Article By: Damon ‘Gravitoyd’ Caraway ‡ Edited By: Leanne Ridgeway
Houston, TX doom metal masters (and mistress) Doomstress will be hitting the road for an extensive North American tour starting this week! Joining as co-headliners will be Florida’s Beerwolf. Doomstress is heading out supporting their latest release, ‘Supernatural Kvlt Sounds: The Second Rite’, and we have a review and stream here for you.
Doomstress claws its way out of the remnants of Harvey’s devastation upon Houston, waking to deliver an album that has all the force of a hurricane and the punch of a 2’x4′ splintering a telephone pole! The dark themes and sinister overtones prevalent in Doomstress’ debut offering, ‘Supernatural Kvlt Sounds’, remain, as does the name with the addition of ‘The Second Rite.‘
This is a tight, doom-groove ripper that from the first note grabs you by the ears and demands your attention. That would be a good thing because this album is good… really good! Musically, Brandon, Tomasz, and Alexis Doomstress’ sophomore effort show great strides forward in maturity and cohesion as a unit.
The album is purposeful in approach and the band maintains ties to classic early seventies rock in covering Uriah Heep’s “Rainbow Demon,” as well as the overall doom-laden retro feel they’ve laid into each track. This is a great stomping ground for the lyrics to reap fear and domination where they may, and they do.
Doomstress Alexis, in addition to being the driving low-end bass-crusher of the band, wails beautifully at points throughout the album but gets mid-range bluesy-dirty to drive home the power and emotion. Making this a damn good doom/stoner rock album. I liked it so much it made my top-25 list for 2017 albums!
Released December 20th via No Slip Records, Doomstress‘ ‘The Second Rite‘ is comprised of remixed versions from the original, very limited self-release, and 7″ D.H.U. Records single, “Wicked Woman“. It includes a new song, “Bitter Plea“, recorded at the end of their Wicked Summer tour and featuring additional rhythm guitar by guitarist Joe Fortunato (Sparrowmilk/ Venomin James/ ex-Ancient VVisdom).
‘The Second Rite‘ EP (only) tracklist:
01. Way of the Mountain
02. Bitter Plea
03. Rainbow Demon*
04. Sleep Among the Dead
05. Wicked Woman** (7″ version: CD-only bonus)
*Uriah Heep cover (1972)
**Coven cover (1969)
‘The Second Rite’ is also released on vinyl as a 12″ split (minus the “Wicked Woman” Coven cover) with Cleveland instrumental powerhouse Sparrowmilk via D.H.U. Records! As with the EP CD release of The Second Rite, this 12″ vinyl split was mastered by Kent Stump (Wo Fat) at Crystal Clear Sound in Dallas, TX. The artwork that will appear on both the CD and vinyl is by renowned psychedelic artist, Goatess Doomwych.
Order the CD release in the US via Bandcamp [here] or the vinyl (International) via D.H.U. [here].
DOOMSTRESS:
Doomstress Alexis – Bass, Vocals
Brandon Johnson – Lead / Rhythm Guitars, Backing Vocals
Tomasz Scull – Drums
Facebook | Bandcamp | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
Doomstress/Beerwolf North American Tour 2018:
Feb 15 – Lafayette, LA – Freetown Boom Room (Doomstress Only)
Feb 16 – Hattiesburg, MS – The Tavern (Doomstress Only)
Feb 16 – Gainesville, FL – Loosey’s (Beerwolf Only)
Feb 17 – Mobile, AL – The Blind Mule
Feb 18 – Birmingham, AL – The Nick
Feb 19 – Memphis, TN – Growlers
Feb 20 – Oklahoma City, OK – Your Mom’s Place
Feb 21 – Arlington, TX – Division
Feb 22 – Austin TX – The Lost Well
Feb 23 – San Angelo, TX – The Dead Horse
Feb 24 – Houston, TX – Dan Electros
Feb 25 – New Orleans, LA – Santo’s Bar
