With the Beyond

Doom metal has been making a large comeback in recent years.  It has evolved in many ways, some bands pulling off 20-minute songs, others staying true to doom metal's roots.  Deathbell is a band that, in some ways more than others, combines both of these interpretations.  The vocals on this album are very distant, giving it a modern stoner metal sound that is popular among bands such as Sleep and Windhand.  However, the instrumentation and overall tempo on here is a lot like Black Sabbath and Pentagram; they're more compact than the drawn-out, slowed-down riffs of most modern doom and stoner metal acts.

At first glance, I thought this album was going to be entirely instrumental.  The four-minute instrumental intro did not compliment the first, vocalless minute of the next track.  I don't know about anyone else, but I don't think instrumental doom metal sounds like a fun genre to listen to.

This being said, hearing the vocals were a relief.  The vocals are clean, which is nice because it sounds more psychedelic and atmospheric.  A lot of modern doom metal acts use growls or blackened vocals.  It's not that I don't enjoy harsh vocals, but doom metal tends to sound better with clean vocals.  One advantage with clean vocals is the fact that one can change pitch.  With growls, this is much harder, and if one achieves it, it doesn't sound very good.  The nine-minute epic "Come to Trouble" has some massive riffs.  The guitarist uses chords beyond the typical power chord abuser so often seen in doom metal, and the vocalist compliments these riffs nicely.  She gives the music emotion and a certain eeriness, almost making it sound gothic.  The same tone partnership can be seen in the following track, "Over the Rim."

Structure-wise, this album is pretty great.  The highlight for me was track three, "Come to Trouble," and that was situated near the beginning of the disc.  Although my favorite track is near the front, there are plenty of great riffs afterwards to balance things out.  In other words, this is a perfectly balanced album with great riffs and emotions equally spread throughout the album.  With a great vocalist and guitarist leading this band onward with crushing tones and sinister themes, Deathbell is a juggernaut.  If only they had a shorter intro track, then this album would be perfect.

Overall Rating: 99%

Originally written for themetalvoid.wordpress.com