Wall of Sleep: When Mountains Roar

Review

And, while we're on the subject of new doom metal, we have the Hungarian band Wall of Sleep and their fourth full-length, When Mountains Roar.

Despite being named after an Ozzy-era Sabbath song, this stoner doom group sounds a lot more like Heaven & Hell. Their overall sound is really pretty good, and they know how to groove. They even throw in some electric organ now and then. But the vocals, done in a harsh stoner/sludge style, are poor because he tries to hit a lot of notes he just can't hit. If he wouldn't try so hard (or if he'd get some lessons) this would be improved a great deal.

The music as a whole is passable, but only "Receive the Pain" stands out as a really great song, with "Raven Avenue" being the only other one to come even close. The rest of it, while never bad, is never really that great either.

The Verdict: This is passably interesting stoner doom, but doesn't have anything to warrant getting excited about. I give it 2.5 out of 5 stars.