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Heavy Metal Thunder British Traditional Doom

Genres Heavy Metal Doom Metal British Traditional Doom

British Traditional Doom

Doom with clean vocals and proper songs — the purest line back to Sabbath, run through British heavy rock.

Active years
1979 – present
Origin
UK
Family
Doom Metal
Bands here
13

Start here

Four records in order of how easy they are to get into — which is not the same as best first.

  1. The Ethereal Mirror Cathedral, 1993

    The same band two years later, having discovered groove and a sense of humour. Seventies hard rock played at doom tempo, and by far the most fun thing in the genre.

    Listen to The Ethereal Mirror

  2. Death Penalty Witchfinder General, 1982

    Sabbath worship from the Black Country, recorded in two days, with sleeve art that would end a career today. The riffs are excellent and the band knew exactly how silly the rest of it was.

    Listen to Death Penalty

  3. Watching from a Distance Warning, 2006

    Five songs about a break-up, played very slowly, and one of the most genuinely sad records in metal. Patrick Walker sings rather than intones, which is what separates British doom from the rest.

    Listen to Watching from a Distance

  4. Forest of Equilibrium Cathedral, 1991 The landmark

    The slowest record Cathedral ever made and the last rung here for that reason — Lee Dorrian left Napalm Death and halved the tempo of everything he could find. Magnificent, and hard work cold.

    Listen to Forest of Equilibrium

What it sounds like

Sung, not growled, and built from actual songs. The riffs are slow and heavy in the direct Sabbath line, but the vocals are clean and often theatrical, the structures are verse and chorus, and the whole thing sits closer to seventies heavy rock than to anything extreme. Occult and pastoral imagery rather than gore. There is very little aggression in it. What separates it from the doom that came after is that nothing has been borrowed from death metal: no low tuning, no harsh vocal, no extremity — just weight, tempo and a great deal of atmosphere. Cathedral and Pagan Altar sound like a folk horror film rather than a horror film, and that very English quality is most of the appeal.

  • Heaviness 4 out of 5
  • Speed 1 out of 5
  • Aggression 2 out of 5
  • Technicality 2 out of 5
  • Darkness 3 out of 5
  • Melody 3 out of 5

Where the name came from

A geographic and stylistic label for the strain of doom metal tracing a direct lineage from Black Sabbath through bands like Witchfinder General and Pagan Altar in the late 1970s and early 1980s. British traditional doom maintains clean vocals and conventional song structures, distinguishing it from the extreme doom variants. Cathedral's Lee Dorrian and Paul Chain's occult doom aesthetic were formative influences.

The bands

Hear these first

  • Cathedral UK
  • Witchfinder General UK
  • Pagan Altar UK
  • Warning UK
  • Solstice UK

And 8 more

  • Conan UK
  • Moss UK
  • Esoteric UK
  • Electric Wizard UK
  • Orange Goblin UK
  • Serpent Venom UK
  • Iron Void UK
  • Alunah UK

If you liked this

Closest in sound outside this family, leaning towards the similar or the gentler rather than straight into the deep end.