Published: March 31, 2018 

In 2004, a close friend of mine lost not one but both of his parents in the Indian Ocean tsunami that claimed nearly a quarter of a million lives. While I hope I will never experience tragedy as dramatic and profound as his, the impact reverberated throughout our small group, and to a comparatively infinitesimal degree, we shared in his loss. Without wanting to cheapen such sorrow, doom metal — particularly in its more extreme iter...

Published: March 29, 2018 

Like the cello that hums the introductory notes to “Isolation”—the opening track on Iris, the long awaited full-length sophomore release from Saskatchewan’s blackened doom lords, Altars Of Grief—I am hesitant.  Hesitant to commit words to the virtual page, for fear that they will be wholly inadequate and fail to do justice to the magnificence of Iris.

But, if you are willing to walk with me down a desolate prairie road ...

Published: March 22, 2018 

The question isn’t whether Altars of Grief’s sophomore record is good; it's a question of how good it is. Iris is a nigh-peerless construct of somber beauty and one of the greatest doom metal albums in years. That much is readily apparent after just an initial listen. Where should we begin? Should we discuss how Iris’ magnificent fusion of funeral doom and black metal perfectly complement one another while sounding entirely unl...

Published: March 16, 2018

Quando a história é tão emotiva quanto a própria música, então está tudo bem encaminhado. Do Canadá, os Altars of Grief apresentam em “Iris” uma ficção que pode ser a realidade de muitas famílias. Iris está afundada em vícios e doença, e nem o próprio pai consegue chegar perto da sua filha. Quando este percebe que nada mais há a fazer, entra no carro e vai embora, despistando-se mortalmente. O resto da história fala-nos d...

Published: March 15, 2018

What does it truly mean to be ‘heavy?’ Doom metal bands have often given us the proof that heaviness doesn’t have to necessarily link towards anger and frustration. Altars of Grief return with their second album, and the first release since their excellent 2015 split with Nachtterror, to explore the possibility of grief and sorrow being truly the heaviest of all emotions.

Iris is a concept album rooted in some rather weighty materi...

Published: March 7, 2018 

Despite being “only” 55 minutes long, Iris feels much, much longer. The second album from Altars of Grief is a leviathan of blackened, gothic doom, filled with a spirit that is equal parts mournful and furious. Telling the tale of a father who abandons his sick daughter, only to die and be condemned to watch her slowly succumb to illness, it is every bit as bright as the subject matter implies. And yet, there is something c...

Published: March 2, 2018

Altars  Of  Grief  are  a  band  from  Regina,  Saskatchewan  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black  and  funeral  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2018  album  "Iris"  which  will  be  released  on  March  21st  by  Hypnotic  Dirge  Records.

Stringed  instruments  start  off  the  album  along  with  some  drum  beats  and  clean  playing  a  few  seconds  later  which  also  mixes  in  with  the  heavier  sect...