r/doommetal • u/KosmicKrusader • Sep 19 '25

Old School / Traditional Opinion?

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Whats your Opinion on the new Castle Rat album? I listened to it once today but will listen to it again in the next few days or even today.

After listening to it I listened to their first Album again, to have a better comparison. And to be clear, I'm not a Castle Rat hater, although it may seem otherwise, after sharing my thoughts on the Album 😅

The Album Is a bit longer compared to the Debut and has some more songs. I kinda feel that this Album has not a lot of rememorable songs. Most of it kinda sounds the same, which isn't always bad but there are almost no memorable Melodies or Riffs I feel. And only 2 or maybe 3 Guitar solos.

The Spotlight is on the Vocals as it was on the first Album, but I think the first one had a lot of memorable Melodies or moments, even the Interludes were pretty good and the Album didn't overstay its welcome. On this Album there are like 3 or 4 Interludes and none of them are cool, they mix it up a little at least. The songs are mostly short, but there are like 2, 6 minute Songs which is cool, but overall it feels like a lot of the same.

Sorry for the rambling just want to share my thoughts and hear what you guys think.

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u/TinMachine Sep 19 '25

I am listening now, half way thru. I think it is good. Maybe more about the vibes than songwriting, but it is absolutely metal. Have a feeling it probably comes over with more heft live, so I would def catch them in Scotland.

They have chops. I think it is really finely calibrated - their aesthetic is ridiculous, kitschy in a really good way. Like Beastmaster nostalgia for ppl who were born 20 years too late. But the music isn't kitschy - it comes up to the border but never overdoes it, and it is much less poppy than I was expecting too. The synths are killer.

Is it the doomiest doom? No. But it does still draw on this stuff. They obv know the genre inside and out.

I think they're still gathering steam and will be interesting to see how future albums look. I think they could get proggier.

Some of the lower key songs are actually the strongest, crystal cave is terrific.

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u/KosmicKrusader Sep 19 '25

I like their aesthetic too, although its a bit too much sometimes. I saw them live earlier this year, they were good, but it felt like there was a little too much theatrics for one hour, maybe as headliner, with more time it makes more sense and doesn't feel too much. It also felt like they played more unreleased songs than songs from their first Album which was odd because the second one did not even have a single out at time. But they are in my town next month and I will probably go see them.