Doomed – Anna (Review)

This is the fifth album from Doomed, a German doom/death one-man project.

Although Doomed are essentially a one-man band, there are also a plethora of different guests on this release helping to flesh out his vision, (including members of Hail of Bullets, 11th Hour and Camel of Doom, apparently). Some of the guest vocal performances enhance and complement the main delivery of the songs, and once again show what an exciting prospect this band is.

Both Our Ruin Silhouettes and Wrath Monolith were top quality releases. Wrath Monolith in particular was one of my favourite 2015 releases, (although I didn’t include it in my best of list for that year for some bizarre reason), and probably one of the best examples of how to play the death/doom sub-genre with passion, intelligence, talent and interest.

Doom/death is quite a specific sub-genre, and one of the many things that makes Doomed stand out form the crowd is the ability to recognisably play the genre while also attempting to do a few non-standard things in the guitar department and with the songwriting in general. The end result is that the music produced is instantly recognisable as doom/death, but with a very personable spin on things.

The latest album, Anna, has all of the familiar elements firmly in place. Heavy, crunchy rhythm guitars, mournful leads, winding solos, satisfying drums, tasty riffs and deep, deep growling vocals. Oh, and another green cover, which is somewhat of a consistent, long-running theme at this point.

The riffs on a Doomed release are always extremely enticing. The guitars manage to mix heaviness, catchiness and emotional weight all at the same time. Anna is no exception and there are some very special touches on this release. The man behind Doomed is a supremely talented songwriter.

Something else I love about Doomed, (and really, there’s loads of things), is the growls. I’m sure that to some people they’re unexceptional – standard cookie-monster vocals I suppose, in some ways. To me, however, there’s just something deeply, deeply pleasing about them. The way they’re performed is just perfect for my tastes, and every time I hear the deep growls I just get that little thrill of excitement. Combine that with the crushing heaviness of the guitars and everything else that you have going on here…well, I could listen to Doomed all day long.

Anna is a first-rate album and once again sees Doomed at the very top of the doom/death style. If you want a perfect example of how effective and captivating doom/death can be, check out Doomed.

Essential.