Is it possible for a doom metal release to be too doomy? Well, if there's ever an album that deserves this hot and burning question, it's
Sub Templum, the 2008 release by U.K.-based doomsayers
Moss. What you get here are four tracks that stretch beyond an hour and 20 minutes in total (pretty much pushing the CD's limits to the max) -- one of which ("Subterraen") clocks in at 23:25, while another ("Gate III: Devils from the Outer Dark") stretches on for 35:31. But enough about minutes and seconds -- the tunes here are simply mind-numbing due to their slow-as-molasses tempos, their "vocals" (and the term is used pretty darn loosely here, as all singer Olly Pearson does is scream in agony throughout), and their detuned/fuzzed-out riffs. Coming off as a totally improvised doom jam, the songs don't follow any structure and simply don't go anywhere. Whether this was the group's goal or not, who knows, but as evidenced by the ultra-dense
Sub Templum, the
Moss gentlemen seem to be more interested in seeing how much air they can push out of their maxed-to-ten amplifiers than in songcraft.