I take doom metal in small doses. I'm pretty much chronically depressed, so I usually don't go looking for something to bring me down—it's built in. :) Doom metal is interesting in that there's the very depressing style, think the likes of Mourning Beloveth (the first doom band I heard, some 20 years ago), My Dying Bride, etc., but you have traditional doom, which is largely inspired by the Black Sabbath school, and those bands are usually more about heaviness, the occult, witchcraft and other stuff of the same ilk. Angel of Damnation fit in the latter category.

This is not doom/death, so you get clean vocals here and, damn, despite the genre, I find the vocal lines to be quite memorable and for me they're the highlight here; I've sometimes found myself focusing on the vocals and almost ignoring the music while listening to the album. The singer has a charismatic style that you just cannot ignore, and the vocals just stick in your head. Whenever I saw "Angel of Damnation" on my playlist, it was the vocals that first came to mind. But while the singer kind of takes centre stage, the music is nothing to sneeze at. Very heavy yet melodic and even a little upbeat at times, which is kind of weird for a doom album, I guess, but Angel of Damnation are great at striking a great balance between crushing heaviness and just plain catchy stuff that fits more into the heavy metal than doom category. They remind me a little bit of the likes of Cauchemar and Count Raven, not afraid to serve some slow, sometimes creepy songs and faster, catchier songs that get the head banging slowly. If you're looking for doom that fits that bill rather than the depressive kind, Heathen Witchcraft is most certainly worth checking out.