Blessed Black -- melodic doom from Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Blessed Black issued their debut album Beyond the Crimson Throne in 2020. They are melodic doom with singing that could appeal to listeners that want some catchy choruses to go with the big riffs. The official propaganda describes them as "Transcending genre barriers and infusing influences from the worlds of traditional heavy metal, post punk, grunge, while incorporating the best elements of the doom genre, Blessed Black is primed and ready to be the new name in the crowded stoner / doom landscape." The music is doom heaviness, but the melodic singing will probably surprise listeners, especially if they were expecting the usual vocals of doom/stoner, which is to say, some person sort of making do with their limited skills in vocals, so they usuallly just kind of punkshout and yell and stuff. That's not a crime, of course. You have to make do with what you have. However, Blessed Black may convince you that the vocals have something more going on than just "some person yelling." They are not some experimental, weirdo band, like the official description might lead you to believe. Anyway, they will have a new single called "La Brea" available on the 12th of February. It's not available on Bandcamp yet, but they say that they are doing the new single as a preview because they will record their second album in the spring of 2021. In the meantime their debut is a nice, solid introduction to what could be described as a more musical form of doom or stoner doom. Again, you might enjoy the heavy but melodic style of the songs, and the clear, melodic singing.

Beyond the Crimson Throne by Blessed Black