Doom, along with Melodic Death, is my favorite Metal subgenre.  I love all of the styles it has to offer but over the last couple years, I really have grown to love anything that puts the words "Atmospheric" and "Doom" together. Minnesota's CHALICE OF SUFFERING is one such band; their brand of Doom is about as dark as the deepest cave you could imagine but the atmosphere took my mind and imagination to the stratosphere.  Their second full length, "Lost Eternally," is heavily rooted in Funeral Doom so what you get is unconventional song structures with a lot of build-up-but it is a very rewarding experience.

"In The Mist Of Once Was," opens the album with light keyboard textures, impressive bass guitar, and some drums that actually create a haunting sound. Vocalist McGovern speaks in a lower tone speaking voice that only adds to the journey that is this song.  His Death growls are deep as hell, so brutal that it made my throat hurt just to listen.  Bagpipes are used in this song and they work extremely well with the Doom, adding a subtle but interesting dimension to the band's core sound.

The third track, "Forever Winter," is as cold as arctic tundra and conjured up images in my head of a barren, frozen wasteland where death waits more often than not. The song is about as slow as a moving glacier but it makes the journey all the more harrowing. The first three minutes or so are ambient/atmospheric keyboard textures that complete the cold experience, but it turns deadly when those thick as sin guitar riffs appear about three and a half minutes in.  The song trails off again to keyboards and cleaner vocals before going heavy once again.  The shifting back and forth of the song really made the music seem like it was its own life force.  The last guitar riffs in the song are about as Doom as you can get.

"Miss Me, But Let Me Go," is a highlight of the album; Pruett's bass is spectacular and the very essence of the song. After four minutes or so the song gets really varied in the various soundscapes it offers while providing a sturdy, heavy foundation with the double bass.  This track sounds has such distinctive parts but it doesn't sound glued together-it sounds like it was grown together, each of its dirty roots melding together to create an entirely new organism. The final track, "Whispers of Madness," has a cadence that evokes the track's title; the guitar is subtle in its sharpness and the drumming, especially the cymbals, is dark horse that gallops through the stark atmosphere that is the song. CHALICE OF SUFFERING has crafted an epic and brooding Atmospheric Doom album that features songs that journeys unto themselves. Highly recommended.