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I take my doom in small doses, but every now and then there's a band that pops up and make me pay attention. Ireland's Dread Sovereign is one of them. The basic sound is indeed doom, not the depressing kind but rather heavy, dark and kind of "war marching" in style, with clean vocals. But these guys throw in a lot of other stuff and that's what makes Alchemical Warfare interesting (this album has been on my playlist for some three months now). Throw in some early '80s black metal, a bit of a Motörhead rock-n-roll-ish vibe and even some '70s occult heavy rock and a hint of the galloping dark stuff from Ozzy-era Sabbath. The album is quite diverse and very catchy overall, more than I can usually say of the doom genre (based on my relatively limited exposure, that is). The vocal lines will get stuck in your head, dark melodies that are conveyed in a rather catchy singalong style. The album packs a lot of stuff and most of it is memorable and just begs for a listen when you're wondering what to put on next. The closer, a cover of Bathory's "You Don't Move Me (I Don't Give a Fuck)" is an outlier here, a very fast song with very rocking vibe and raw style. It's a weird way to close was is overall a slow to mid-paced album, but it strangely fits and rocks the fuck out, so even if it didn't fit it wouldn't matter. Looking forward for more from these guys.