Review by Rosh on February 14, 2022.

I'll admit that The Ghoul kind of won me over before I even heard this late 2021 debut demo of theirs. The band name naturally brought to mind an American doom metal standard, and considering that their sole release so far is a self-produced effort, I was more or less expecting familiar Relentless-type territory. Upon checking out the material here, I will say it's definitely not too far off from those early American classics. However, the European doom elements are there too, mainly by having some of the Italian scene's outright melancholy, as well as some layering to the sound that feels akin to the Reverend Bizarre school.

The guitar leads on this demo are fairly subtle, often paraphrasing from the riff structure itself, but they are nonetheless to be credited for the evident atmosphere. This is especially true since the rhythm guitar and bass form a dense bed of heavy chords - the guitar solo in the title track is a highlight of the entire release. It works to make for a classy doom listen, and while I had my doubts about riding solely on two longer songs after the intro, it works just fine and comfortably sits in the 15-20 minute sweet spot for metal demos.

Both 'Doom Awakens Evil', and the band's namesake track, 'The Ghoul', are well-written pieces. The former song is an admirable case of choosing chords carefully to build a slow-paced doom metal experience off of, and one gets a feel for that based on how these brooding riffs seamlessly allow the vocals to reach a memorable refrain. In addition, the ominous guitar progressions are able to make a welcome return after the aforementioned solo, which substantiates their contribution here. The band's self-titled song meanwhile offers a more energetic approach that still sits on the decidedly eerier side of traditional doom. Many will compare the latter rhythm base to multiple eras of Candlemass, but for me, it directly conjures up those Swede's disciples, like Chile's outstanding epic doom purveyors, Procession.

Across this entire demo, I found myself particularly enjoying the percussion's contribution to the doom metal approach found here. This is very much the kind of traditional doom sound that needs solid drumming in its fold, even more than others. I would mostly say this is because the riffs are generally less Iommi-inspired and instead chord-based, as implied earlier. The guitars' relative lack of focus on rhythm on this demo means that an engaging drum performance is even more welcome than usual here, and it is definitely pretty cool in and of itself. A well thought-out balance between cymbals, snare, and bass drums.

You could skip this demo and probably be just as well off with your traditional doom diet, but it is a neat and inspiring work nonetheless, garnering relatively few criticisms from me. I suppose the bass could be bumped up in the mix slightly, because it would make the overall sound more oppressive. All things considered however, The Ghoul are the type of up-and-comers I love to see. They know that the devotees of the niche will come to them once learning of their presence in the scene, and as such, they can keep their work so far relatively low-keyed. That is, of course, before cooking up follow-up endeavors that I suspect will deliver even more satisfying doom.

Rating: 8.3 out of 10