For as picky as I can be with black metal, I’m pretty sure I’m even pickier with doom metal. I love the classics: Black Sabbath, Pentagram, Trouble, Saint Vitus, and so forth. It’s not so much because it’s “hip” to love these pioneering bands, but because their music remains fresh all these decades later. Why? Because they weren’t trying to be doom metal per se. They just happened to lay the groundwork for what the would become the genre with their slow, brooding take on metal. And then at some point from the mid 90s on, doom got, for a lack of better terminology, stale.
Yes, there have been exceptions. However, these exceptions tend to lie on the traditional/epic side of the spectrum (i.e. Smoulder, Lavaborne, etc.) This most certainly happens to be the case in regards to today’s band in review, Desolate Realm. Consisting of guitarist/bassist/vocalist Matias Nastolin and drummer Olli Törrönen, this Finnish doom duo combine the low and pulverizing, yet enthralling riffage of early doom metal with the blood-dripping valor of 80s US power metal on their sophomore outing, Legions. Dare I call it “power doom”? I should, not only because it sums up the sound of this album, but because it (like boogie metal) is a term not used often enough.
Perhaps unfairly, the first band I drew comparison to while listening to Legions is fellow Scandinavian doom horde, Grand Magus. It’s probably because they too are known for writing songs that make one ponder: “Is this doom metal with traditional undertones? Traditional metal gone doom? Both in one song?” If only us analytical types were ever able to shut that little voice inside our head up. Cuts like “Forsaken Ground” and the title track immediately caught my attention with their early Manowar-esque arrangements, fantastical riffs, and crushing guitar tone. Then a song like “Revelation” will attack in all its doom metal glory, splitting skulls in half with some pulverizing riffage.
Throughout the second half of Legions, Desolate Realm continues to blur the boundaries between traditional, power, and doom metal, never giving the listener a hint as to where they’re headed next. “Betrayal” is a monolith of epic doom, going over the top, yet without losing the plot. “The Lost One”, like “Revelation”, lies on the doomier side of things, as does the sword-dragging hymn “Through the Depths”. Closing it all out is “Eternal Winter”: An 8+ minute suite that gallops with the heroic conviction of Manilla Road and the aforementioned Manowar.
During the album’s doomiest moments, the riffs did start to become a tad one-dimensional to my ear. Granted, Desolate Realm aren’t nearly as grave offenders as your run of the mill, neighborhood stoner/doom dorks, but I guess this is prone to happen in a genre where every meaningful riff has already been played by Iommi, Wino, and Griffin. If nothing else, Desolate Realm are an intriguing crossover listen; doom enough for the burnouts and traditional enough for the elitists. And the songs are, by and large, good enough for me. Doom on warrior, or whatever Riot sang.
6 out of 10
Label: Independent
Genre: Heavy/Doom Metal
For fans of: Grand Magus, Manowar, Lavaborne