Suffer No Guilt

After the midtempo proto-metal tune “Angel of Death” opens The Gates of Slumber’s 2006 album Suffer No Guilt, it’s obvious that this Indiana trio has a more original take on doom metal than many of its contemporaries. The title track is a 14-plus-minute epic with melodic singing that’s much more accessible than many of its peers (save for Sleep’s similarly stretched song “From Beyond”). The Renaissance faire–friendly “Gemini” switches gears with woodwinds, glockenspiel, windchimes, gong, and a foreboding detuned guitar to sound like the kind of instrumental composition you might hear while waiting for Dead Can Dance to take the stage. “Riders of Doom” makes good on its title with more than 12 minutes of leaden, swampy rhythms, but the lightning-fast fretboard-shredding makes for a nice contrast before the tune picks up with galloping adventure-rock rhythms. “The Woe of Kings” closes with regal medieval melodrama.