Some albums are born from necessity rather than desire. When a Shadow Is Forced Into the Light is one. After Swallow the Sun issued their triple-length magnum opus Songs from the North I, II & III in 2015, tragedy struck. Guitarist/composer Juha Raivio lost his life partner, the poet and vocalist Aleah Stanbridge, to cancer at the end of 2016. She and Raivio had formed the band Trees of Eternity but she passed before their debut was completed. He finished and released the album then went into seclusion. Upon returning, he formed the band Hallatar, composing songs from lyrics in her journals. They released No Stars Upon the Bridge in 2017. But Raivio also channeled his grief into this extended reflection on loss, sadness, heartbreak, and transformation for STS; he penned its nine songs in three weeks…

As one of the biggest names in doom metal, Candlemass release onto the world their latest LP, The Door to Doom. With their original vocalist Johan Längqvist making a return to the band, the album makes for a stellar work of ominous atmosphere and delicious riffs. Across eight songs, the Swedish doom metallers demonstrate their mastery over the doom genre…

"Candlemass have come full circle: their first singer Johan Langquist (who left the band after singing on the legendary 1986 debut Epicus Doomicus Metallicus) has returned! The Door To Doom unsurprisingly follows the plotline mastermind, songwriter and bass player Leif Edling established in the past years: epic world class doom metal that relies on slow mammoth riffing. With Johan Langquist`s highly dramatic vocal style and the love for details, the band made this album to the next “Epicus”. This masterpiece is rounded off by a beautiful guest appearance by none other than Black Sabbath`s Tony Iommi on ‘Astorolus – The Great Octopus‘."

Finnish melancholy death-doom metal masters SWALLOW THE SUN release their new album, "When A Shadow Is Forced Into The Light", on January 25, 2019 through Century Media Records.

Journeys in Solitude is a gothic/doom metal album by a band that appears to be unfairly lumped in with the overwhelmingly large gothic/doom metal scene, thus aiding their obscurity after two albums. Fading Bliss' music is like an ever enclosing cell of despair that crushes the listener after paralyzing him/her…

Being a relic off one of the promising Black / Death Metal bands in Brazil, DESDOMINUS, didn’t seem to be a part of the game when multi-instrumentalist, Douglas Martins, decided to start over on his own. Emerging as DEEP MEMORIES, helped to reintroduce some of the key elements and talent that made the early days of DESDOMINUS colorful along with a new vision of extreme Metal…