Nuanced Doom

Destroyer of Light

Destroyer of Light
Destroyer of Light

To the casual observer it might appear that, in 2015, every metal band in the known world is a doom metal band. To be fair, fans of the genre might share a similar impression. Doom is undergoing something of a revival, finally becoming as huge now as the Black Sabbaths and Saint Vituses (Vitae?) that spawned it.

Enter Austin axemen Destroyer of Light. Though obviously not out to reinvent the wheel, these Texas metalheads damn well make it their own.

“We try not to just be a doom band,” guitarist and vocalist Steve Colca says. “We like to throw in some other nuances to kind of mix it up. We also like N.W.O.B.H.M. (new wave of British heavy metal), thrash and death metal. We leave it up to the listener to be the judge. We don’t just wanna be doom.”

Those exact influences shine throughout Destroyer of Light’s self-titled 2012 debut. Over the course of the album, the four-piece trudges from Candlemass into Mercyful Fate territory — all the while never straying so far as to lose the interest of recent converts to the genre. Continuing to hone and tighten their sound, Destroyer recently recorded Endsville, a 12-inch split single with Tucson, Arizona-based sludge monsters Godhunter, to be released this July on Battleground Records.

Until then, we’ll have to whet our appetites when they grace our fair city.

Destroyer Of Light plays with Austin stoner brethren Greenbeard 10 pm Thursday, May 21, at Black Forest; FREE.