In our second installment of Descendants of Crom IV coverage, we focus on the bands of DOC IV. Get some info about the bands and listen to creator & organizer Shy Kennedy’s curated list of their heaviest songs!
Descendants of Crom is a curated event. When Shy picks bands for DOC, she starts with bands she loves. Shy explains, “The bands selected for DOC are heavy, they are part of the underground, and they are pushing to make it and thrive. If they are not the only band of their kind, they’re 100% great at what they do.”
While Shy leans towards doom, sludge, psych, and noise styles she admits that anything that is good and heavy goes. Last but not least, most of the picks are people she’s worked with or knows somehow. Shy has “zero tolerance for unprofessionalism or jerks.”
ABOUT DESCENDANTS OF CROM IV
The fourth annual Descendants of Crom, A Gathering of the Heavy Underground, will be held again this year June 3 & 4 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on both floors of Cattivo Nightclub. Featuring over 15 heavy bands, including legendary fan-favorites, the events begin early Friday evening and are followed by an all-dayer Saturday. Descendants of Crom began in 2017 and has been a strong contender among other established underground music festivals.
Learn more about DOC IV and get tickets here.
HEAVY MUSIC
In upcoming articles, we will explore the meaning of heavy music with DOC IV bands and share with you what they find to be their heaviest offerings. For now, let’s delve into Shy’s Heavy Picks for each DOC IV band!
Shy’s Heavy Picks for DOC IV Bands
I asked Shy to pick a song for each DOC IV band that illustrates their particular brand of heavy. See what she picked below!
Hey: Most bands are on the Spotify playlist, but some didn’t have their songs there. Links for all songs (Spotify or Bandcamp) are below. Where possible, I also added a music video for the same song. Check it out!
Bridesmaid
Bridesmaid is an instrumental band from Columbus, Ohio. They’ve been releasing music since 2011, and you can find all of their offerings here.
Shy’s Heavy Pick for Bridesmaid: “Hungry Like Nick Wolf” from International House of Mancakes (self-released, 2016).
Foehammer
Foehammer is a sludge/doom/drone two-piece from the Washington, DC metro area. They’ve been releasing music since 2014. You can find all their releases here.
Shy’s Heavy Pick for Foehammer: “Black Númenórean” from Second Sight (self-released, 2018).
Heavy Temple
Heavy Temple is a psychedelic doom band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They’ve been releasing music since 2014, and you can find all of their releases here.
Shy’s Heavy Pick for Heavy Temple: “A Desert Through the Trees” from Lupi Amoris (Magnetic Eye Records, 2021).
Horehound
Horehound is a doom / sludge metal band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They’ve been releasing music since 2016. You can find all their offerings here.
Shy’s Heavy Pick for Horehound: “L’appel du Vide” from Holocene (Doom Stew Records, 2018).
Horseburner
Horseburner is a progressive stoner metal band from West Virginia. They’ve been releasing music since 2009, and you can find all of it here.
Shy’s Heavy Pick for Horseburner: “The Oak” from The Thief (Ripple Music, 2019).
Howling Giant
Howling Giant are a cosmic stoner rock trio from Nashville, Tennessee. They’ve been releasing music since 2015. Find all of their offerings here.
Shy’s Heavy Pick for Howling Giant: “Nomad” from The Space Between Worlds (Blues Funeral Recordings, 2019).
Ironflame
Ironflame is a heavy metal band from Martins Ferry, Ohio. They’ve been releasing music since 2017. Find all of their releases here.
Shy’s Heavy Pick for Ironflame: “Shadow Queen” from Lightning Strikes the Crown (self-released, 2017).
THe Long Hunt
The Long Hunt is an instrumental doom / drone / heavy psych band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They’ve been releasing music since 2017. Find all of their offerings here.
Shy’s Heavy Pick for The Long Hunt: “Procession of Dust” from Threshold Wanderer (self-released, 2022).
Makeshift Urn
Makeshift Urn is a sludge / post-metal band from the outskirts of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They released their first album in 2019 and you can find it here.
Shy’s Heavy Pick for Makeshift Urn: “The Great Attractor” from Makeshift Urn (self-released, 2019).
Orodruin
Orodruin is a traditional doom metal band from Rochester, New York. They’ve been releasing music since 2003 and you can find their 2019 sophomore album here.
Shy’s Heavy Pick for Orodruin: “Voice in the Dark” from Ruins of Eternity (self-released, 2019).
Pillärs
Pillärs is a sludge / crust / doom band from Cleveland, Ohio. They’ve been releasing music since 2016. You can find all of their offerings here.
Shy’s Heavy Pick for Pillärs: “We Will Rise” from Pillärs / Wallcreeper split (self-released, 2019).
Quiet Man
Quiet Man is a sludge / noise / drone band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They’ve been releasing music as God Root since 2016 (in 2021 they altered the lineup and changed the name to Quiet Man). You can find all of their offerings here.
Shy’s Heavy Pick for Quiet Man: “Of Control” from God Root (self-released, 2016).
Rebreather
Rebreather is a heavy rock / noise band from Youngstown, Ohio. They’ve been releasing music since 1998, and you can find all of their offerings here.
Shy’s Heavy Pick for Rebreather: “Open Your Eyes” from Rebreather EP (self-released, 2018).
Tel
Tel is a sludge / doom / post-metal band from Richmond, Virginia. They’ve been releasing music since 2017, and you can find all of their offerings here.
Shy’s Heavy Pick for Tel: “Downer” from Vigils (split with Age of the Wolf, Electric Talon Records, 2021).
Witching
Witching is a blackened sludge, death, melodic metal quintet from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They’ve been releasing music since 2018, and you can find all of their releases here.
Shy’s Heavy Pick for Witching: “The Pack” from Vernal (self-released, 2020).
We.
We. (formerly We, the Creature) is a noise duo from Youngstown, Ohio. They released their first album in 2019, and you can listen to it here.
Shy’s Heavy Pick for We.: “Cliffs of Maturity” from riB (self-released, 2019).
Thanks for taking the time to check out the DOC IV artists and Shy’s Heavy Picks for each band! Next, we will be exploring the meaning of heavy music with DOC IV artists and learning which songs of theirs they feel are their heaviest. Be well!
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