Tuesday 20 March 2018

Doom Metal Lexicanum by Aleksey Evdokimov (Book Review)



Doom Metal Lexicanum Book Review

If you're a dedicated follower of the Doom/Stoner Metal Underground and read all the top blogs then you may have heard the name of Aleks Evdokimov. Aleks is perhaps the one of the best and most prolific interviewers within the Doom Metal Community. Aleks contributes here on the blog with great interviews all the time. So Aleks knowledge of the Doom Metal Scene is second to none. I've worked with Aleks not only here on Outlaws Of The Sun but also when I was running The Sludgelord blog.

I always look forward to Aleks interviews and what other things he’s involved with. Aleks told me he a couple years ago that he was working on writing a book outlining the A-Z of Doom Metal Bands. Well that book has finally seen the light of day and has been published by the good folks at Cult Never Dies. Doom Metal Lexicanum is 300 pages outlining an in-depth history of a huge list of great Doom Metal Bands. Some you will know and some you will won't as Aleks has done his homework here outlining the full career projectory of the bands mentioned within the book.

The book is superbly written and is full of detailed articles outlining how the band was formed and their complete discography. Obviously Aleks can't feature every band within the Doom Metal spectrum but what he's written here is nothing short of miraculous. Doom Metal Lexicanum even includes some great interviews with some of the artists that Aleks has covered over the years.

Some people maybe disappointed that certain bands and genres of Doom Metal have been excluded from the book. Aleks provides great reasons for this. And this is mainly down to length purposes. Aleks has a lot of ground to cover here so the more extreme/death metal sounding Doom Metal bands don't make that much of an appearance. (Though Aleks is working on correcting this with his next book that he's currently writing).

The novel does take some time to fully get through as there is a wealth of different information and sometimes it can be very hard to fully absorb. So I wouldn't recommend reading this novel in one sitting. Take your time with the book and appreciate the amazing work that Aleks has put into this novel. I've discovered a few cool bands because of this book and I thank Aleks for that.

Doom Metal Lexicanum is an essential purchase for all of the serious Doom Metal fans currently out there.

Words by Steve Howe

Doom Metal Lexicanum is available to buy now through Cult Never Dies.

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