Bang the DrumGreetings, Earthlings! When I say that Toronto’s Godstopper is Doom Metal without the Metal, don’t get the wrong idea. This is very heavy, abrasive music. But it’s not quite metal. The band’s Bandcamp page is tagged “doom industrial metal rock noise Toronto”. Seems about right. Godstopper is musically akin to the Melvins, the Jesus Lizard or Shellac, but with definate metal leanings. The most metal part of “Clean House” (seen below) comes in the second half with what my Consigliere of Metal, Phil from Haggatha, calls “Andrew Lloyd Webber vocals”. More after the jump.


Godstopper is the brainchild of Mike Simpson, a metal aficionado who hosts Superheavy Sounds on CIUT, a Toronto community radio station. The band’s debut EP Empty Crawlspace is available as a free download on their Bandcamp page (the EP was also issued on cassette in a very limited edition run). Here’s “Bent”, a song that starts out with a a classic rock vibe, and even has some Alice Cooper-y vocals. I say starts out with because that’s merely a departure point into doom-y psychedelic mayhem.

Also in the All Doom, No Metal category is Germany’s Bohren & der Club of Gore. These guys started out in hardcore bands with names like 7 Inch Boots and Chronical Diarrhoea, but eventually gave up their guitars for saxophones and keyboards and slowed things right on down into what they call “uneventful music”. I’ve been calling it Ambient Doom Jazz, but I like their term even better. Last month they released a three-song EP called Beileid. Along with the title track and “Zombies Never Die (Blues)”, Beileid features a cover of Warlock’s “Catch My Heart” featuring vocals by Mike Patton.
Bohren & Der Club of Gore – Zombies Never Die (Blues) by PIASGermany
Here’s “Midnight Walker” from Bohren & der Club of Gore’s 2000 album, Sunset Mission.

Finally, here’s some proper Doom/Sludge Metal from Saskatoon’s Lavagoat who recently released their self-titled debut. Bassist Graeme Burke came in second in Planet S magazine‘s Best of Reader’s Poll in the Tattoo Artist category (his brother Pat came in first–both work out of the Rites of Passage studio. Hi fellas!).

Emmet Matheson is a freelance exchange student from Latveria who blogs intermittently at A Bulldozer With a Wrecking Ball Attached. You can e-mail him at: bulldozerDOTwreckingballATgmailDOTcom