There was probably a period of time in the '70s when most hard rock fans assumed that
Black Sabbath had taken the whole doom metal genre about as far as it could go. But in the '90s, a new breed of doom metallists took it to the next level -- replacing
Ozzy's oft-monotonous vocals with growls straight from the abyss down south, and riffs and tempos so sludgy that molasses was seemingly going to start oozing out of your speakers at any second.
Dwelling in Doubt, the 2006 debut release by
Village of Dead Roads, shows that this Eerie, PA quartet have certainly studied what their doom metal forefathers left behind. However, tracks such as "Blind Albino" and the album opening "Fugitive" show that the group isn't opposed to speeding up the tempo a bit -- especially compared to some of the other bands in the doom genre. Elsewhere, the beginning of "Objection" sounds like someone shooting off a laser gun during a Tibetan Monk group chant. But such unmistakable trademarks of this genre -- gargantuan riffs and tortured vocal screams -- prevail throughout.