Iron Void are the UK Birmingham
Today
as part of a two part article with Iron Void, bassist, Jonathan “Sealey” Seale chooses
his top five albums from their band's chosen genre. Read on for a trip into the
arcane and mysterious world of doom...and expect part II featuring guitarist
Steve Wilson in the coming weeks ahead. In the meantime, turn the dial all the
way to 11, “Because 11 is one louder”
1.
Black
Sabbath – ‘Master of Reality’ (1971)
Masters of the art! I had to mention Sabbath,
it goes without saying doesn’t it? They invented not only Heavy Metal but Doom
Metal too. The self-titled song, ‘Black
Sabbath’ from their debut is THE Doom Metal blueprint; thunder and rain,
heavy riffs, softer passages and the up-tempo build-up in the middle which
concludes the song. A classic formula, repeated many times since by a lot of
bands, ourselves included! It’s so difficult to pick a favourite Sabbath
album as I love all eras of the band. The Ozzy and Dio eras are definitely my favourites though.
If I had to pick one album, it would be this one. It’s definitely the heaviest Sabbath
record in my opinion and also the most ‘stoned’ sounding one if you catch my
drift? They tuned down for the first
time on this record (the first 2 were in Standard tuning) which made for a
darker atmosphere and I love the contrast of the acoustic tracks, ‘Embryo’ and ‘Orchid’ with heavier numbers such as ‘Lord of This World’ and ‘Into
The Void’, the dynamics work perfectly.
2.
Saint Vitus – ‘Born Too Late’ (1986)
Sabbath invented Doom in the 70’s, but it was the bands who
followed in their wake such as Saint Vitus, Pentagram and Trouble
who defined Doom Metal as a genre in the 80’s. Again, it’s very hard to pick
one particular album from a band I love so much but this is as classic as it
gets. Stand out songs for me are ‘Dying
Inside’, which is a stark warning about the dangers of alcoholism and the
title track, a Doom anthem with lyrics every Doom fan can relate to. I also
love the Scott Reagers fronted Vitus and the Lord Chritus era too but Wino is
one of my all-time favourite singers and guitarists so this album is as perfect
as it gets for me. If I had more choices I would also probably have included an
album from
The Obsessed in this list, maybe ‘The Church Within"
3.
Pentagram – ‘Relentless’ (1985)
Another stone-cold classic and the first record I
heard by them. This album is just killer from start to finish. Victor Griffin’s
guitar tone sounds like a buzz saw (in a good way!), Bobby is genuinely
sinister in his vocal delivery and Joe Hasselvander pounds the hell out of the
drum kit throughout while Martin Swaney holds down the low end. So many classic
songs too! There’s no filler on this album at all, every song just slays. You’ve
got to love the cow-bell in the middle of ‘Sinister’
too! A close second choice to this album would be ‘Be Forewarned’ (1994) but I adore everything they have released. It
was a real honour and pleasure to play with them at Day of Doom Barcelona
4. Trouble – ‘Trouble’ (1990)
Most True Doom heads would probably pick ‘Psalm 9’ or ‘The Skull’ over this but I got into Trouble via ‘Manic Frustration’ in the early 90’s then worked my way backwards.
I just really like the vibe of this album. The lyrics, riffs and solos are
exceptional. Bruce Franklin and Rick Wartell are one of the best twin guitar
teams in the business. I’ve seen them live several times with different
line-ups and they don’t miss a note, they’re so tight! It’s cool nowadays that
we have both Trouble
with Kyle Thomas on vocals and The Skull but I do sometimes wish this line-up
(minus Barry Stern, R.I.P.) would get back together for a few shows, that would
be ace!
5.
Sleep – ‘Sleep’s Holy
Mountain
Some would argue that Sleep aren’t really ‘Trad Doom’.
Although they kick started the whole ‘Stoner Doom’ genre I still consider this
to be a trad Doom album, heavily influenced by Sabbath’s early albums and
copious amounts of weed! Most Sleep fans bang on about ‘Jerusalem Jerusalem ’ has its charms but ‘Sleep’s Holy Mountain
