How do I recognise a Doom-Metal album when I see one?
That is a particularly tough question. It’s practically impossible to judge a book by its cover when it comes to Doom-Metal. The best way is obviously to listen to the band! Generally speaking though, Doom-Metal bands tend to put a lot of effort into cover artwork with many dark, sinister or sober pictures like dead flowers, churches and statues, draconian or classical influences and so on (although many black-metal and Gothic-metal albums have adopted this nowadays). If the album itself sounds slow and painful, then it has a good chance of being a Doom-Metal record. Example of a cover – Anathema ‘Pentecost III’ Some Doom albums are also recognisable by way of the name of the band and album. Many Doom bands use uncommon names of mythical, poetic or historical significance. The most vivid example of this is without question My Dying Bride. When it comes to album titles the same principle more or less applies. Naturally this is not something that can be relied upon blindly. A band name s
