Band's List Doom Metal Moloken Our Astral Circle

Moloken are a quartet from Holmsund/Umeå, Sweden who play doom. And not like the galloping doom of fellow Swedish titans Candlemass, but a more Finnish style; slower, heavier and more tortured. More doomy, if you will. I’m reviewing their tracks from Myspace from the new album ‘Our Astral Circle’, and what a sludgy monster it is.

Opener ‘Molten Pantheon’ is a howling trudge through tar thick riffing, vocalist Nicklas Bäckström accompanying with a tortured roar, really adding to the morbid atmosphere. I definitely enjoy their riffing style, its a slower, bass heavy assault with a number of more melancholic leads being inserted where appropriate, and its a formula that catches alight particularly on the hypnotic epic ‘11″12′. The track rolls backward and forth on a number of queasy riffs, before dissipating into a quiet, moody section with slow, precise notes. Moloken owe a lot musically to Swallow the Sun and Ablaze in Hatred, and being a big fan of both those bands, I’m hooked on these tracks. They also have a bit of a hardcore influence, owing to one of the guitarists being in a hardcore act, and you can hear elements of early Isis and Neurosis coming through certain areas as well.

The important thing to remember in this style, death/doom, doom, whatever you want to call it, is the use of dynamics. Loud and quiet sections, melancholic leads backed by thundering dread, and preferably some form of howl/growl. A perfect example of that is the opening of ‘The Giant’, from Swallow the Sun’s ‘Ghosts of Loss’ album, and Moloken show they have the potential to follow such Finnish titans into the limelight with this release. They use quieter sections to great effect, for example with the moody intro to ‘Untitled I’, which is also riddled with some discordant bass riffs which ratchets up the atmosphere, and the sinister ‘Die Fear Will’.

I like these guys’ sound, I think they offer something a bit new to the death/doom genre with their Isis/Converge (’Followers’ could have been on ‘No Heroes’) influenced pieces, and they have a comfortable grasp of the dynamics needed to create a properly good death/doom album. Which is exactly what ‘Our Astral Circle’ is, yet another excellent addition to the genre. Impressive.