Doom Metal Music Guide: 11 Doom Metal Bands

Doom metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that features thickly textured guitar and bass, minor tonalities, slow tempos, and lyrics focused on dread, paranoia, and psychedelic visions. Its core characteristics were pioneered by Black Sabbath, a Birmingham, England, outfit that helped transform blues rock into modern-day heavy metal.

There are several core characteristics that define doom metal music.

1. 1. Slow, sludgy tempos: Doom metal tends to feature slow, grinding tempos to create an aura of despair.
2. 2. Classic hard rock instrumentation: Most doom metal bands feature one to two guitars, an electric bass, and a drum kit. Most groups are fronted by a lead vocalist, but some types of doom metal—particularly drone metal—may largely consist of instrumental passages.
3. 3. Frequent detuning: Doom metal guitarists and bassists often loosen the strings of their instruments to create the heaviest possible sound.
4. 4. Lyrics of despair and paranoia: Doom metal lyrics often describe paranoia, despair, political upheaval, and depression. They sometimes touch on witchcraft and pagan themes as well.
5. 5. Clean-sounding vocals: Despite their bleak, doomy lyrics, doom metal vocalists tend to sing in a clear, articulate fashion. Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne is the standard-bearer for doom metal vocals.
6. 6. Local scenes: Doom metal is known for its regional scenes. This is particularly true in northern Europe, where Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Danish, and German doom metal all take on unique characteristics. Thriving American doom metal scenes have existed in New York City, Los Angeles, New Orleans, California's Coachella Valley, and Washington, DC.

Doom metal surged as a genre during the 1980s thanks to Sabbath-inspired groups like Witchfinder General, Saint Vitus, and Pentagram. Over the ensuing decades, doom metal spawned numerous subgenres.

1. 1. Drone metal: Drone metal is essentially doom metal built around sustained drones, often via open, ringing guitar strings.
2. 2. Epic doom: Epic doom is a type of doom metal that features classical music virtuosity, including both instruments and lead vocals.
3. 3. Gothic doom: Doom metal that touches on gothic themes and features classical music flourishes reminiscent of epic doom is considered gothic doom. Gothic doom is essentially a slowed-down version of gothic metal.
4. 4. Death doom: Death doom is a fusion of the slow, dirge-like tempos of doom metal and the vocal and kick drum technique of death metal.
5. 5. Funeral doom: A variant on death doom that references literal funeral music, funeral doom features very slow tempos and distorted electric guitar.
6. 6. Black doom: Also known as blackened doom, black doom is a hybrid genre combining doom metal with more energized, abrasive black metal.
7. 7. Stoner doom: Stoner doom is a heavier form of stoner rock where thick, bluesy riffs pair with psychedelic lyrics and sonorities. This subgenre is a slower, heavier form of stoner metal.
8. 8. Sludge metal: Sludge metal is a hybrid of doom metal and hardcore punk. The most lethargically paced sludge metal is sometimes called sludgecore.
9. 9. Progressive doom: Progressive doom is a type of doom metal that features the musical virtuosity of progressive metal.
10. 10. Local doom scenes: Doom metal varies subtly from one region to another. The Finnish doom metal band Swallow the Sun offers different sonic characteristics than the Swedish Katatonia, who in turn sound unique from Washington, DC's Spirit Caravan or England's Solstice.

Despite having similar names, doom metal and death metal feature different core characteristics.

• Tempo: Slow tempos define the vast majority of doom metal albums. Death metal can be played far faster, at speeds approaching thrash and hardcore tempos.
• Vocal style: Traditional doom metal vocals are clean and unprocessed, following in the tradition of Black Sabbath vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. Death metal vocals, by contrast, tend to feature snarling, shouting, and screaming.
• Lyrical content: Both doom metal and death metal feature bleak, largely negative lyrics. However, while doom metal focuses on despair, loss, dark philosophy, and politics, many death metal lyrics delve into violence as well.
• Drum technique: Death metal drummers frequently use double kick drum pedals to produce a thunderous, virtuosic low-end sound. Double kick drums are less common in doom metal, which tends to operate at sludgy tempos.

The death/doom hybrid genre features bands that borrow from both the doom metal tradition and the death metal tradition. These bands include Disembowelment, Paradise Lost, Winter, My Dying Bride, and Anathema.

The doom metal genre has produced many notable bands.

1. 1. Black Sabbath: Founded in 1968, Black Sabbath has never defined itself as a doom metal group. Still, the history of doom metal traces back to this working-class quartet from Birmingham, England. Guitarist Tony Iommi's tuned-down riffing, bassist Geezer Butler's occult-inspired lyrics, and frontman Ozzy Osbourne’s vocals provided the template for future doom rockers. The group's self-titled debut album leaned heavily toward blues jams, but it was their second album, Paranoid, that defined heavy metal for generations to come.
2. 2. Pentagram: Pentagram formed outside Washington, DC in 1971, close on the heels of Black Sabbath in England. Unlike Sabbath, who initially viewed itself as a blues act, Pentagram is considered a founder of the doom metal genre, along with contemporaries Trouble, Saint Vitus, and Candlemass. The group's proper debut album did not come until 1985—fourteen years after it formed.
3. 3. Trouble: Trouble from Aurora, Illinois, was another of doom metal's initial "Big Four." The group shows the clear influence of Black Sabbath and 1970s psychedelia. A series of 1980s records on Metal Blade Records made them a prominent part of America's heavy metal scene.
4. 4. The Obsessed: Yet another early American example of doom metal, The Obsessed hailed from the Washington, DC suburb of Potomac, Maryland. Co-founder Scott "Wino" Weinrich later toggled between his own group and LA-based doom rockers Saint Vitus.
5. 5. Type O Negative: A New York-based doom metal outfit nicknamed "the Drab Four" for their depressive lyrics, Type O Negative helped pioneer the gothic doom subgenre of doom metal.
6. 6. Electric Wizard: Named after the Black Sabbath songs "Electric Funeral" and "The Wizard," Electric Wizard is a British doom metal group that sings about witchcraft, the occult, and the novels of American horror writer H.P. Lovecraft. They have recorded nine studio albums since forming in 1993.
7. 7. Cathedral: Cathedral formed in 1989 when thrash and death metal dominated the scene. Still, they created an enduring doom metal classic with their Forest of Equilibrium record.
8. 8. Candlemass: A Swedish doom metal group that originally performed under the name Nemesis, Candlemass is known for their 1986 debut album Epicus Doomicus Metallicus.
9. 9. Solitude Aeturnus: An American doom metal band from the Dallas metroplex, Solitude Aeturnus has helped define the epic doom subgenre since they were first founded as Solitude in 1987.
10. 10. Kyuss: The 1990s act Kyuss featured Queens of the Stone Age founder Josh Homme and bridged the gap between doom metal and stoner rock.
11. 11. Pallbearer: Based in Arkansas and formed in 2008, Pallbearer comes from the contemporary doom metal tradition. Records like Forgotten Days (2020) show influences of prog, post-metal, and drone metal in addition to the Sabbath-inspired core doom metal sound.

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