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Six years after their fantastic debut, Doomshine are back with their second album The Piper at the Gates of Doom. It is no secret that I liked the first record so before I put this on, I was expecting the same quality. For those who don't know, this band plays Doom Metal that is closer to Candlemass or Solitude Aeturnus as opposed to Reverend Bizarre or Ereb Altor for example. That is only good in my book as, most of the time, they avoid the pitfalls that come with playing this genre.

This album is a heavy one; there are no keyboards to speak of and the sound that this band employs is thick and powerful. For that I thank the guitarists, not only they provide very good riffs but when things get a tad too slow the solo kicks in, completely lifting the song. The rhythm section is not as good as the guitars but it gets the job done without ruining the songs and that is all I could ask for. The vocals on the other hand are the same as they were on the debut. That's not a bad thing, but if you are expecting world-class singing a la Messiah Marcolin then you'll be disappointed.

Songwriting-wise, it is exactly what you want from the band and the genre. Long songs marked by slow riffs and a terrific lead section. Doomshine is surprisingly consistent in this aspect; every single one of these tracks is long and epic by nature, at least eight of them surpassing the six-minute mark. And there is my first red flag here, the disc is too damned long, it would not have mattered if all the songs were crushing but they're not. In addition, there is a little bit of repetition here, the result being the tracks lasting longer than necessary. If they had been trimmed down 15 minutes or so, it would have done wonders for the record.

Bottom line, The Piper at the Gates of Doom won't revolutionize the genre any time soon. It takes time to fully appreciate it and if you listen to it once or twice you'll be missing some cool stuff. This is a good album but I felt that it wasn't as catchy or good as the debut. More importantly, this is how Doom Metal should sound like, not the Black Sabbath wannabe stuff that you hear so much today. And if you are tired of that shit then listen to this, you will not be disappointed.