techhub.social is one of the many independent Mastodon servers you can use to participate in the fediverse.
A hub primarily for passionate technologists, but everyone is welcome

Administered by:

Server stats:

4.9K
active users

#Doomerism

0 posts0 participants0 posts today

Aganoor – Doomerism Review

By Killjoy

Of all the genre labels, doom metal is probably the one that most often prompts me to investigate further. This isn’t because it’s my favorite per se, but rather because doom and its myriad subgenres can sound so wildly different from one another,1 so I try to ensure I don’t miss something good. This time it paid off when I found Aganoor, a brand new doom group from Rome, Italy. Formed as recently as summer 2023, they wasted no time writing and recording a debut LP, Doomerism, which promises an intriguing blend of classic doom, stoner, heavy psych, and goth rock. With an album title that’s maybe a bit on the nose, Aganoor sets out to bend multiple time-tested styles to suit their doomy whims.

Like forebears Black Sabbath or Pentagram, Aganoor doesn’t skimp on weighty, down-tuned guitar riffs. The majority of these riffs are infused with a sense of vaguely bluesy stoner groove peddled by the likes of Wo Fat, with just enough grit and fuzz around the edges. At times, the guitars also take on a darker inflection when vocalist Dan Ghostrider dips into surly Type O Negative goth rock territory. It’s not all doom and gloom, though. Aganoor also has a penchant for luxuriant psychedelic explorations like Elder or (later) REZN, albeit more concise and less indulgent. A slight reverb effect on the guitars lends the music a cosmic vibe and augments the sense of psychedelia. The key takeaway is that Aganoor enjoys jamming across multiple styles.

However, to describe Doomerism as a “jam” may be misleading because it implies that the music is directionless or unplanned. Aganoor never succumbs to the autopilot tendencies commonly associated with stoner and psych groups. In fact, all of Doomerism’s tracks sit in the 6 to 8-minute range, but they feel more like 4. This is due to a keen sense of flow and an intuition of when to go harder with the doom riffs and when to ease off the throttle for an entrancing psychedelic passage. “Icarus” exemplifies this dichotomy best, where an irresistible groove dominates the first half, then smoothly settles into a smoky bass-led segment. This isn’t to say that it’s always either-or; there are plenty of times when the lead guitar goes on a short excursion while tethered to a solid rhythm guitar or bass line (“Morbid Skin,” “Bury My Soul,” “Mind Shadowing”). In this way, not a single minute feels wasted, and even the meandering bits feel vital.

Perhaps the most appealing quality of Doomerism is how easy it is to listen to while simultaneously offering enough to chew on during repeat visits. Aganoor does this by keeping just enough of the familiar popular music song structure but strategically omitting or lengthening components to form something more novel. The more rock-oriented numbers feature traditional choruses (“Bury My Soul” and “Emerald Lake”), but rather than relying too heavily on them for memorability, Aganoor leans more on quality hooks and recurring melodies. They’re also happy to write long, elaborate intros (“Nadir”) and instrumental bridges (“Mind Shadowing”) without ever approaching proggy excess. Doomerism’s 6-track, 39-minute runtime is the perfect amount to feel satisfied but still wish for one more song. If I must nitpick, it can sometimes feel like Aganoor are a bit too secure in the shadow of their various influences, but it’s hard to complain when their execution is this good, and they still undeniably put their own spin on this retro flavor of songwriting.

Aganoor came seemingly out of nowhere with an enchanting combination of doom metal and adjacent styles. Doomerism feels like the best of both worlds; the riffs-first approach and gothic tendencies keep the psychedelic elements focused and grounded in reality, while the stoner rock grants the perfect amount of levity to an otherwise stifling atmosphere. The net effect is warm and refreshing like a summer breeze. Each song has a smooth, buttery flow that’s easy to zone out and get lost in. I would not have guessed this to be a debut album; the band members sound as comfortable as if they’ve been playing together for years. As such, things already look promising for a future Aganoor sophomore record.

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: My Kingdom Music | BloodRock Records
Websites: aganoor.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/aganoorband
Releases Worldwide: June 6th, 2025

#2025 #40 #Aganoor #BlackSabbath #BloodRockRecords #DoomMetal #Doomerism #Elder #GothicMetal #ItalianMetal #Jun25 #MyKingdomMusic #Pentagram #PsychedelicDoomMetal #PsychedelicRock #Review #Reviews #REZN #StonerMetal #TypeONegative #WoFat

Today was a very good news day. Two federal judges moving towards holding administration people in contempt. A senator goes to #ElSalvador and learns information helpful to the #Garcia case.

And a friend of mine reports that #doomerism is all over Facebook. People saying it's all hopeless, none of this matters.

And one of my heroes here in the Fediverse, @GottaLaff , has been getting the same.

This is like snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. 1/

Continued thread

A bit I didn't include at the end of my #LotR / #climate analogy is that Frodo (or your average person living through #ClimateCollapse) doesn't succumb to the Morgul blade (#doomerism) but he's never the same even after bringing the Ring to Mordor.

Dude has major PTSD, has Seen Things, and can't enjoy life the way he used to. He even tells Sam that he's saved the Shire, but not for him.

Things will never be the same, even after the day has been saved. But things will *be*. And that matters.

people keep dooming and glooming about the future of humanity and how climate change will destroy us

while there is significant cause for concern, let's put things into perspective:

--the earliest of humankind survived an ice age
--humanity survived the Black Plague centuries before modern medicine
--humanity is ridiculously adaptable as evidenced by people who have evolved to live in high-altitude regions
--we continue to make strides in green energy and quality of life
--it may not seem like it, but these are the most peaceful times of our existence
--there are millions of people determined to fight against fascism and anti-intellectualism

I'm not saying the worst can't happen. But allowing ourselves to be frozen in fear of what COULD happen instead of fighting for what IS happening is not beneficial.

I think we all have to avoid some type of discurse or another as part of self care, and it's potentially a different type for each of us, and that's OK. For me it happens to be #doomerism (as well as #campism and a few others). During general election season, I also elect to tune out #AntiElectorialism. Anti-electoralism seems especially shrill this year. I don't think this year's conservadem is significantly more conservative than usual (and I do think the Republican candidate is much more fascistic than most), so Russian influence operations seem to me a more plausible explanation.

@dhayannada

For some time now I have considered that #Climate and #Environment #Doomerism is, actually, the only realistic approach. Pretending that we are not thoroughly f*cked on multiple levels actively prevents:

1) Challenging the widespread delusion that we are doing anything near what actually needs to be done

2) Preparing for the impending societal #Collapse that will affect everyone in ways that they simply don't understand, and don't want to understand.

You may have noticed around here that I tend to push back against sentiments along the lines of "The Bad People™️ have all the power & everything you think you're doing to stop them only helps them" - this is why: youtube.com/watch?v=iEnnUrYtCM

This "soft defeatism" (love that wording & will be using it mercilessly) is basically a form of criti-hype & goes against the very fiber of my being. If I believed that change was impossible I literally would not be alive anymore.