18k Anti Anti (doom Edition)

"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‘."

This is where it all began. For the first time ever Chuck Schuldiner’s pre-DEATH band MANTAS’s recordings have been officially collected into one fully authorized compilation. ‘Death By Metal’ is the brutally raw sound of an entire genre being born out of the garage of Chuck Schuldiner’s Florida home close to 3 decades ago. These are the earliest recordings of death metal legend, pioneer and groundbreaker Chuck Schuldiner absolutely ripping the face off of hordes of devotees worldwide. This is the first time that these recordings have been legitimately available since their original release as the Death By Metal demo tape (1984). This is the beginning of DEATH!

There's no point judging music artifacts on the merit of audile quality, not when the artifact in question represents the birth of one of the greatest metal bands in history, DEATH. Instead, we should embrace the buzzbombing, ratchety and frankly horrid cassette-era transfer of basement tapes comprising MANTAS' "Death by Metal" as a peek into the origins of future genius…

Marking 30 years since its original release comes the definitive edition of one of the all-time classic Doom Metal albums. Legendary Swedish band Candlemass - formed in 1984 - is known for its influential 'Epic Doom Metal' sound, which ievolved out of the masterful Black Sabbath. Released in 1987, Nightfall was the second Candlemass studio album. Alongside the band’s debut Epicus Doomicus Metallicus, Nightfall was instrumental in shaping the birth of the still thriving Doom Metal scene. On Nightfall, making his debut with the band was vocalist Jan Alfredo Marcolin, better known as Messiah Marcolin, who became highly respected due to his powerful, soaring and theatrical tones. This deluxe anniversary edition includes previously unreleased alternate rough mixes of the album, tracks from the studio sessions, plus a rare rehearsal recording from 1987 featuring renditions of songs prior to the album being recorded.

Everything about Black Label Society begins with the riff. A dedicated disciple of Zeppelin, Sabbath, and Deep Purple, Zakk Wylde looks to the massive guitar hooks in classics like "Whole Lotta Love," "Into the Void," and "Smoke On the Water" as guiding lights. "The main ingredient in any Black Label soup is the riff," says the larger-than-life frontman. Black Label Society builds their music on this simple truth, truth as self-evident on Back in Black as on the dozen songs comprising Doom Crew Inc., the eleventh album from the dependable stalwarts. Doom Crew Inc. Is both a tribute to the band's "first to bleed, last to leave" road crew and a salute to the legion whose support, stretching back to 1998, rivals that of the KISS Army. The Black Label Society biker-style battle vest "kutte" is as ubiquitous at hard rock and metal shows as a black t-shirt.

Before Type O Negative, there was really no such thing as goth metal. And the group that hails from the bowels of Brooklyn (not Transylvania, as some assume) is still at it, on their sixth studio album overall – and first for the SPV label – 2007's Dead Again. Unbelievably heavy sludge riffs are still a main ingredient, as well as singer Pete Steele's ongoing "Kill me, I'm in agony" lyrics, and vocals that sometimes sound quite Bela Lugosi-esque…