Confessor: Confessor Complete Review

This band is labelled "technical doom metal". A description that when first heard does not seem to make sense. However, upon listening to them, "technical doom metal" seems like the only way to describe them. Confessor is a hugely underrated band and unfortunately largely forgotten, which is a shame. They are active again now which has helped them become a little more known, but they exist for the most part deep underground.

Confessor take the technicality of groups like Atheist and Voivod and apply them to the melodic traditional doom of groups like Cirith Ungol, Candlemass, and Trouble. In fact, two of the songs on this EP are fairly faithful covers of Trouble songs.

The riffs are fairly standard doom riffs most of the time, but can get surprisingly complex at times. The drumming is clearly the highlight of the album, the near-constant fills and runs are truly amazing. The band did a great service by having the drums so high in the mix because it really is a treat to hear a drummer this talented.

The vocals consist mostly of a sort of melancholic wail. They sound pretty good with the music, but otherwise I would not care much for them. The best track on the album is the instrumental, which is one of the Trouble covers, because all that can be heard is the interplay of the musicians, in particular the guitarist and drummer.

This is a great EP from an underrated band. It's just too bad it's so short.

Dusting Off a Cassette Pt. 6: Confessor: Confessor

"What the hell is technical doom metal?" That was my thought after picking up this cassette for cheap at a discount music store and then looking into the band online upon getting it home. After listening, my thought was "oh, that makes sense then."

I picked the tape up, not because I had ever heard of the band, but because I was on a buying spree for tapes. This is one of those that you can just tell by the cover is a metal album. I was expecting some type of underground death or thrash metal. I got technical doom. In a nutshell, Confessor takes the technical aspects of groups like Atheist, Heathen, and Pestilence and instead of applying it to death or thrash, applies it to traditional doom metal in the vein of Cirith Ungol or Trouble, in fact two of the tracks are Trouble covers. It's quite an interesting sound. The vocals are not great, but the music, especially the drummer is terrific. My only lament is that it is a little bit too short, clocking in around 20 minutes and only four songs.