Deathbell: With the Beyond (2019)

Well this one seems sort of appropriate for Halloween.  It is definitely eerie-sounding and sounds like it would fit in well as the soundtrack for some 1970's schlocky horror b-movie.  You know the kind, with the really bad fake blood and despicable characters all around.  Movies that tried to be the next occult and evil.  That is what this album sounds like to me.

Deathbell is a French doom metal band, and when I say doom metal, I mean true doom metal.  The music is clearly influenced by groups like Electric Wizard, The Reverend Bizarre and Black Sabbath (particularly the eponymous song for which the song "Come You to Trouble" features a very similar opening).  The songs are slow, with lumbering, hypnotic riffs.  Even though many of the songs are quite lengthy, they never really seem that long.  That is due mostly to the ability of the band to craft intriguing riffs.

The vocals deserve mention as well, as they are perhaps the most interesting aspect of the album.  The vocals are clean and recorded in an almost distant fashion, as if they are rising from an empty tomb.  They are haunting, particularly on "Over the Rim".

Deathbell essentially sounds like a combination of Black Sabbath and Electric Wizard (though without the psychedelia) and with a female singer.  It is an eerie album with a lot of great, doom-laden riffs.  Doom metal has been going through a renaissance of sorts over the last several years.  Groups like Deathbell are a good reason why.