Metalhead Series: 5 Doom Metal bands from Ireland

This is a fitting heavy metal genre for the ending of our incredible Metalhead Series, with five doom metal bands from Ireland!

Doom metal is one of the more depressive genres of heavy metal, as opposed to the more aggressive style of most metal genres. Both the music and the lyrics try to evoke a sense of despair and impending doom, hence the name. Since this will be the last instance of our Metalhead Series for the near future, I thought it would be okay to get a little bit depressed. These are five heavy doom metal bands from Ireland.

Venus Sleeps

Venus Sleeps are a psychedelic doom metal band from Dublin, originally a solo project of lead singer Sie Carroll. A notable feature of their heavy and powerful doom music are the incredibly clear lyrics. Since the band’s founding in 2012, the group has developed into one of the most-praised heavy acts in Ireland. They have grown into a force to be reckoned with, both live and recorded. This has secured them live slots alongside the big names of the heavy underground, including In Solitude, Beastmilk, Tribulation and Lecherous Gaze.

Recommended Album:

Remnants (2019)

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Old Season

Old Season is a doom metal band that formed in Dublin around 2003. Over the years, the band saw many lineup changes but still managed to release three albums. Their newest album, Archaic Creation was only released in 2018. They have also made quite the name for themselves in Ireland, but also further abroad, like in Germany and the Netherlands. Throughout the years the band has played at a great number of festivals, including the Hammer Of Doom festival in Germany and the Siege of Limerick.

Recommended Album:

Archaic Creation (2018)

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Soothsayer

The atmospheric doom metal band Soothsayer formed in late 2013 in Cork from the remnants of doom-noise outfit Íweriú. Like most bands evolving from previous endeavours, Soothsayer developed and honed their sound for the first couple years, with only sporadic live appearances. Since then, they have become an impressive live act and their two studio albums are definitely something worth listening to. This band is certainly something to look out for in the future.

Recommended Album:

At This Great Depth (EP, 2016)

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Beithíoch

The band Beithíoch hails from Ireland’s north-west and plays a crossover of black, death and doom metal. Their name comes from the Irish word for ‘beast’. The name represents the instinctive and feral in man, the ancient and the amoral. The band started with a more ambient black metal sound, but has evolved over the years into their current crossover of metal genres. Their sound emphasises atmosphere and power with a couple of more ambient tracks thrown in, making for a good mixture.

Recommended Album:

Ghosts of a World Long Forgotten (2016)

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Owlcrusher

Owlcrusher brings us immense, harrowing and crushing doom metal from Northern Ireland. The band formed originally under the name Dwell In The Sun in 2008, but never officially released any songs under that name, though they produced some demos during that time. These demos were then eventually put into their debut album Owlcrusher that was released in 2017. Drawing from inspirational wellsprings like mental illness, alcohol abuse, tragedy and abject existential fear, their music is a harrowing experience to behold.

Recommended Album:

Owlcrusher (EP, 2017)

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Some honourable mentions: post metal band Arcade Messiah, groove metal band Ten Ton Slug and sludge metal band zhOra and Elder Druid can be seen as genre crossing doom metal bands as well.

Did you enjoy our list of doom metal bands from Ireland? Do you have any other favourites that are not mentioned here? Let us know in the comments below!