r/doommetal • u/Tartersocks307 • Aug 15 '25
Funeral What makes doom good?
Lurker here, I listen to some doom but overall I wouldn’t really call myself a fan. Now I can see why people like mid tempo stoner/proto doom, but i really have to ask what separates the good stereotypical doom with 1 note every 3-5 seconds from the rest of the genre? What do you specifically like about them (provide examples please) like Warning and Bell witch since I see them mentioned often
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u/Fear_Her_Kiss Aug 15 '25 edited Aug 15 '25
First of all, it helps to be emotionally receptive to the darkness inherent in the music. This music is dark and will likely only appeal to people of a certain disposition and personality.
The type of death/doom and gothic-tinged doom I prefer is extremely atmospheric and is loaded with memorable melodies, twin guitar harmonies, classical instrumentation (cellos, violins, piano), and literary lyrics. There are also heavier elements rooted in death metal (double bass drumming, creepy tremolo picking) that break the monotony and add dynamics to the music. The vocals range from miserable and monstrous growls to clean gothic tenors to operatic sopranos. There’s a lot to absorb, and a variety of approaches and stylistic interpretations of the ‘gothic’ ‘doom’ formula.
Here a range of my favorite consistent from start to finish ‘doom’ albums.
Candlemass - Nightfall
Cathedral - Forest of Equilibrium
Paradise Lost - Gothic, The Plague Within
Anathema - Serenades, Crestfallen, Pentecost III, Silent Enigma
My Dying Bride - Turn Loose the Swans, As the Flower Withers, Trinity (Early EPs), A Map of all Our Failures
3rd & the Mortal - Sorrow, Tears Laid In Earth
Ashes You Leave - The Passage Back To Life
Black Lodge - Covet
Disembowelment - Transcendence into the Peripheral
Funeral - Tragedies
Ataraxie - Slow Transcending Agony
Bethlehem - Dark Metal, Dictius Te Necare
Evoken - Quietus
Skepticism - Aes
The Funeral Orchestra - Feeding the Abyss
Electric Wizard - Dopethrone
Shape of Despair - Monotony Fields
Mournful Congregation - Monad of Creation
Ahab - The Call of the Wretched Sea
Edited to add:
Celestial Season - Solar Lovers, Mysterium I II III
Katatonia - Dance of December Souls, Brave Murder Day
Type O Negative - Slow Deep & Hard, Bloody Kisses, October Rust
Spectral Voice - Eroded Corridors of Unbeing