Doomy Death Metal

[HallucinatingDeath]

Check out Rigor Sardonicus.

[LD50]

I'm not sure about Anathema or My Dying Bride... Are their early albums straight Doomy Death/Death Doom or are there violins, female vocals and romantic themes etc in there?

MY DYING BRIDE didn't begin their romantic descent until Turn Loose the Swans, and fully realized it on The Angel and the Dark River.  Most of the previous material is solid -- heavily death metal-oriented and thoughtfully written. 

All of ANATHEMA's album stuff is inferior to MDB's, by contrast; their later embrace of a rock-like aesthetic is little surpising because of it.

Anyway I'd reccommend him to try "the silent enigma" from their doom-death stuff and "alternative 4" from later material. The first one has nothing to do with violins...nothing, and second one is a very good depresive non-metal album.

[Wraith]

How could anyone miss Demigod?

BUNCH O' SLAGS.

[OccamsChainsaw]

Hmm, most of these have probably already been mentioned, but...

Runemagick
Autopsy
Disembowelment
Coffins
Funerus
Incantation
Winter


While we're on the subject, does anyone else think the classification "death/doom" is largely misapplied?

[ForgottenLore]

God Macabre. 'Nuff said.

[13X]

Runemagick

Just finished listening to Runemagick - The Supreme Force Of Eternity. Seconded! Drummer from Sacramentum is the guitarist/vocalist, and it shows.

[Devamitra]

Dream Death's "Journey Into Mystery" is a rather forgotten but very interesting album that totally bridges the so-called traditional doom with death metal. It's a good spiritual companion to Winter & co.

Sorrow's "Hatred and Disgust" also springs to mind. It's been a while since I heard it so I can't say how satisfying it was in the end but the style was crushing, slow NY death metal with some parts reminiscent of slowed down Incantation or Suffocation.

How about Tiamat's first two albums? They are surprisingly hard to pin down in a category but doom and death are there. It's also pretty close to early Greek black metal. Also Thergothon's "Stream from the Heavens".

[Wraith]

While we're on the subject, does anyone else think the classification "death/doom" is largely misapplied?

In that most of them play more like Candlemass but with the chug of speed metal and growls from death metal?

Yes.

However, I think that "doom metal" is a bit of a misnomer itself. It's really just any genre of metal played slowly and made gloomier. Doom seems to be more defined through a spirit (often defeatist) and tempo than the other genres, which have their own spirit as well as differences in musical technique.

But doom metal generally sucks due to its pity-romanticising defeatism, which is far less directive or constructive than anything else in metal. At least when Burzum's weeping on Filosofem he's implicitly hailing another age.

[Devamitra]

But doom metal generally sucks due to its pity-romanticising defeatism, which is far less directive or constructive than anything else in metal.

It's because it was created by British stoners, from Black Sabbath to Paradise Lost. In each case the original art was a powerful exploration of gothic darkness but soon delved deep into an introverted kind of psychedelia which abhors challenge & war in nature and physical world, instead choosing to turn everything to a sterile morality play.

The best "doom metal" is simply epic heavy metal or slow, brooding death metal.

[Transilvania]

Grave maybe? Incantation definitely.

[HallucinatingDeath]

Eternal Darkness, too. How could I forget that one!

[Transilvania]

I listened to Therion's Of Darkness album. It had some crushingly slow sections.

I recommend it to all if you do not have it. It is far superior to their later material, which I hate with an undying passion.

[Gargos]

Some songs from Malevolent Creation's "Eternal" album are pretty doomy, and try Autopsy's "Severed Survival" album, both are amazing.

[ares]

Sempiternal Deathreign-The Spooky Gloom EP

[Gargos]

While we're on the subject, does anyone else think the classification "death/doom" is largely misapplied?

Yes, death metal bands aiming to invoke a much stronger emotion in accordance with their lyrics and overall theme would opt to strive for a "doomy" mood and throw a little atmosphere in it as well, just improves the quality of the music. Then again, the straightforward clique of death metal like early Therion is still excellent.