
history of Doom-metal
it is advisable to visit that section of our page. However one
more thing that is still worth mentioning about it is that fact
that the bands mentioned so far are often referred
to as being the more traditional doom-metal bands. There are still
a great deal of good bands around that
employ this style (Solitude Aeturnus for example), but you also
these days have many other styles of doom.
One of the best known these days is a more or less "second
generation Doom-metal", and the Doom-metal
most "new" fans will know; Death/Doom-Metal. This further
fuels the debate as to what truly constitutes
Doom-Metal.
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 in-
supportable, this being the cause for many a heated debate. We
would rather concentrate on the great diversity
Doom-metal has to offer us.
In all fairness, an attempt
at defining doom-metal by way of its sound is akin to trying to
define a race solely
by its appearance. In today's rather varied market, we have slow,
hurtful doom-metal. We have medium-paced,
harmonic doom-metal. We have occasional moments of really fast,
energetic doom-metal. We even have
doom-metal you can play at a Pagan festival. Although it isn't
strictly essential, we have many doom-metal
bands that employ harmonic instruments such as the violin, synthesiser,
flute, and so on. We even have doom-
metal being mixed with other styles such as techno-industrial,
black metal or classical music.
The misconception that doom-metal
encourages people to commit suicide is absolutely untrue. But
if you
wish to know more about that please visit the FAQ
section of our page.
What is doom? (taken from Gary Griffith from Morgion)
This is a question that
has always been answered by musical timelines and band influences.
I truly feel that
the meaning of Doom lies within ourselves and not always in specific
musical elements... We could trace the
roots back through the likes of Candlemass and Black Sabbath,
but that only gives us the musical evolution.
Doom has become much more than a musical adventure alone, as it
encompasses so much more than
other genres. Doom is a complete package of varied elements: art,
literature and human emotion. Is that
overstating the issue? Perhaps. But when music is one of your
primary drives in life, you tend to take it very
seriously.
For the simplicity of this
piece (and perhaps my sanity), I'll put forth a couple extreme
generalizations that may
convey what I feel Doom brings to us, if only from musical observations...
We are not Death/Grind that focuses
on speed, satanism and brutality; we are matured listeners who
have grown beyond these adolescent themes.
On the other side of the spectrum, we are not Goths; we don't
wallow in our self pity and consider it a bad day
when we feel joy. We are Doom... sophisicated, mature and feed
from our emotions. Doom encompases all
that we hold dear; we tell the tales of great literature, thrive
in fine art and imagery and reach out to others
who can relate to the emotions we feel and channel through music.
We are the Doomed... Music that is powerful
and sympathetic to the heart, yet retains our willingness
to fight back. Doom is a driving force for all our feelings
and expressions, which makes it the most versitale and essential
of all musical forms.
What is doom? (taken from John from Hierophant)
Doom-metal... probably the
most extreme and most misunderstood forms of music. What is doom-metal?
Creating a fitting and accurate description can be a long and
arduous task, but I shall attempt to give my views
on the subject of doom.
Doom, as I've always felt,
is something to be experienced; not just a form of music. It is
a transcendental
experience into the darker, mysterious realms of being; of sorrow
and hopelessness, hatred and despair;
even a 'gateway' into otherworldly realms. Doom is intrinsically
perhaps the most extreme form of music,
being both agonizingly slow and monolithically heavy, and therefore
has never become a mainstream form
of listening among the masses. Its emotionality is such that,
for the average person no matter their self-
professed darkness, is very often misunderstood for what it truly
is, or shunned out of the sheer unnerving
atmospheres it evokes. In truth, doom (when done the way it should
be) is the darkest, most emotional music
on the planet.
Doom is extremely 'spiritual'
in experience; being mysterious, dark and esoteric in its purest
form. Doom is,
in its own way, a very 'majestic' form of music. With the use
of a wide array of accompanying instruments,
from violins to keyboards, doom creates atmospheres that no other
form of music can offer. Doom is
extremely intense, due to its emotionality, atmospheres and heaviness,
and should not, despite its sloth-
like pace, be deemed as 'boring' or 'simple'. Quite the contrary,
doom requires one to be a much 'deeper'
soul to fulfill its compositional requirements. It cannot just
be simply 'written', but must be composed; the
entire artist's personal essence and emotions being expressed
through every note. In truth, it is perhaps
one of the hardest forms of music to compose and perform, First,
to play at such slow tempos can be difficult
in the aspect of timing. Second, to keep the atmospheres and emotionality
of the music at a level that
maintains the 'concept' of the songs is no easy feat. It takes
great talent to achieve and maintain the level
of power, emotionality and quality that not only express the 'concept'
of the composer, but also keep the
attention of the listener. Perhaps this will dispel the long insulting
and ignorant prospects that doom is 'easy'
to play and/or write.
I believe that doom should
evoke the deepest of essences through the creation of almost otherworldly,
emotion-
laden notes utilized in combination with an earth-shattering heaviness
that should rarely (if ever) be strayed from.
To evoke the deepest emotions and atmospheres possible, I believe
is the genuine purpose of doom; to create
for the listener and experience like none other.
Though there are, like everything
else in life, many people who view things differently, I stand
firmly in my
resolution that doom should always maintain the earth-shattering
heaviness the likes of diSEMBOWELMENT,
Evoken, Thergothon etc. While there are those who strive to achieve
a more 'serene' form of doom, attempting
to express purely the sorrowful side, I find it most lacking in
power in the absence of the pulverizing heaviness
of the afore-mentioned pioneers of doom. The majesty and mystery,
sorrow and despair, I feel are delivered
with much more power when backed by the heaviness of the afore-mentioned
bands. While I have no qualms
with 'calmer' moments throughout the journey of doom, which genuinely
add to the atmospheres of doom, I
believe there should be a quality of 'brutality' to its composition,
which drives deeper the experience (especially
as doom is, by definition, a brutal experience in itself). Along
the same lines, it should never (or rarely) stray from
the slow-as-death pace that also creates the power and driving
force that doom delivers which such punishing
relentlessness.
Over all, doom is something
to be experienced, as I stated earlier. It IS an experience, in
the truest sense of the
word. An expression of the 'darker', shadowy sides of the human
self, sorrow, despair, mourning, hatred, empti-
ness, misery and mystery, doom-metal is something one needs to
submerge one's self into, as opposed to
simply listening to it. It is perhaps one of the most majestic
forms of music in existence, despite of (if not due to)
its extreme form of expression of these essences and emotions.
A journey through realms, which would
otherwise remain unbeknownst to man, doom takes one into the deepest
of depths both within themselves and
external realms.
Doom shall forever remain
a mystery, as that is its nature. It is intrinsically mysterious,
and not for everyone. But
for those who crave the most extreme experience of the deepest
emotionality, atmospheres and essences
possible to be expressed through music, doom-metal is the one
and only path. For the sullen few, who are truly
'evolved' enough to understand it and who are fearless of journeying
into unknown realms of darkness.
Mourners in darkness gather, and lament your sorrows through the monolithic force that is doom.
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