Rituals Of The Oak Come Taste The The Doom

2012, It's been a pretty good year for the stoner/doom ladies so far - The Devils Blood and Ceremony Of The Ancients both released superb records - and it's certainly a refreshing change from the wannabe-Ozzy/Messiah/Wino/Matt Pikes we usually get. Rituals Of The Oak plough a decidedly more traditional doom furrow than either of the aforementioned bands, however. On their second full length, these Australian doomsters continue where they left off with their magnificent debut and deliver five lengthy songs of epic, melancholic doom metal, reminiscent of Solitude Aeturnus, Mourn, The River, Solstice or Forsaken, but crowned by the warm, powerful female voice of vocalist Sabine Hamad, which gives their heavy, mournful doom its unique touch.