When you speak about Doom Metal, some people always remember one of the style greatest names, the Swedish CANDLEMASS. But of course the style wasn't born on 1986 (when they released their first album, "Epicus Doominicus Metallicus"), but years earlier, when bands musically influenced by BLACK SABBATH in their bitter, slower and heavier moments started their careers. WITCHFINDER GENERAL, WITCHFIND, and some years before them, PENTAGRAM, can be named as the ones who kickstarted Doom Metal. And speaking about PENTAGRAM, there's a band linked to it, an offshoot band, BEDEMON, that came back from the dead in 2001, and still is here. And now, the trio released their new album, "Child of Darkness".

They don't need to prove anything to anyone, for BEDEMON is heavy and abrasive as PENTAGRAM, but with a dirtier and rawer sound. If the second is a legend, giving Doom Metal an insight that fit well into the eighties, BEDEMON has a pure and thick "smoky" sound as a band from the seventies. It's like we hear a mix between BLACK SABBATH with some elements from BLACK WIDOW and COVEN. It sounds nasty, but extremely good, with thundering guitar riffs and bass guitar, good drums and very melodic vocals. Of course, it won't sound new at all, but it sounds great!

As Big Daddy here said above, their sound quality is nasty and raw, but it fits very well, for it came directly from the original tapes. And do not sound as something moldy that came from the closet after years in a deep slumber. No, it sound alive, and can astonish some extreme Metal fans a lot.

There are 15 songs on the album, all of them a tasteful dish for Metal fans, but the best tracks are the bitter "Enslaver of Humanity", the excellent "Frozen Fear" (sometimes, it reminds us a lot from something recorded on "Vol IV", especially "Snowblind", with great riffs and slow melodies), and "Serpent Venom". But simple words can't describe how good this album is.

Of course, only legends can make true history goes into the future, and these guys are legends, indeed!<