Is Traditional Christian Doom Metal a Dying Breed?

[MetalPioneer]

Part One - Is Traditional Christian Doom Metal a Dying Breed?

I'm currently at an impasse.  On the one hand, I LOVE Christian doom metal.  I've been listening to more Black Sabbath over the past year and a half or so (I know, some of their lyrics aren't exactly the best, but their early albums are SO good).  So anything Sabbath-inspired or doom laden has been on rotation for me, at least in terms of Christian metal.  I've been listening a lot to Place of Skulls and Victor's side project, In-Graved.  

My problem is that there just isn't much material out there.  This has led to me thinking a lot about this particular sub-genre of metal.  Are there so few artists and albums because it's not as popular?  Is there a skill threshold to playing this kind of music that is difficult to master?  Is the music just too slow for the fast-paced youth of today?  Is it because traditional doom metal and stoner rock deals mostly with topics like Satanism, depression, and drugs?  Are record labels just not interested in signing doom bands?

I've been mulling over these questions and I guess I've concluded that it's just not popular enough.  After all, there are a lot of Christian black metal bands, and the lyrical content of black metal is generally outright dark and evil (not always, of course).  So, I'd like to hear your opinion.  Why aren't there more traditional doom metal bands?  Perhaps I am missing something that is obvious.

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Part Two - Help Me Find Some New Bands

I'm not interested in death/doom bands like Paramaecium, Dalit, or My Silent Wake for this part.  I love those kind of bands as well, but consider them in a different category.

Generally speaking, I like bands with good production quality.  The list below should give you a good idea.

Christian traditional doom bands I frequently listen to:

Place of Skulls
Pylon
Nomad Son
Victor Griffin's In-Graved
Veni Domine (Material Sanctuary era)
Adorned Graves
David Benson

Non-Christian traditional doom bands I frequently listen to:

Black Sabbath
Trouble (especially Psalm 9 album - arguably some Christian lyrical content)
Saint Vitus
Spirit Caravan
YOB

I also love Gothic-inspired stuff like Saviour Machine and Paradise Lost.

I'm open to new bands in either category, as long as anything non-Christian isn't overtly anti-Christian or Satanic.  Please post a band name.  YouTube videos or links to the music are a plus.

[Kerrick]

Oh man I love me some dooooooom. I'm busy with work right now but I'll post a few you may not have heard of.

[deathisgain]

I have a particular taste in Doom. Mine tends to be more stoner/sabbath oriented. In the secular market there are a lot of bands that I listen to. For the most part it has always been an underground scene for doom.

[MetalPioneer]

Oh man I love me some dooooooom.  I'm busy with work right now but I'll post a few you may not have heard of.

Can't wait!

[MetalPioneer]

I have a particular taste in Doom. Mine tends to be more stoner/sabbath oriented. In the secular market there are a lot of bands that I listen to. For the most part it has always been an underground scene for doom.

Sounds about right, I guess. Do you have any band recommendations for me?

[deathisgain]

I have a particular taste in Doom. Mine tends to be more stoner/sabbath oriented. In the secular market there are a lot of bands that I listen to. For the most part it has always been an underground scene for doom.

Sounds about right, I guess.  Do you have any band recommendations for me?

I haven't found any Christian bands that I like. So most of my stuff is secular. The ones I've been spinning lately are:

Beastmaker - https://beastmaker.bandcamp.com/ - They lyrics are like 70's horror movies.
Firebreather - https://firebreatherdoom.bandcamp.com/ - They have a High on Fire sound
Orchid - https://orchid.bandcamp.com/ - Has that early Sabbath vibe
The Skull - https://the-skull.bandcamp.com/ - some members from Trouble


I just remembered Starchild. They were a Christian band from Georgia - https://starchilddoom.bandcamp.com/

[Kerrick]

Here are some I'd recommend:

Christian

Under The Sun (traditional doom though somewhat upbeat)


Forsaken (epic doom)


Faith (traditional/epic doom with folk influences)


Dawn Of Anguish (epic doom)


Last Chapter (epic doom)


Faustian Slip (traditional doom)


Secular (but clean)

Mourn (female-fronted traditional doom)


Albert Bell's Sacro Sanctus (old school heavy/doom)


The Gault (I'm not sure how to categorize...)


Warning (melodic doom)

[Kerrick]

Also you might like Black With Stars:
https://blackwithstars.bandcamp.com/releases

[MetalPioneer]

Thanks guys, it looks like I have some homework to do. I will let you know what I enjoy.

[Kerrick]

Sure thing. Enjoy!

A couple notes on my recommendations: Albert Bell is the bassist/founder of Nomad Son and Forsaken. His solo project Sacro Sanctus isn't "Christian" but the lyrics are history/fantasy-themed about the knight templars and the good guys are Christians. Mr. Bell is himself a Christian.

The Gault's CD is a little tricky to find but definitely worth it if you can. I recommend going straight to one of the members to see if they have any copies left... The record label screwed up and did a shoddy job so the band pressed their own CDs. If you like their music, I'd suggest searching for a copy that the band pressed. I bought mine from John Gossard at a Dispirit show.

I'm curious to hear what you think and if any of those resonate with you!

Now if only that Warpriest band would put out an album...

[Zymologist]

Are you open to funeral doom? It's different enough from any trad doom, is why I ask.

There's always Ahab, which I'm sure you're familiar with, but what I really want to recommend is an album whose brilliance I've only recently discovered (not Christian, but not anti- as far as I can tell):

[Kerrick]

^I think he's looking for specifically traditional doom, though Skepticism is a classic for sure.

Matthew, any of those recommendations hit the spot for you?

One of the band members from True Wisdom recently posted on another forum I'm on.  Pretty good stuff:

[Sparkyzilla85]

I'm really enjoying the suggestions in this thread. I'm always looking for Christian doom/stoner metal bands to listen to.

[MetalPioneer]

Sure thing.  Enjoy!

A couple notes on my recommendations:  Albert Bell is the bassist/founder of Nomad Son and Forsaken.  His solo project Sacro Sanctus isn't "Christian" but the lyrics are history/fantasy-themed about the knight templars and the good guys are Christians.  Mr. Bell is himself a Christian.

The Gault's CD is a little tricky to find but definitely worth it if you can.  I recommend going straight to one of the members to see if they have any copies left...  The record label screwed up and did a shoddy job so the band pressed their own CDs.  If you like their music, I'd suggest searching for a copy that the band pressed.  I bought mine from John Gossard at a Dispirit show.

I'm curious to hear what you think and if any of those resonate with you!

Now if only that Warpriest band would put out an album...

I think out of all of them I like Under the Sun and Forsaken the most, although that may partly be because they also have better production quality.  The Sacro Sanctus song was interesting but it didn't really click with me.  

My difficulty now is getting my hands on some of these albums.  They appear to be either not available or expensive

Thanks for the recommendations.

[MetalPioneer]

Are you open to funeral doom? It's different enough from any trad doom, is why I ask.

There's always Ahab, which I'm sure you're familiar with, but what I really want to recommend is an album whose brilliance I've only recently discovered (not Christian, but not anti- as far as I can tell):

I have listened to Ahab before, and funeral doom hasn't quite clicked with me yet. I think it has to do with the overall pacing. Thanks for the recommendation, though!

[MetalPioneer]

I have a particular taste in Doom. Mine tends to be more stoner/sabbath oriented. In the secular market there are a lot of bands that I listen to. For the most part it has always been an underground scene for doom.

Sounds about right, I guess.  Do you have any band recommendations for me?

I haven't found any Christian bands that I like. So most of my stuff is secular. The ones I've been spinning lately are:

Beastmaker - https://beastmaker.bandcamp.com/ - They lyrics are like 70's horror movies.
Firebreather - https://firebreatherdoom.bandcamp.com/ - They have a High on Fire sound
Orchid - https://orchid.bandcamp.com/ - Has that early Sabbath vibe
The Skull - https://the-skull.bandcamp.com/ - some members from Trouble


I just remembered Starchild. They were a Christian band from Georgia - https://starchilddoom.bandcamp.com/

Thanks for these recommendations. Beastmaker was okay. I loved Firebreather's sound, but I'm not sure about the vocals. I couldn't get into them. Orchid has the exact sound that I'm looking for. The Skull also sounded very promising, and I will have to check out more of their stuff.

[Kerrick]

I think out of all of them I like Under the Sun and Forsaken the most, although that may partly be because they also have better production quality.  The Sacro Sanctus song was interesting but it didn't really click with me.  

My difficulty now is getting my hands on some of these albums.  They appear to be either not available or expensive

Thanks for the recommendations.

Cool!  Those are two of my favorites.  Under The Sun was on Hellride which has since gone out of business...  If I see a copy anywhere, I'll let you know.  Forsaken's albums are indeed a little tricky to come across too.  I had to order mine from France and Germany or somewhere.  Albert Bell is very active and responsive on FB though.  You might try reaching out to him directly to see if he has any copies left.

[Kerrick]

Amazon's got Under The Sun's album for a reasonable price:
https://www.amazon.com/Man-Sorrow-Under-Sun/dp/B004JHGEVY

[MetalPioneer]

Amazon's got Under The Sun's album for a reasonable price:
https://www.amazon.com/Man-Sorrow-Under-Sun/dp/B004JHGEVY

Thanks, snagged a used copy.  Buying used is always a gamble, but hopefully it's in decent condition.

[Kerrick]

Sweet!  Good luck tracking down Forsaken's albums now...  I'll keep an eye out for them and let you know if I happen across any.

[Deepfriar]

Part One - Is Traditional Christian Doom Metal a Dying Breed?

So anything Sabbath-inspired or doom laden has been on rotation for me, at least in terms of Christian metal... Is it because traditional doom metal and stoner rock deals mostly with topics like Satanism, depression, and drugs?

I don't think anyone has mentioned Dustt. Christian stoner/doom metal from Chile. You can sample all of the three albums on bandcamp: Digital Chord Productions

[Kerrick]

They're not bad! The Christian scene could really use some more doom metal... (Especially in the doom/death subgenre; there are not many bands AT ALL and that's my favorite!)

[Christianslovemetaltoo]

So hard to find Christian doom.
Any bands close to Electric Wizard?
Also any bands close to Sleep?

[MetalPioneer]

Electric Wizard has a Black Sabbath influence (I guess most of the band in this thread do), but I'm not sure if there's really anything comparable in Christian metal.

Have you listened to Pylon? It has a little bit of a psychedelic element from time to time, but not so much the sludge.

Check out these tracks and let me know what you think:

[Kerrick]

Faustian Slip's upcoming full-length is set to be released March 15th! I can't wait.

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