Underrated Doom Metal Albums Pt. 1 of 2

Picking just ten underrated doom metal albums is a little tough. By and large, the entire genre is underrated. Doom metal just does not get the same exposure and notoriety of some of the other genres. I stuck mostly to traditional doom and stoner doom in filling out this list, along with a few death/doom hybrids. I did not get into the funeral doom genre, because the whole thing is so inaccessible as to make the entire genre underrated.

LOST BREED: SAVE YOURSELF
I love stoner doom sometimes. I picked this album up in a closeout CD lot on ebay once and fell in love with the somber, yet heavy tones. The dry-throated crooning of the singer certainly adds to the entire mystique of the album. It's fairly easy to straddle the line between stoner doom metal and stoner rock, but this band is very clearly on the metal side of that line. The whole album is catchy and raw, and it sounds great.

UNORTHODOX: BALANCE OF POWER
Another pickup from that same lot, Unorthodox possesses much of the same traits that Lost Breed does. In fact, the two bands were on the same record label and creating music at the same time. Unorthodox uses some more unusual song structures and lives up to their name. Some of the songs are quick and short, while others carry on at great lengths. This stoner doom band is not as catchy as their labelmates, but still possess great songwriting ability.

REVEREND BIZARRE: II-CRUSH THE INSECTS
Reverend Bizarre was one of the bands at the forefront of the true doom metal movement over the last several years. The Finnish power trio was one of many bands attempting to play doom metal the way the genre's originators like Black Sabbath, Candlemass, Pentagram, St. Vitus, and others played. The sound is a traditional doom metal sound. The first three songs are faster tracks including the incredible "Doom Over the World", while the others are much slower. The band's entire catalogue is amazing.

COFFINS: BURIED DEATH
Coffins is Japanese band that plays a very strong style of doom/death. The band has a mostly eerie-sounding and heavy riffing style. The riffs sound as if they are mostly influenced by Celtic Frost and Hellhammer. Even the singer's grunts sound a lot like Tom Warrior. The result is a slower, lumbering, but immensely heavy beast. If you enjoy death metal and want to get into doom metal, Coffins is a good place to start. The band combines many death metal aspects, but plays them with a sludgier sound more common to doom metal.

THE GATES OF SLUMBER: CONQUEROR
I considered not putting this band in here, mostly because I have seen a video on MTV's Headbanger's Ball. Yet, I put them here because I really do not see much about them on metal sites and I think they are absolutely amazing. This was one of my favorite albums of 2008 and is sadly kind of overlooked. TGOS plays a more traditional style of doom metal with some other trad metal influences and occasional stoner doom/psychedelic moments. I love everything I have heard from this band.