Traditional Doom Metal

I only recently started catching on to the doom metal thang, but bands like Witchfinder General, Icy Steel (may be debatable as proper "doom metal"), Holy Matyr, Doomsword, Gjallarhorn and fucking SOLSTICE have been playing regularily for me. I'm really into the epic doom metal stuff.
 
I have still only scratched the surface of all the great suggestions I have found in this thread :) - but I don't recall seeing this band mentioned: Argus, a great newish band (debut just out) playing trad doom / metal.

They are rather good - recommended.

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Cheers
Jan
 
I only recently started catching on to the doom metal thang, but bands like Witchfinder General, Icy Steel (may be debatable as proper "doom metal"), Holy Matyr, Doomsword, Gjallarhorn and fucking SOLSTICE have been playing regularily for me. I'm really into the epic doom metal stuff.

Fucking CANDLEMASS. Now.
 
Both Argus and Altar Of Oblivion are spectacular. The Argus album wasn't exactly what I was expecting either, but that in no way detracts from its sex appeal.
 
That's why I brought it up, Tim saying it's a masterpiece and you guys love it too. I gave it a good listen yesterday, it just seemed stale. Drumming was boring and repetitive, and just seemed to play the same riff through the whole song and only thing to change was the 2 or 3 vocal styles...maybe another listen will change my mind.
 
You need to listen to Argus more. The first step is not to approach it as a doom metal album, because it really isn't.
 
I like to think that I don't really pigeonhole an album before hearing it. But in this case, everything I had read about it prior to receiving it, made it out to be pure traditional "heavy metal" (and by that I mean "heavy metal" as a sub genre of the overall heavy metal genre - if that makes sense). The press release making comparisons to Slough Feg or Rich Walker calling it the LP he wished he would've made with Isen Torr really made me think I was listening to a completely different album.

Maybe I do need to listen to it more, but at the moment, it just doesn't seem to have those genuine 80s heavy metal qualities to it that I truly love.
 
Have it, great album, I still don't think its sadder. :p

Oh well, to each his own, I know people who interpret some musical parts as happy, while I would hear them as sad.

It must be something about the clean vocals in Watching From A Distance that really gets me. The lyrical themes are alone depressing, but Pat Walker's clean vocals have so much passion in them you really get the feeling that he's experienced what he's singing about. To me, clean vocals usually convey sadness better than growls, which are better suited for showing empowerment, anger, epic-ness, etc.