Hour of 13's second release is one of my favorites of the year. This traditional doom metal band has made yet another album that's going to go down as a classic. It differs a bit from the earlier self titled album by the band, because the lessened the NWOBHM influence, but that doesn't take away from the album at all in my opinion, still one of the top releases of the year for me.
I don't know where to start with Howl's debut album. This is some of the most 'brutal' sludge I've heard in a very long time, and maybe ever. By brutal I mean it just beats you up. The music isn't always slow, and gets pretty quick at times but the overall heaviness of the album is just overwhelming. The stoner vibe this music has going really helps too. This album beats you up, but at the end you're left wanting more.
Winterfylleth is easily one of my favorite black metal acts out there right now. Two releases and two great efforts in my opinion. This album features some clean vocals which surprisingly work pretty well, along with some acoustic ambiance, yet the album maintains that rough and raw harsh black metal the fans love so much.
This release by the Romanian black metal monster, Negură Bunget isn't quite as good as the older releases, but this is almost a completely since the 2006 release by the band. However, it still comes out quite good. I mean I couldn't possibly compare this one to the 06 release by the band, but yeah. Anyway, this album has that variety of folk instruments that I've grown so close to in my black metal. Also the new release has much better production in my opinion than the older releases by this band. I've heard these dudes compared to Drudkh and Agalloch and those two certainly aren't bad bands to be compared to. If you're a fan of black metal with some folk influence mixed in, this is a must check out album/band.
Wooden Stakes first release is this EP. However, this sounds like something pulled right out of the 80s underground occult doom scene. Its just pure heavy occult doom metal. Its a two person band, from the United States..Oh yeah..the vocalist is a woman who does a pretty darn good job with the vocals. I suggest this heavy hitting album to anyone into heavy doom metal with a side of evil!
Sorry for the poor writing, but I'm not a very good writer, haha.