Andrew Danso

It’s one thing to be an angry razor-sharp doom band, expressing your outward vitriol against whatever aspect of life may be troubling you (in Children of Doom’s case it means flicking 'v's at the camera, and dressing up as if the 70s never left us) and another to actually make the listener angry, because of the poor quality of the doom played back.

The French trio’s message, lyric and image are really a smokescreen to what they actually sound like on playback, which is a tepid stoner band, with a handful of tepid punk ideas put about. Emphasis on tepid, as Children of Doom struggle to find much, if any groove in their stoner predicament - and are candidly tame during the punkish progressions too. CoD’s vocalist who goes by the name of ‘B.B.F’ does his best to tear apart the entire experience with ghastly wails over the progressions, giving them little substance and a frustrating character. Aptly tagged ‘stoner-doom-punk’ because you have to be inebriated in clouds of illegal chemicals, to actually appreciate the material. Get a grip.

3/10 Powerplay issue #136