| Orodruin (CD) | 2002 | None |
There's little more that needs to be said when listening to this excellent demo from Rochester, New York melancholy merchants Orodruin. Hey, the name even comes from Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings:' Orodruin = Mount Doom. How doomy is that? The answer is none..none more doomy...
Seriously, these guys are brilliant dark stars on the old-school doom horizon. It`s hard to sound fresh when your principal influences are St. Vitus, Candlemass, later Cathedral, and the ubiquitous Sabbath. We've heard it all before, right? Well, so has John Gallo, group spokesman and founder of the excellent trad doom-oriented Born too Late website. And so have the other members of the band. And yet, they somehow manage to incorporate the music of all of these honored warhorses and, through some magical alchemical process, change them into something engaging and doom-licious. They're brilliant with riffs, that's what it is! And there's nothing more important than the almighty riff.
There's really no point to a song-by-song dissection, because every song is full of downtuned monster Sabbathy riffs, Candlemass-like clean vocals, and mournful lyrics. They even throw in a Yamaha synth here and there, to an (at times) gothy effect. I think you've got the idea. If you're into the above-referenced bands, and/or Place of Skulls, Trouble, Solitude Aeturnus, Life Beyond, Pale Divine, or the newer Finnish doomsters like Reverend Bizarre or Spiritus Mortis, you'll dig Orodruin. I'll say it again:
DOOM!!!!!
Band Site: http://orodruin.us/
1. Melancholia
2. Peasant's Lament
3. Pierced by Cruel Winds
4. Unspeakable Truth
5. Burn the Witch
6. War Cry
7. Epicurean Mass
Approx. 42 minutes
| Claw Tower and Other Tales of Terror (CD) | 2004 | psycheDOOMelic |
Yes, for this band its all about killer doom riffs. Some may say that this is insufficient, that "context" is needed. Well, as Captain Beefheart once said, some people have had too much to think. Orodruin has all the riffage they need to make them one of America's - and the world's - premier trad. doom bands. Straight up! Its all the more remarkable considering that the average age of an Orodruin band member is now something like 23. 'Claw Tower...' is one in a series of back catalog releases from various up-and-coming doomsters promulgated by the psycheDOOMelic label. This one shows where Orodruin is and where they've come from. The disc is divided into two "chapters;" the first is newer material, while the second collects demos from as far back as 1999. The new material is total crushing doom, with the song 'Claw Tower' leading the way and a "live" version of one of their most loved tunes 'Unspeakable Truth' not to mention a cover of 'Stand up and Fight' by Quartz. This last tune explores the band's interest in NWOBHM sounds, which we also hear in the second chapter demos, most notably the metal tuneage in their 1999 demo. Also included are a couple of songs from the original ’Epicuran Mass’ recording session, featuring Mike Puleo's initial stab at vocals. You'll have to agree he's come a long way since then.
psycheDOOMelic has once again done yoeman's work assembling this interesting collection for this essential band. Perhaps the label will end up as the Rhino of the doom world, heh heh. In any case, if you're into the classic sounds of mind-destroying, riffing doom with some hard rockin' mixed in, and you dig the likes of Sabbath, Pentagram, Internal Void, Vitus, Last Chapter, VoodooShock, and most of all Reverend Bizarre, then your work is cut out for you. Like Janus, this collection looks both backwards and forwards, so you'd better pick it up on it if you want the full picture.
1. Claw Tower
2. Creation Through Death
3. Unspeakable Truth
4. Stand up and Fight
5. Epicurean Mass
6. Pierced by Cruel Winds
7. Sons of Nature
8. Creation Through Death
9. Deity of Wrath