Releasing their second album in two years, VOKONIS is a Doom/Stoner Metal band from Sweden. I don't know what it is about Sweden that breeds some of the best Metal musicians, but it seems like every other band these days is Swedish. With a lot of influence from Lovecraftian horror, with its ideas of cosmic horror and man's infantile roll in the universe compared to ancient beings worshipped in the world's dark corners, "The Sunken Djinn" has a lot of good material rife with popular Doom Metal themes.

"The Sunken Djinn" is a groovy Doom piece with the vocals taking backstage to the music which is a very Stoner Metal thing to do. Phenominally grim and beautifully played, Stoner and Doom are always a good complementary pairing. With a silky smooth transition we slide into "Calling from the Core", which sounds just as gloomy. With painfully strained vocals echoing just beneath the surface like the last breaths of a dying man. "The Coldest Night" comes across as more plaintive; almost begging or pleading for their voice to reach some unknown destination. There is just a sense of effort forced into every line that is emohasized by the strained guitar work that feels almost forced through the amp with sheer brute force.

"Blood Vortex" with its vivid name, heavier oppressive atmosphere, and more jagged edges. This track has what might be the best hook and the most weight out of any other seven tracks on offer here. "Rapturous" is a fearsome track with a name that matches the worshipful way the track is played. Grandiose motifs, powerful vocals, and slimey guitars, "Rapturous" is definitely an ode to the Great Old Ones sleeping below the sea. "Maelstroem" is sludgy; slow, creaking, and disturbing with garbled sounds indistinguishable from static but paired with crisp drumming. It all slowly fades out as if the equipment and musicians are descending below the surface of the ocean until there is nothing left but gurgling echoes before silence lays unsettlingly over the listener.

With a heavy Lovecraftian influence, VOKONIS won my heart almost immediately. When doing my usual research into the band I learned about another album they made, "Olde One Ascending", immediately making a note to go back and check it out. Sure enough, I did before I finished up my review just to cover the highlights and have something to compare it to. If VOKONIS keeps this pace of putting out a new CD every year, making this much progress and homing in on their ideal sound, they will be impossible to ignore for any fans of Doom or Stoner Metal. Every detail just works so well together, setting a rich tone that I found intoxicating. Give in to VOKONIS and join them under the deep dark blue with "The Sunken Djinn" and you might just get your deepest wish.