Though Italy's Messa tick off a lot of "occult rock" boxes with their second album (including a female singer, keyboards, and a warm throwback production), they avoid falling into pure Seventies nostalgia. Feast for Water keeps things modern by breaking up the loungey proceedings with occasional blasting and black metal riffs. Blues for a blocked out sun. [€7]
Working along similar lines, French quartet Deathbell combine crushing doom with a haunting female vocalist, but stay doggedly within the realm of true doom. Their debut With The Beyond never hurries itself, letting each riff arrive at the pace and bearing of a funeral procession. Slow songs that grow on you. The album is available as a "name your price" download.
Despite their name, fellow Gallic doomsters Black Box Warning don't fit in any box. Attendre La Mort draws inspiration from groovy doom, discordant post-hardcore and the more radio-friendly end of death metal, with constantly shifting tempos that prevent songs from getting monotonous. Is it too soon to anticipate a Nineties revival? [€5]
With members of highly touted sludge prospects Body Void and Swamp Witch, it's a safe bet that California's ATONE are experts on all things slow and heavy. On their debut EP, the Bay Area band ply their trade in austere sludge, with piercing feedback being your sole escape from their monolithic rumbling. Grief-stricken and Dystopi(a)c. [$5]
