Anguish-Through the Archdemons Head

Dark Descent
2012

This is the debut from Sweden's Anguish. This is old style doom with Sabbath, Celtic Frost and Candlemass as influences. With those band influences then this album should be impressive right? Well, yes and no. I'll get to the positive first. The guitar tones are stellar because they are deep and thick. This is mostly plodding type doom that slowly marches forward with pounding thuds and just the right amount of twisting solos. The downside is the lack of variation in both the music and the vocals. I can appreciate the path they take on their music, but they never stray from that path. After eight songs of mostly the same approach it got a bit old. Also considering most of their songs are over six minutes in length a piece I felt myself hoping for some surprises and that never happened. The vocals sound like a cross between Tom G. Warrior and Cronos. That part is fin, but there is never any attempt to elevate the mood or spark anything other than one speed. So overall this is a decent start, but they have a lot of work to do as well.