Doom metal has certainly been getting its moment in the sun lately. Thou's Heathen has proven to be one of the better heavy releases of 2014, and Pallbearer's upcoming, highly anticipated sophomore effort, Foundations of Burden, is an improvement over the band's already fantastic 2012 debut. There's also a whole slew of doom releases, like Eye of Solitude's Canto III and Hush's Unexist, that may not be game changers, but are still worth investing your time and money on. California's Cardinal Wyrm fit soundly into the latter category. Their second album, Black Hole Gods, is an hour long soundscape woven from the fabric of doom, occult rock, goth, and psychedelia. It's a breath of fresh air in a sub-genre currently jammed with death dealers and sludge monsters.
Black Hole Gods opens with a lone guitar riff that bears more than a passing sonic resemblance to Black Sabbath's iconic "Iron Man." There's no way to be certain, but it seems unlikely that the similarity to Tony Iommi's legendary riff is accidental. Cardinal Wyrm worship at the musty altar of ye olde doom metal of yore, and there's no doom metal older than Sabbath. The parallels to Ozzy and Co. don't end with the opening passage of "Deep Within," though. The entire album is filled with monolithic riffs and just enough bluesy swagger to give a soul to the void. There are also some minor musical flourishes that only those with the keenest of ears will tie to the looming specter of Black Sabbath. For example, "Dreams With Teeth" features sections where Pranjal Tiwari's vocals sync up with Natan Vee's guitar and they both follow the same melody. Sabbath utilized the same style on songs like the aforementioned "Iron Man" as well as "Paranoid."
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This album isn't simply Black Sabbath worship, though. Pranjal Tiwari's voice is reminiscent of Peter Steele's gothic croon, and the prominence of an organ on "Warden of the Swans," "Cult of the Coiled Spine," and "The Outlier" add a liturgical aura to the album. There's also a cavernous production quality and some death growling present that creates an unsettling and otherworldly atmosphere. Fans of H.P. Lovecraft's weird fiction will recognize that Black Hole Gods would make a suitable soundtrack to the clandestine rituals of a Cthulhu cult or the Esoteric Order of Dagon.
As a genre, heavy metal frequently embraces tradition. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it's refreshing to stumble on a band as pleasingly idiosyncratic as Cardinal Wyrm. The band is self-releasing Black Hole Gods via Bandcamp next Tuesday the 5th. Their freshman album is currently for sale for just $5 as a digital download if you want to tide yourself over for a few days. This is definitely a must-buy for metalheads in the market for a cosmically expansive head trip.
