Salutations fellow doomers! The results of our Funeral Doom Friday poll are in. We asked you to vote for your favorite funeral doom metal album of 2020. Below, we present the top 3 albums of the year, as voted by you. Chances are good that someone out there hasn't heard one of these albums. And your votes might just help someone discover exactly what they've been searching for.
3) Drown – Subaqueous
If the ethereal blue of Adam Burke's cover art didn't entice you to submerge yourself in Subaqueous, then the music itself ought to. This was an album I had wanted to cover in greater detail on the Funeral Doom Friday column, but alas the fuse of time burns fast. Subaqueous offers us a freedom in resignation. An acceptance of inevitability, along with a gray shade of watery peace. Written by Markov Soroka (Tchornobog, Aureole), Subaqueous also features percussionist Wessel Damiaen, as well as Gina Hendrika Eygenhuysen on violin and strings. Of further note, Drown's second outing was produced by Greg Chandler of the mighty Esoteric.
2) Atramentus – Stygian
This one should easily be a candidate for Album Of The Year. And not just on this list, but any list. Read our full review here.
1) Bell Witch & Aerial Ruin – The Stygian Bough
This one comes as no surprise. Since their self-titled demo in 2011, Bell Witch have consistently created upper-echelon funeral doom. And while Erik Moggridge of Aerial Ruin has provided clean vocals on previous recordings, The Stygian Bough marks the first full-album collaboration between the two.
If you've not heard Aerial Ruin's solo output, Moggridge has two 2020 releases for you. Find them on Bandcamp here.
On a personal note, I am grateful for the warm welcome the rejuvenated FDF column has received. Reader comments have been helpful and I appreciate them very much. I won't dawdle about with proclamations about how amazing 2021 will be. But with new years come new music. May we continue to share art that moves us. Even if it moves us to tears. Happy New Year, doomers.
