01. The Beginning (interlude)
02. Fly Like An Eagle (Steve Miller Band cover)
03. The Red Crusade (interlude)
04. The In-Between
05. Legacy
06. We Will Rock You (feat. Maria Brink, Lzzy Hale, Taylor Momsen) (Queen cover)
07. Mother
08. As Above So Below
09. Born In Flames
10. God Is She
11. Holy Man
12. Hunting Grounds (feat. Joe Cotela)
13. Lay Me Down
14. Into Dust (Mazzy Star cover)
Doomsday Sun is a Sludge Metal band from Uttoxeter, and Cult Of Stasis is their second EP. It's an ambitious affair, being a concept piece about a story involving time travel and civil war. In their words:
"Cult of Stasis is the second EP by Doomsday Sun; a five-track offering that tells the story of Dr. Jeremy Stantham, an innovative medical scientist. Despairing at his country being torn apart by civil war, Dr. Stantham invents the time capsule; a device that preserves him in a nostalgia-fuelled stasis, but still has to deal with the consequences that a twenty-year slumber can result in"
OK, so before I delve into this opus, I have a small criticism straight off the bat. Most concept albums tell a story through the songs. Sometimes there is some spoken word dialogue which fills in the gaps and effectively glues the chapters together. Doomsday Sun have spoken word interludes between every track, and a couple of them are over a minute long. If you're listening to this EP from start-to-finish as concept records are supposed to be heard, it is quite off-puting and kills the flow. If there was one at the start, one after three songs and one at the end, it may have worked, but as it is, these interludes are too much and serve as an annoyance to skip past.
However, the actual songs are pretty good. I reckon they're quite heavily influenced by bands like Mastodon, Gojira and Neurosis, but they've ended up sounding a bit more like Fourwaykill, especially on the faster tracks like Husk Of The Augur. Incidentally, that's probably my favourite song on here, along with the title track, which has a huge filthy riff that would make Pepper Keenan proud.
Bring Forth The Plague is an accomplished Metal track that is more in the vein of Lamb Of God than the other tracks. It's as crushing as it is technically proficient.
Overall, Cult Of Stasis is a solid release. It has more diversity that your average Sludge Metal release, and enough attack to appeal to a more mainstream Metal audience. Despite my earlier criticism of the spoken tracks, I do think it's cool that they're trying something a little different and, dare I say, theatrical. A bit of imagination is what sets many a beloved band apart from the oceans of dudes with long hair 'playing Metal', so kudos to them for that.
The music is the key though, and there's enough quality heavy tuneage on this new EP for them to make an impact on the underground scene.
02. Yperite
03. Leave Them To Die
04. Hellbiter
05. The Summoning
06. The Demon Within
07. A Silent Killer
08. Iron Helm Of War
09. Heart Of Stone
10. Lust For Blood
01. Chasing The Shadows
02. Blood On Our Hands
03. Judgement Day
04. Collective Anaesthesia
05. Cacophony Of Souls
06. Another Life Another Time
07. Metal Voice
08. Over And Over
09. Back In The Days
10. A Perfect World
11. Bleed
12. No Disguise
01. (deeperthanbefore)
02. Swallowing The Rabbit Whole
03. In Fear
04. You And You Alone
05. Who I Am
06. Cold.Metal.Place
07. Sulfur Surrounding
08. The Easy Way
09. Erasure Scan
10. Last Ones Left
11. Autumn And Carbine
12. Back Inside The Glass
13. A Sliver
14. Underneath
01. Carnivore
02. Point The Finger (feat. Riley Gale)
03. Bum-Rush
04. Ace Of Spades (Motorhead cover)
05. Another Level (feat. Jamey Jasta)
06. Colors (2020)
07. No Remorse
08. When I'm Gone (feat. Amy Lee)
09. Thee Critical Beatdown
10. The Hate Is Real
01. The Incantation
02. Lucid Nightmare
03. Dance With The Devil
04. Wings Of Steel
05. Six Feet Underground
06. Black Magic
07. Sea Of Lies
08. The Sisters Of Fate
09. Necronomicon
10. The Final Fight
11. Threefold Return
12. Battle Hymn (feat. Ross The Boss and Michael Lepond) [Manowar cover]
02. Dangerous Ground
03. Come Clean
04. Victory
05. We Are Gods
06. Adrenaline
07. One By One
08. Nothing To Say
09. Heaven Must Have Won A
10. Under The Gun
11. Rise
01. Radio SCG 10 02. Horror For Hire 03. Shake The Baby Silent 04. Like A Bee To The Honey 05. Apollyon 06. SCG10 The Last Hour 07. Blow My Fuse 08. I Dug A Hole In The Yard For You 09. Zombimbo 10. Up To No Good 11. SCG10 Demonic Semitones 12. Cutterfly 13. Evil 14. Scream Demon 15. SCG10 I Am Here
