WOODEN STAKE — Dungeon Prayers & Tombyard Serenades (review)

WOODEN STAKE — Dungeon Prayers & Tombyard Serenades album cover Album · 2011 · Doom Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"Dungeon Prayers & Tombyard Serenades" is the debut full-length studio album by US doom metal act Wooden Stake. The album was released in March 2011 by Razorback Records. The band was formed in 2010 by basist/ vocalist Vanessa Nocera and guitarist, drummer and keyboard player Wayne Sarantopoulos and are already responsible for several EPs and split releases.

The music on "Dungeon Prayers & Tombyard Serenades" is filthy, organic sounding old school doom metal. One of the main attractions in the music are the vocals and the horror/ occult themed lyrics by Vanessa Nocera. Vanessa Nocera delivers some really convincing raspy extreme type vocals, but also speaking and clean vocals. The variation in the vocal department really gives the songs on the album an extra dimension. The songs are mostly slow-paced but there are mid-paced sections too and it´s obvious the band understand the importance of variation and memorability. They never betray their downright filthy doom metal sound though and "Dungeon Prayers & Tombyard Serenades" comes off as a very consistent album.

The album is raw and purposely underproduced, giving the album a very organic and simple sound which is perfect for the songs.

It´s not always doom metal releases are able to bring out enthusiasm in me, because of the slow pace and often repetitive riff structures that many acts in the genre seem to favour, but Wooden Stake really took me by surprise. They deliver the full package. Intricate songwriting, filthy dark atmosphere and a murky organic production to boot. Fans of filthy old school doom metal, who in addition to clean female vocals ( not of the angelic type), can appreciate raspy extreme vocals should take notice of this album. A 4 star rating is fully deserved.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Reimmerse Metalcore
UNTIL THE UNKNOWN
Buy this album from MMA partners
Maelstrom Metalcore
URAGH
Buy this album from MMA partners
Voice Of The Void Metalcore
GHOST COMPLEX
Buy this album from MMA partners
Live From The Church Metalcore
ZAO
Buy this album from MMA partners
Magical Suffering Cybergrind
ALIEN FUCKER
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Ghost Complex - Resonance (Official Audio)
GHOST COMPLEX
Bosh66· 40 minutes ago
Ghost Complex - Sensory Deprivation [Official Visualiser]
GHOST COMPLEX
Bosh66· 41 minutes ago
Ghost Complex - Morphine Dreams [Official Music Video]
GHOST COMPLEX
Bosh66· 42 minutes ago
Ghost Complex - Psychotic (Feat. David De La Hoz) [Official Video]
GHOST COMPLEX
Bosh66· 42 minutes ago
Ghost Complex - Mania [Official Video]
GHOST COMPLEX
Bosh66· 43 minutes ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed