Blues influenced guitar solos, mournful guitar chords that move at a snail's pace, deep baritone vocals booming out lyrics about occultism... when it comes to Doom Metal, Germany's ALBEZ DUZ tick all the boxes. It's a little bit clichéd sure, but even if they're reluctant to step outside the narrow confines of their chosen genre, "The Coming Of Mictlan" is a totally badass album. You can see all the BLACK SABBATH and CANDLEMASS nods coming a mile off, but that doesn't make it any less awesome and this is another fine release in a year which has seen some truly magnificent Doom records emerging from the dark.

In fact, the biggest surprise comes when you realise that ALBEZ DUZ isn't a full time act at all, but a side project for Impurus of DIES ATER, a Black Metal band. However on the strength of this, their second full-length album, he should give serious consideration to ditching the corpse paint altogether and making ALBEZ DUZ his sole priority.

Opening with a hundred-hornet chorus line, "Heaven's Blind" is essentially a spoken word (plus drums) introduction that quickly turns into the classic Doom of "Fire Wings". Bleak, oppressive, and with the incredible vocals of Alfonso Brito Lopez bellowing over the top, this first song proper is the musical equivalent of a thousand damned souls shuffling through the desert in chains and being forced to build pyramids until they die. In contrast, "Feathered Snake" is almost upbeat in its delivery and its "Doom crossed with PINK FLOYD" vibe is one of the more memorable moments on here.

Heading into the second half, "Drowned", is a morose, stoned affair with a more stripped back feel, before the epic "Servants Of Light" just about steals the entire show. At over nine minutes in length and featuring some truly unearthly vocal lines (just check out that scream at the beginning!), it's an incredible slice of magisterial Doom. Lopez's performance here is especially good, going from deep, Pete Steele-esque muttering, to a booming air raid siren and back again, all while methodical power chords slam through the speakers like asteroids hitting the earth.

Now, it would be very easy to argue that what ALBEZ DUZ have achieved with this record isn't anything new. Ever since Tony Iommi first strapped on a guitar we've had music like this and their sheer commitment to down tuned, drawn out slabs of metallic real ale makes it unlikely they'll ever appeal to anyone outside the Doom circle. But while they don't exactly redesign the template, they do perfect and refine it. Like drinking whiskey and getting wasted while listening to SABBATH? Check these guys out.<