Tempest

2013 debut album from the Oakland-based Metal band. Lycus has crafted an incredibly mature album for such a young band, instantly recognizable as among the top Funeral Doom/Death Doom releases of the past several years. One can hear echoes of Mournful Congregation, Asunder, My Dying Bride, even Pallbearer within their melancholic dirges and woefully heavy riffs; however, Lycus don't rely solely on punishingly slow tempos. In fact, even the slow sections have a sense of movement not often seen in the genre, and at other times the band breaks out into bursts of hysteric Black Metal, such as on the album's 20-minute title track. Violins scattered throughout bring further variation to the funereal proceedings of Tempest - a record not content to simply sit on conservative genre ideals. Tempest is the most promising debut of 2013 in the Doom genre, and establishes Lycus as a band to watch in the months and years ahead.