Upsidedown Cross - "Upsidedown Cross" (1991)

Upsidedown Cross is the epitome of a one-of-a-kind band. With filthy, drunken yells, singer Larry Lifeless brings a vocal performance to the table that is unlike any other band I've heard. The guitar riffs are sludgy and laced with drugged-out psychedelic doom metal; listen as the band creates an atmosphere comparable to being wasted at a black mass with your middle-aged uncle and his friends. This vomit is highly recommended.

Get wasted at a black mass with your middle-aged uncle and his friends.

Moss - "Sub Templum" (2008)

Who likes to drone out into outer space? Who likes to nod aggressively and periodically? Imagine Sunn O))) with drum patterns. Noise ricocheting off of archaic cathedrals and expanding thine skull. Canyons echoing into the dimness of twilight. Works best when listened to at a high amount of decibels over an extended period of time.

Patience, young one.

Have A Nice Life - "Deathconsciousness" (2008)

This is one of the most subliminally moving albums. It takes you on subtle journeys of both melancholy and inspiration. Emotional detachment creates an objectively bleak, stirring atmosphere. Specifically, faint shoegaze compositions intermingle with mechanical beats. There is a good mix of relaxing drifters to rival the puncturing sterile percussion. Two discs not to be overlooked. Get this - be changed.

The Plow That Broke The Plains

The Future

Vlad Tepes / Bèlkètre - "March To The Black Holocaust" (1995)

Talk about a gigantic release, March To The Black Holocaust sees the legendary Vlad Tepes and Bèlkètre coming together to create a true underground masterpiece. The Vlad Tepes side has an old-school black metal feel while Bèlkètre's half is a tad more raw and misanthropic.

March To The Black Holocaust

Mourning Beloveth - "The Sullen Sulcus" (2002)

Beautifully crushing and bleak with sheer ferocity, there are not many other doom metal records that can touch this monolith's severity. Clocking in at just over an hour, The Sullen Sulcus, in its cleaner moments, is  reminiscent of fellow Irish act, Primordial, and can easily draw comparisons to early My Dying Bride. Look into this release if you want to endure a long journey to a landscape of fire and brimstone.

Expand your doom metal horizons.

Sodom - "In War And Pieces" (2010)

Legendary German thrashers, Sodom, released one of the best metal albums of this year with In War And Pieces. The riffs are tasty and the vocals wretched so check it out if you want your face to get caved in!

I want my face to get caved in!

Morpheus Descends - "Ritual Of Infinity" (1993)

Morpheus Descends was an underground death metal band from Middletown, NY who premiered alongside Suffocation and Immolation and played death metal in the same unmistakable New York style as both of them. And although Dawn of Possession and Effigy of the Forgotten this ain't, it is as punishing and pounding as being run over by a taxi cab in a subway station while eating a hotdog.

Ritual of Infinity

Virus - "The Black Flux" (2008)

If I had a nickel for every riff I could write like these guys, I could toss a few in a wishing well and hope to create a whole album like this one day. This is one helluvan album. In the same avant-garde vein as Deathspell Omega, these song structures will break down any traditional, neanderthal style of metal that you love to brutalize things to. Oh yeah, make way for the royal vocal delivery too.

Wisen up.

Thou / Moloch - "Tears That Soak A Callous Heart" (2010)

A truly special team-up of grueling sludge. From both ends of the world, Thou delivers their monolithic swamp rock sound while Moloch holds down the pessimistic scene of depravity. Both sides of the cassette, or vinyl, slay at satisfyingly slow tempos. Do yourself a favor and support these monsters.

Tears That Soak A Callous Heart

Low Sky - "Led Zeppelin House Show" (2010)

Saw these gents at a run-down house and felt the build-ups through the floor. Wrought with
emotion - void of authority. Listen and feel.

"It's you that's weak, it's you"

Cannibal Corpse - "Eaten Back To Life" (1990)

Whether you love them or hate them, one thing that cannot be denied is Cannibal Corpse's consistency. Eaten Back To Life is Cannibal Corpse's first and, in my opinion, most consistent release. Chris Barnes' vocals are ferocious as he snarls his way through all 11 songs with the vigor and destructive energy of a backhoe. Memorable riffs and a spot-on low end make this an altogether fantastic old-school album that every metalhead should have in their collection.

Eaten Back To Life

Warning - "Watching From A Distance" (2006)

With their trademark near-funeral doom playing style, 2006 saw Warning put out one of the most melancholic, tear-evoking albums in the history of the genre. Patrick Walker's unmistakable vocals soar across some of the most mournful, depressing riffs ever written. Watching From A Distance is a modern doom metal masterpiece in every sense of the word.

Watching From A Distance

Vordr - "I" (2004)

Do you like polished black metal tainted with lyrics about trolls and fairies? Of course you don't. Well neither do Vordr. Oh wait, you've never heard of Vordr?

Do yourself a favor.

Grouper - "Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill" (2008)

Grouper's Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill is one of my favorite albums ever. Its beautiful, haunting melodies will sweep you away in a buzzing wave of bleak vibrations and reverb. Perfect for any emotion, any weather or season.

Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill

Excavation - "Gravemouth" (1991)

I love stumbling upon early death metal tapes long forgotten in time, dusting them off and popping them into my player. The excitement before finding out whether a release is a gem or dud keeps me hungry to constantly find and hear more! Limburg's kings of the old-school underground, Excavation, show their chops on the 1991 demo, Gravemouth with sloppy buzzsaw guitars and gross vocals, making Gravemouth easily one of the best death metal demos out there.

Gravemouth

Spina Bifida - "Ziyadah" (1993)

Spina Bifida was a death/doom metal band from the Netherlands who only released a 1992 demo and a full-length in 1993 entitled, Ziyadah, and here it is in all its glory:

Ziyadah