Already the seventh installment of the Dutch Doom Day (DDD) took place in Rotterdam this year. And again filled with two days of doom metal in all its kinds and forms. Nevertheless I only went the second day, as there were few bands on day one that I was interested in.

Opening were the partly Dutch, partly Belgian Hooded Priest, who play a form of doom that is very close to traditional heavy metal. Most of the band had painted faces and the singer indeed wore a habit including a hood; he also carried a microphone standard in the form of a scythe. The music however wasn’t really my thing, but not bad either. The singer was pretty decent though and even at the early hour of 15:00 really put effort in it. Interestingly they didn’t have a bass guitar player, but a double bass. Unfortunately he picked it with his fingers instead of playing it with a bow. But that was a nice twist.

Second there was a German band that played a mixture of doom and death metal, named Ophis. Described in the media as a cross between early Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride. No little names in the genre. However I thought they compared a bit better to bands like Disembowelment and Indesinence. Last years Imindain also comes to mind. Generally slow, but it occasionally speeds up with some interesting hooks and breaks. Not really original or spectacular, but a good band that played a very interesting set. Enough to buy some their album.

Fall of the Idol is a Finnish band that play doom metal with some stoner influences. I guess they didn’t work for me but I can’t really put down why. Three guitars also seemed a bit overdone for this band. They played pretty steady though. In between doing some vocals – which weren’t too good – the singer gave us some pretty nifty impressions of Gollum and other weirdos.

Folk doom the announcement said when it comes to Faith. And folk usually puts me off; and that is what happened this time. This band has a violin and a key-fiddler and includes traditional Swedish folk music into classic doom. The vocals reminds me sometimes of Tomas Vikström of Candlemass. Not really bad, but the sorta happy tunes of the fiddles didn’t mix too well with the heavy, yet simple and standard doom metal riffs.

The Belgian Pantheist had moved to England and now features members from Esoteric and Indesinence. The band still plays funeral doom, that sometimes speeds up, and is heavily based on keyboards. Not a bad band, but too generic and the overuse of keyboards and false clean vocals makes me cringe at times.

Things got really interesting when supposed headliner Worship entered the stage. This German doom metal band plays extremely slow, and uses sharp guitar melodies to liven it up a bit. Starting with the classic “Keep on selling Cocaine to Angels” and followed it by a sequence of four songs from the “Dooom” album. This some really great depresive funeral doom with sick self-destructive lyrics, and equal vocals. They ended the set with the opening song of the first album “Whispering Gloom”. Generally a very good show, but the leads weren’t always played correctly.

The final act of the day were the Finnish Skepticism. The godfathers of funeral doom along with the aforementioned Thergothon. But in my opinion Skepticism outclasses them by far. They don’t play much live and take long times between albums. With a new album out recently – Alloy – they started a short tour through Europe. But could they create the same atmosphere live as on the albums? After a long time setting up the stage – they have a keyboard set and a completely different drumkit – they started more than an hour late. The organ and guitars create grand soundscapes that surpass the typical notion of riffs. The drummer also doesn’t use regular sticks, but cushioned ones often seen played timpanos. But to answer my earlier question – yes, live Skepticism can recreate the same atmosphere live. Even though there is no bass guitar, the organ’s footpedals fill the lower regions and create a thick sound. The vocalist seeks very little interaction with the audience. And neither do the other musicians, in a way adding to the dark sound of the music. This was a show I had anticipated much ever since its announcement and didn’t let down one bit. Skepticism are a very unique band creating huge songs and can play them live too. One of the best gigs I have seen this year.