Hooded Menace are one of the most unavoidable bands of the past decade. Alongside Temple of Void, this Finnish fourpiece has been pedestaled as the torchbearers of pure death/doom. Each subsequent release has seen their legion double in size, resulting in their latest album, The Tritonus Bell, being perhaps the most hyped release of the year, behind only Iron Maiden’s Senjutsu and Exodus’ Persona Non Grata. Although I don’t fancy myself the biggest Hooded Menace fanatic, I couldn’t help but explore this new album, if only for my friends who are.
I went into The Tritonus Bell expecting what I’ve heard on past Hooded Menace releases: textbook death/doom. The band has rightfully earned their mass appeal, seamlessly combining the putrid riffage of early 90s death metal with the dirge-like melodies and atmosphere of funeral doom. Little did I know I’d get what is perhaps the least death/doom sounding death/doom album of all time. From the first 30 seconds of intro instrumental “Chthonic Exordium”, I knew I was in store for something completely different. This brief piece has more in common with Judas Priest’s “The Hellion” or the intro to Mercyful Fate’s “Into the Coven” than the spooky, ominous intros associated with death metal these days.
This is not a one off occurrence. On “Chime Diabolicus”, the band opens with a compelling traditional metal section that sounds like both aforementioned bands. Guitarist Lasse Pyykkö must’ve been listening to Stained Class and Don’t Break the Oath leading up to the writing and recording of this album. This song is packed with 80s riffing, twin harmonies, and well thought out leads. When the band shifts into doom metal mode, it isn’t the painstakingly slow doom their known for, but rather a melodic, midtempo approach. Think the Gothenburg scene gone doom. “Blood Ornaments” continues to celebrate the old school with a lead riff that screams Denner and Shermann. Perhaps it’s just its 9 minute length, but I’d go as far to say the arrangement is progressive in nature, especially with the dramatic shift that occurs at the 5 minute mark.
The Tritonus Bell doesn’t go full death/doom until “These Who Absorb the Night”. Boasting slow tempos, gloomy riffing, and hellish gutturals, “Those Who Absorb the Night” is one of the most orthodox tracks on the album, but it’s not without it’s progressive intricacies and melo death leads. “Corpus Asunder” revisits the Mercyful Fate formula explored on “Blood Ornaments”, while incorporating the melancholic bombast of classic Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride. “Scattered into Dark” is the only other track I can call proper death/doom, riding the line between the crushing riff based Cianide side of the genre and the opposing atmospheric based Katatonia side. Closing it all out is “Instruments of Somber Finality”, an instrumental tapping into the Mercyful Fate vein one last time
Now if you’re lucky enough to snag a limited edition of this album, you’ll be treated to a death metal cover of W.A.S.P.’s classic “The Torture Never Stops”. I’m not completely sold on it, but hey, any band that covers W.A.S.P. is cool in my book. That aside, The Tritonus Bell is one of the most compelling death/doom releases in recent memory. It stays true to the genre’s ethos, while simultaneously pushing the boundaries so far that it has more in common with a traditional, progressive, or melo death release. Will Hooded Menace’s next album see them fully assume the identity of one of these three subgenres? Who knows? Anything’s possible.
8 out of 10
Label: Season of Mist
Genre: Death/Doom Metal
For fans of: Mercyful Fate, Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride