Hour of 13 - The Ritualist (2010)

This is the sophomore release of this doom metal band, and as near as I can tell, this is pretty true to traditional doom metal. I really don’t fully understand what “traditional” doom metal was, but if this is it, then I wasn't far off. This has more in common with Black Sabbath, than some of the bands bordering on drone/doom like Earth. I guess that traditional means the stuff that sort of influenced the doom metal movement. I hear vocals that sound like Ozzy, guitar playing heavily influenced by blues, and drums that have a sort of hollow sound. These guitars, rather than pummeling, grinding, or droning, tend to play tangible riffs. Now, these riffs are of the mid- to low tempo variety, distorted so that they sound kind of bleak, and they tend to ring out a bit (a la drones) but I’m really hearing more Sabbath than the really dirgey stuff that, to me, characterizes doom metal. The guitars really dominate the mix, again lending credence to the doom label, but it’s really just a classic metal, straying closer to blues than doom. If this is “traditional” doom metal, then so be it, but I challenge you to hear this and not immediately think of Sabbath. I’m not the biggest Ozzy/Sabbath fan, but I liked this Hour of 13 album a lot. I tend not to be interested in what I consider classic heavy metal; I tend to like it a bit more unusual or extreme, punishing and technical if it’s of the death metal family or else atmospheric if it’s of the black persuasion. As a “noob” to doom metal, and still unsure if this really qualifies or is just kind of influenced by the same stuff as the forefathers of doom, I’d be interested to hear what more people think of this. Reviews and information about this band are scarce. I must say, this album really hit the spot for me. It’s heavy, dark, mysterious--gave me everything I want from my metal albums--it's got some mean guitars tones that just kind of wash over you as you listen. Very nice.