Lamashtu

Grandmother Is Dead is a Czech one-man project from Prague, active since 1996, built entirely around Josef Pernikl playing and recording all instruments in his home studio as a hobby release he doesn't sell for profit. Its self-described 'Scenic Doom' style pairs doom metal with ambient, industrial and theatrical passages, and each album pursues a grim historical theme — its first release in 1997 was inspired by the Sobibor concentration camp, followed by The Camp (2006) and the atomic-bomb-themed Trust Christ Today (2009) — often layered with recorded witness testimony. Pernikl has also played guitar in the thrash band Lobotomia.

A French gothic-doom outfit built around Emmanuel Lévy's deep, 'conjuring' French-language vocals, symphonic keyboards, and an atmosphere reviewers liken to Type O Negative crossed with Ange's chanson-prog — plus stray psych-rock detours. Their own scene ties (a member also drums for Öxxö Xööx, another was a live member of Carnival in Coal) place them squarely in the French avant-metal underground rather than mainstream gothic metal.

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A Burlington, Vermont project that began as epic doom metal (lyrics about cartoons and archaeology) before pivoting into what it now calls 'Doom Cabaret' — metal-influenced piano ballads that the band itself likens to 'Voltaire after listening to Candlemass and bingewatching old cartoons.' The Johnsonian Demos blends doom/thrash/power metal roots with free improvisation and dark ambient textures, landing somewhere between symphonic doom and cabaret songcraft.

Dakrya are a theatrical/avant-garde metal band from Athens, Greece, founded in late 2004 by classically trained keyboardist Sophia Charalampous. Crime Scene (2010) was recorded in Sweden with producers known for work with Diablo Swing Orchestra and Dark Tranquillity.

Ordkløver is a music-and-poetry project begun in 1999 by Düreforsög vocalist Boris Schiøler alongside bandmates Nis Bysted and Andreas Hauer-Jensen. Its sole release, Byen Buldrer ("The City Rumbles", 2005, Escho), pairs Schiøler's phonetic poetry with rock guitar and drums and an eight-voice choir, described by reviewers as sounding like "intoxicated monks and/or sea pirates."

This Is Oblivion is the duo of violinist/vocalist Lulu Black and drummer Michael Kadnar (also of The Number Twelve Looks Like You and So Hideous), who began the project in 2020 and released it on Kadnar's own Silent Pendulum Records. Their 2022 self-titled debut strips doom weight down to violin, viola, piano and industrial electronics under Black's ghostly vocal, building each track from a single melodic line over doomy percussion. It reads as gothic chamber-doom seance, closer kin to Chelsea Wolfe or Swans than to conventional metal.

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Coppelius are a Berlin chamber-metal ensemble formed in 1997 who replace guitars and bass with cello, double bass, two clarinets and harpsichord, performing in top hats and tailcoats as a troupe of named Victorian/steampunk personas. Taking their name from the sinister toymaker of E.T.A. Hoffmann's 'Der Sandmann,' the band builds full theatrical stagings around dark-romantic themes across seven studio albums released since 2007 on F.A.M.E. Recordings.

Chilean avant-garde/post-black metal band from the Region Metropolitana (Santiago), formed 2008. Blends post-black metal with industrial elements, melodic post-rock, and operatic Spanish-language vocal delivery reminiscent of Arcturus. Discography includes "Rerum Imaginaria" (2012), "Argonautas", and "La Casa de los Siete Espejos" (2024, inspired by a legendary Valparaiso brothel and Sergio Larrain's photography).

Shaolin Death Squad are a theatrical progressive/avant-garde metal band from Denton, Texas, formed around 2001-2002, performing under kung-fu-themed stage personas. Their sound is dynamic prog metal with lead vocalist The White Swan frequently compared to Mike Patton, across releases including Intelligent Design (2006) and a 2024 self-titled record on Soman Records.

Formed in Helsinki in 2016 and describing themselves as a "conjuration from the Northern Wilderness," Babes in the Abyss build a dark, primitive avant-garde sound around harmonium and organ rather than guitar, with bass and drums filling out the low end. Their 2022 debut Physis is organ-driven, cinematic and ritualistic, closer to a doom-adjacent drone ensemble than to riff-based metal, with haunting shared vocals over sustained keyboard tones.

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