Stephen O’Malley is oft recognized as a pioneer of doom and drone metal from his participation in Khanate and Sunn O))). But before either of these incarnations, O’Malley and Greg Anderson (also of Sunn O) were creating blackest doom metal in Burning Witch and Thorr’s Hammer. Thorr’s Hammer was an incredible band with a charming female who sang in Norwegian (Runhild Gammelsæter aka Ozma, who was a 17 year old exchange student from Norway at the time). My favorite song by them is “Norge” which starts out softly, Ozma’s voice fades in, chanting in Norwegian. Then, that same female voice dives deeply into gravelly death metal vocalizations. It’s hard to believe that it’s a female singing still, she is so convincing with her delivery! ([More →])

Environmental campaigns seem to go hand-in-hand with music events. Live Earth is a fine example. Many bands are using their tours as platforms for environmental education and recycling programs, like Linkin Park, Cheryl Crow and the Beastie Boys. But nothing sings about environmental doom and destruction like a carefully chosen documentary soundtrack. Finally, someone has matched planetary doom with the perfect soundtrack of doom metal and dark ambient electronica! I feel I have finally found a single category of music to describe many of my favorite bands - a class of music that I haven’t been able to summarize with a single name until today - Music For Environmental Doom! It’s perfect! What other category could so perfectly link Khanate with Gas, Brian Eno with Arve Henriksen, and Mogwai with Sigur Ros or Lamb? I’d love to own a soundtrack with this music, especially if it were on gatefold double vinyl! ([More →])