Originally inspired largely by the lumbering dirges and stoned, paranoid darkness of Black Sabbath, doom metal is one of the very few heavy metal subgenres to be based around feel and mood more than flashy technique (though the latter can certainly be present). Even more indebted to Sabbath than most metal, doom metal is extremely slow, sludgy, and creepy and is just as heavy in sound as it is in atmosphere. The deliberate slow pace and crushing guitar sounds are meant to evoke a sense of apocalyptic doom and gloom. The movement began to get noticed in the mid-'80s, as underground bands like the Saint Vitus, the critically acclaimed Trouble, and Sweden's Candlemass attracted cult audiences for their out-of-fashion, Sabbath-dominated sounds. Trouble and Cathedral helped bring doom metal to a wider (though not mainstream) metal audience during the early '90s, and doom's monolithic darkness quickly made it appealing to a variety of tastes. Doom metal was one of the formative influences on the retro-obsessed stoner metal movement of the '90s, and it was not uncommon for bands to find favor in both camps. Another dominant strain of '90s doom metal -- pioneered by British bands like Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, and Anathema -- fused Sabbath heaviness with the sounds and sensibilities of goth-metal, plus occasional touches of death metal; the results were sorrowful, gloomy epics. The '90s also birthed a unique doom metal scene centered in New Orleans; the sound of bands like Crowbar and Eyehategod was often described as "sludge metal." Several doom metal bands incorporated progressive tendencies, though this approach was much less widespread. Other sub-genres of doom have also emerged, stoner-doom uses the hippie ethic of pot-smoking and hypnotic repetitiveness to send the listener into a trance like state much like the psychedelic light-shows of the late 60's. Another style is drone which was once described as listening to an Indian raga in the middle of an earthquake. Using only the heaviest bass frequencies possible, these bands can literally break down your walls. The doom metal genre has out lasted and been around longer than every other "metal style" apart from traditional heavy metal. The Foundry Of Doom in conjunction with Doommantia.Com is proud to bring you these earth-shattering sounds and more by playing the innovators as well as the new up and coming acts within the genre.

Send Comments to this Broadcaster

Also Trys