If you ever have any questions about doom metal, the answers are in this book.

Aleksey Evdokimov has compiled and assembled an astonishing amount of information regarding doom metal music. On the surface, Doom Metal Lexicanum is exactly what it appears to be: an encyclopedia of doom metal bands. You do get broad coverage of more bands than you can imagine. I thought I knew a lot about this vein of music, but clearly I was wrong. There are bands here I have never heard of, dozens and dozens of them. The entries are different lengths, depending on how long the band has been around, how much they have performed, and the number of albums they have released. For new bands or short-lived one, you will find a couple of paragraphs. For legendary groups like Candlemass, the entry goes on for pages.

Evdokimov covers 360 bands, in doom and closely related fields. I performed an experiment wherein I tried to think of a band that wasn’t in the book. I didn’t do very well. In fact, I couldn’t come up with any, except for ones that aren’t really doom bands or are new enough to have missed the publication deadline. The coverage is comprehensive and, while it might not be exhaustive, it is close enough to confound any metalhead I know. In addition to the entries describing the bands and their work, you also get a few essays at the end of the volume discussing related topics like witchcraft and black magic in doom, Lovecraftian influences on the music, and so on.

The current incarnation of the volume is the second edition. The author notes that the text has been revised only slightly. Essentially, the selected discographies have been updated for important new albums that have emerged in the four years that passed since the first edition, along with a few minor other changes, but the text from the first edition remains largely intact. The new edition is in hardcover, which is an improvement over the original paperback, and the layout is a bit different, too, also enhancing the reading experience.

If you are a doom metal fan, this book is absolutely essential. You can order a copy through the link below or gather one up at your preferred bookseller.

Book Details.

Doom Metal Lexicanum, second edition

By Aleksey Evdokimov

Published by Crypt Publications and Cult Never Dies in 2021

Hardcover

324 pages

ISBN: 978-1-915148-02-5

Link.

Cult Never Dies, https://cultneverdies.myshopify.com/collections/all-publications/products/doom-metal-lexicanum-book-2022-hardback-edition

© Wayne Edwards