The aim is to compile a list of great albums for the year so that we’ve all got a list of quality music to track down and check out for ourselves.

1. Vote for as many bands as you feel deserve the accolade Best Gloom or Doom of 2009.
2. Try to remember who you voted for so that you don’t keep voting for the same album.
3. If you think it is Doom (or Gloom) then it is.
4. Keep the standard high, if you’d personally give them them 10/10 or 9/10 or even 8/10 then fine, but avoid anything lower than 8/10 even if you think that’s the best 2009 has to offer.
5. Try not to waste your energies arguing if something is Doom, Gloom or not. I couldn’t give a one-armed retarded monkey of Troo Doom…

Link to the poll here

Great blackened vocals on the opener plus an aggressive edge, but this soon disappears as the vibe returns to that of previous albums. If you need another similar sounding StS album then this is for you, it’s probably their best release to date. Some tracks are new and exciting, others are too generic for me. It’s not a bad album and has some very fine tracks on it. Certainly worth checking out.  Review here

I was recently asked by Tyger (one hell of an artist/photographer and all round good chap!) if I would be up for hosting a metal podcast he is involved in.

Of course I was more than up for it and I am pleased to say the first two episodes are already online for your listening pleasure.

The podcast focuses on unsigned metal, which as you know is something BornInBlood tries to help out where it can!

You can find out more about the podcast at their official blog and the first two episodes can be streamed here and here.

And it is absolutely stonking!  A noticeable step up from their already solid Enemies EP, well worth checking out if your like your slamming death metal.

Check out their official MySpace now.

Swedish Doom types Kongh have been offically picked up by Chicaco based Label Seventhrule

Official press release:

Seventh Rule Recordings proudly welcomes Scandinavian doom lords Kongh to its eccentric family. Hailing from Sweden, Kongh brings doom metal with a progressive melting pot of ideas whose origins stem from the spirit of their godfathers — Melvins, Yob, and Candlemass.

The follow-up to their critically acclaimed “Counting Heartbeats” debut, “Shadows of the Shapeless” will be released by Seventh Rule to the North American region in early-2010. “Shadows of the Shapeless” was recorded and mixed in Sweden by Peter Lundin and mastered by Peter In de Betou (Entombed, Meshuggah).

You heard it right here folks.

In addition, Kongh will be touring throughout 2010, including dates in Europe and the United States.