Found in 2015, CHALICE OF SUFFERING are based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They have musicians from Alford, Massachusetts and also Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria. The bands international roots add a new flavor to American Funeral Doom. Founder John McGovern brings his vocals and writing to the band. "Darkness" begins at a slow pace, leading you into the harsh and very much Death Metal-esque vocals by Mr. McGovern.  With varying elements of doom and atmosphere. Drumming maintains a minimal rhythm. There are ghastly keyboards. One thing about the album is, the vocals have varying styles here. From harsh screams, spoken words and singing. The vocals can be a downside or you may enjoy it - it's up to the listener only. There are parts with a single riff and the vocals, which makes this album unique. The track "Void" has sprinkles of ambient sounds, but the track changes to dark Doom Metal-esque shreds.

This is not a vocal-forward type of album either, you'll get growls and more spoken word cleans but most of the scenery is chewed by the rest of the band. But considering the strength of the guitar melodies (and the occasional awkwardness/clunkiness of the spoken word segments - see "Darkness"), it's no reason to fault the act. Adding a bit of folk elements, the band uses bagpipes, keys, and flute. The icy melancholic guitar melodies and spoken words add the horror element in this album. The album may not be that brutal or raw - but it is heavy and melancholic. With the keys and ambient elements, the album tends to add a new direction to doom metal as a whole. That's been deployed here over 70+ minutes of long tracks, aside from the solo bagpipe instrumental (the sub-three-minute 'Cumha Do Mag Shamhráin'), every track clocks in anywhere between 7 and 13 minutes. On the plus side, there's a fair bit of variety in tempo and direction spread between them, so the sizeable runtime doesn't drag excessively. Overall, decent work.