Monuments in Ruin Doom Charts Submissions August 2024
We have reached the mid-month mark. For some that holds no value as a focal point. For me, it is the time I have chosen to revisit my AUGUST 2024 DOOM CHARTS submissions. After the lists were accumulated and the final totals calculated, our contributors discussed 178 albums to formulate the final Top 40 list.
Since submitting my list there have surfaced a few more August releases that slid under my radar. It truly shows the creative spirit is alive and well in the modern music age. We will revisit those soon enough in a separate discussion.
Closing out last week, the DOOM CHARTS released the AUGUST PERORATION LIST. A list of items our contributors wanted to write about but did not make the official top 40. With it's arrival we now have 18 records with reviews to continue investigating. Again, the modern music age is nothing short of amazing.
Everything we are about to feature here has already been published on the DOOM CHARTS webpage, on the MONUMENTS IN RUIN webpage, our BUY ME A COFFEE webpage or a combo of all three locations.
This is an alphabetized list of albums submitted by MONUMENTS IN RUIN for the voting process. You can read through them all in one place, if the first wave managed to slip by before you had all of your sunscreen on. Now that you are ready to hit the waters, dive in!
Massive thank you to all of the other contributors at the DOOM CHARTS, the bands, labels, public relations coordinators and writers who deserve every ounce of your support. Hit them with a thank you, a share, a thumbs up or click on subscribe when you visit their page. Every little bit helps keep wind in their sails.
THE LIST
ABSORB - SMOG
COBRANOID - COBRANOID
ENDON - FALL OF SPRING
ERRONAUT - THE SPACE INBETWEEN
MAMMOTH VOLUME - RAISED UP BY WITCHES THE MERCURY IMPULSE - RECORDS OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR
ORME - NO SERPENTS, NO SAVIORS
PHENOCRYST - CREMATION PYRE
THE BLURBS
Absorb - SMOG
(doom, sludge)
(Hamilton, Ontario)
(Hypaethral)
The intention of this audio landscape is cold and abrasive as the strength of SMOG by Absorb begins to rumble from the depths of earth's core.
Looking to the skies above, the clouds turn black and darken. Shadows disappear as the light is taken from view. Smothered by the weight of bone crushing riff after bone crushing riff, this ominous presence brings down the mountain top and cracks from within the earth's crust. Thick smoke smolders as ash chokes the air. The tension grips tightly, squeezing every ounce from its hold upon the listener with gravel gargling screams.
Magma now melts over the topography erasing the memory of what once was. The volcanic eruption has now come to full strength. Nothing is safe and all is forever changed.
~ Bobby Rayfield (Monuments In Ruin)
Bandcamp: https://absorbmetal.bandcamp.com/album/smog
released July 26, 2024
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Cobranoid - Cobranoid
(metal, heavy rock)
(Denver, Colorado)
(Independent 2024)
Prepare for monster surges of aggressively heavy rock as Cobranoid rolls over your family picnic with full throttle, cut throat, riff after riff.
What are we doing here? Getting this party started! That's what. With a clean vocal settled in nicely and surging over the massive wall of sound this band generates, it's easy to feel the spirit of heavy rock and roll surging in their veins. This is a no apology attack on someone's quiet evening. Who could resist it? The neighborhood probably needed to hear this one anyway.
I can see old men waving canes wildly as hooligan kids use their driveway for extra speed. They launch from home made ramps and their parents across the street are cracking open ice cold bottles with friends. Everyone having the time of their lives and the entire party is cheering the children with encouragement!
~ Bobby Rayfield (Monuments In Ruin)
Bandcamp: https://cobranoid.bandcamp.com/album/cobranoid-2
released August 16, 2024
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Endon - Fall of Spring
(catastrophic noise, harsh electronics)
(Tokyo, Japan)
(Thrill Jockey)
Submitting yourself to Fall of Spring by Endon is similar to diving into the matrix only to discover the electronic pulses are being controlled by dark forces you now have to battle to survive.
It would be easy to fall prey to this bait and switch technique. The opening sequence is seductive and welcoming, in a mysterious and dark way. Soft sounds whisper out like a sonic siren song luring you out to sea. Once the trap has been set, screams of agony begin to radiate from reverb soaked walls. Distorted crashes of anger and malice now cover the water like an oil slick spreading. It begins to suffocate everything it touches.
The delivery is harsh, the volume is controlled and there is no mistake that you have been ensnared in such a way that oblivion becomes a welcomed companion.
~ Bobby Rayfield (Monuments In Ruin)
Bandcamp: https://endon.bandcamp.com/album/fall-of-spring
released August 23, 2024
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Erronaut - The Space Inbetween
(stoner, doom)
(England, UK)
(London Doom Collective)
This was a last minute discovery added to my list so there is no blurb to add. Turns out, you can relive my moment of discovery by watching Episode 4 of DOOM ROOM on our YouTube channel.
DR04 Doom Room - Ready? Go! Check out the Newest in Heavy Rock, Doom, Garage and Hardcore Voting!
Bandcamp: https://erronautuk.bandcamp.com/album/the-space-inbetween-2
released August 30, 2024
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Mammoth Volume - Raised Up By Witches
(rock, psych, prog)
(Lysekil, Sweden)
(Blues Funeral)
If ever you seek a path where every riff has not been exhausted, then it’s time to take a stroll with Raised By Witches by Mammoth Volume.
This album is the birth of something unique to the heavy music community. This seed has germinated and firmly established its roots in the landscape. Now we experience the blooming flower opening to the warmth of the sun's rays. Standing tall within the green of the landscape, the psychotropic color scheme shows its beauty like the plume of a peacock . Creative, captivating and had me listening at the edge of my seat as its progressive complexity pollinated for future growth.
This is truly a unique album and nothing short of special to hear as a music fan.
~ Bobby Rayfield (Monuments In Ruin)
Bandcamp: https://mammothvolume.bandcamp.com/album/raised-up-by-witches
released August 23, 2024
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The Mercury Impulse - Records Of Human Behavior (Independent 2024)
(drone, dark ambient, noise)
(Chicago, Illinois)
(Independent 2024)
Cold isolation is the comfort zone where we discover the sonic waves of The Mercury Impulse flourishing with Records Of Human Behavior.
Close your eyes. Now feel the darkness consuming you. As the image of light slowly fades from memory, imagine yourself walking through a distant, cool passage of concrete walls. Hands slowly glide across the rugged textures. The disorientation of darkness and the gripping fear of confusion clench tighter with every step. Damp walls scrub the fingertips with terror and discomfort. The chaos of emotion is the only sense of normalcy to be found in this environment.
Where some may find themselves unsettled by the experimental sounds, in the midst of this strange experience, there is an undercurrent of solace among the tones.
~ Bobby Rayfield (Monuments In Ruin)
Bandcamp: https://themercuryimpulse.bandcamp.com/album/records-of-human-behavior
released August 23, 2024
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Orme - No Serpents, No Saviours
(death, doom)
(Hertfordshire UK)
(Independent)
The ground quakes and an avalanche of frozen earth and ice begins its descent from mountaintop thrones as No Serpents, No Saviours by Orme rumbles along distant winds.
There is no safe passage for those who chose to stand face to face with the destructive might of this EP. It strikes in waves of cold isolation. Crushing anything in its path. What once found safety has now become crushed under the monolithic weight of these hammer heavy riffs. As a slow, crumbling echo sounds out, these seething, pummeling, yet cathartic riffs find voice and call out. Hold no hope for those standing on this path.
When all has settled, the landscape will be flattened and the new masters will slowly ascend to the throne.
~ Bobby Rayfield (Monuments In Ruin)
Bandcamp: https://ormedroneuk.bandcamp.com/album/no-serpents-no-saviours
releases August 23, 2024
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Phenocryst - Cremation Pyre
(death metal)
(Lisbon, Portugal)
(Blood Harvest)
Let the ash of enemy bones turn to stone as Cremation Pyre by Phenocryst builds a new temple to the gods of death metal.
Where dark and destructive riffs are conjured, so shall the guttural voices of the dead speak. Cast forth the doomed souls of sinister shadows and machine gun blast beats. These songs are filtered with a slow sickness and washed in the filth of a doom and gloom that lurks deep below. Brought forward, it now showcases some of the gnarliest death metal one could ask for.
Where we sacrifice to the immortal conflagration, so shall Phenocryst rise from the smoldering circle to wear their crown of flame and hate.
~ Bobby Rayfield (Monuments In Ruin)
Bandcamp: https://phenocryst.bandcamp.com/album/cremation-pyre
releases August 30, 2024
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