I was all set to cover Distorted Reflection and their first album, Doom Rules Eternally, back in 2024, and then life happened, and I missed my window of opportunity. Since I don’t want that to happen again and also since Doom Zone is a pretty killer album, I’m jumping on it now.

Living somewhere between Black Sabbath’s more upbeat tracks (“Children of the Grave”, “Paranoid”, and “Children of the Grave”) plus a small bit of Candlemass sprinkled with a dash of Confessor (remember them?) Distorted Reflection is carving itself a sizeable niche in the world of Doom Metal.

Track numero uno starts off with some haunting synths before “3000 A.D.” grabs you with a spiked gloved hand and then pounds the life out of you with methodical riffing and thunderous drums. This isn’t a Funeral Doom album (fortunately) so there aren’t any moments where they let the China cymbal ring out and get too out of hand. Things jog along quite well with no slogging down. This is an early contender for Doom album of the year, but I don’t want to be premature either.

“My Second Father” has a bit of a bouncing, Power Metal feeling to it and it’s mostly from the main riff that strides into the fray. Maybe it’s just me… oh, and the guitar solos are rabid as fuck, just throwing it out there. Things keep going with the upbeat “Gates of Paranoia”, and this is another mid-paced crusher sporting some killer double bass courtesy of Thomas Zen, it lurches forward and runs into the sort of Middle Eastern melodies in “Love on Earth” with yet another barn burning solo.

“Asphyxiating” has that vibe that made bands like Trouble, St. Vitus, and even Pentagram (to a certain degree) so popular and skyrocketed their respective careers. Then there’s my favorite track on the whole album. “Certain Death” comes raging, yes, I said that, this bastard is a scorcher. Almost Death Doom territory by fucking God! “Diminished”, meanwhile, has the blast radius of a slowly falling nuclear bomb. It’s soooo slow and methodical, the chorus is also suitably epic, as should be expected.

“Tower of Dreams” kicks off with this crazy-cool riff, and then there’s Kostas’ vocals on the chorus soaring over everything like a fucking eagle. “Forecourt to Death” is a 47-second Fates Warning-ish instrumental that is followed by the formidable “The Final Attempt”… this one is HEAVY. It’s tracks like this that got me in love with Doom to begin with. “Morbid Reality” is the final bludgeoning you’ll receive from Doom Zone, and it’s a track that could have been on Celtic Frost’s Into the Pandemonium; a sort of experimental track, either way it’s a fun as fuck song indeed.

The production is suitably tuned to be soul-crushing and the guitar tone is savage as Conan’s axe. The whole thing has got a bottom end so fat that it’s sexy.

Heed my words when I say if you’re looking for something different from within the Doomsphere (it’s a word… not really). For you bell-bottom wearers that love the sounds of Trouble, Pentagram, High on Fire, and Tribunal. Get this because Doom Rules Eternally!

[Visit the band's website]

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