For all that has come about in the vast realms of doom, there are always those that seek to revert. Whether it be to intentionally draw from the original vein or to find excellence in simplicity, there are throngs of names out there that seek to deliver doom of a variety that feels stripped-down and basic yet undeniably efficient in its craftsmanship and execution. It’s an admirable thing to revere what’s been done before and even recreate it, but to make such a concept and turn the resulting material into something that’s definitively your own is to come closer to truly becoming one with the sound. Within its fourth album, Phantom Druid does just that.

It would be understatement to say that the old schools of many a metal genre have gained a lot of traction in recent years with the wave still very much going strong. Populating the underground to make for a scene that revels in the past as much as it explores new territory, doom as a whole is in awfully competent hands. As a name that has been around for almost a decade and shown immense proficiency at perpetuating the glory that doom metal has long become synonymous with, Phantom Druid does naught but succeed wildly with “The Edge of Oblivion”. Channeling a particular font of doom that evokes memories of the early years of the sound yet never once allowing that to restrict the breadth and scope of what can be done, it’s throughout these eight riff-filled tracks that Phantom Druid does more than enter a new chapter in its run. Rather, “The Edge of Oblivion” seeks an adjacent path that’s close in damn near every aspect, but Phantom Druid seeks something to call its own. Be it in the form of crispy melodies, droning strings, the tolling of a bell, or atmospheres that pull you ever further into the realm that Phantom Druid holds complete dominion over, this is an album that heralds all that classic doom evoked. The sort of record that old school fans of doom should quickly find themselves enamored with, it’s upon “The Edge of Oblivion” that your eyes lay upon a craft that is true to itself and its predecessors right from the first note.

By no means whatsoever has Phantom Druid done anything in this record that hasn’t been done many times before, yet there is real magic and potency within these eight tracks. Taking a little bit of everything that has ever made this sound something to respect and worship, we get a performance that does it all immense justice. A work that stands tall even unto its end, “The Edge of Oblivion” wastes no time and capitalizes at virtually every turn.

LISTEN to “The Edge of Obivion” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Phantom Druid on Facebook here.