Sealed Into None by Exxûl 
 
This whole album is a love letter to epic doom metal, American power metal, and funeral doom but WITHOUT sounding derivative or being any of those genres. Really the only band that resembles the instrumentation here is Worm, and tbh I think they get the pass for that since Phil Tougas is literally one of the main songwriters here. Even then, it isn’t just “Worm with clean vocals,” the riffs are more complicated, more varied, and the music explores wayyy more sounds than just Worm’s brand of funeral doom influenced blackened death doom. Matter of fact, I don’t think I can easily slap a genre label on this. It’s got elements of the previously mentioned genres, but it’s all wrapped up in a surprisingly progressive package. And on top of that, there is plenty of symphonic black metal influence on the synths and how those are arranged. Not that the riffs themselves are proggy, but each of these songs goes through a lot of movements and is by no means structured in a conventional manner. I’ve never heard a band that blends the funeral/death doom instrumentation that this band leans into without vocals as melodic or epic as this, much less in such a way that they are placed front and center. There’s also a healthy amount of symphonic black metal influences at play here too. 
 
The songs stay slow, melodramatic, and epic for most of their runtime but they do speed up now and then. Every time the band does speed things up, it feels warranted and deserved. It’s not a vain attempt at complexity either, it always serves the song and I think the songs are better off for it. When the music does does speed up, it’s got this almost Iced-Earth-meets-symphonic-black-metal vibe to it, largely due to the use of synthesizers. And given the fact you have Phil fucking Tougas on the guitar, you best bet your ass it sounds amazing.
 
The rhythm section is phenomenal. There are plenty of flashy drum fills, exposures, and solos all over this record. More importantly, I feel like the drumming has an active and important role in making every down beat and accented note hit harder make the songs heavier overall. Even the bassist gets to shine with popping and slapping, chords, and the occasional shreddy exposure
 
The star of the album here is definitely singer Thomas Karam. The vocals on this are absolutely INCREDIBLE. I mean, literally everyone you could possibly HOPE to compare this guy to is absolutely warranted in being brought up. You get melodies and deliveries emulating Candlemass and Solitude Aeternus, and fry-supported belts akin to people like Ripper Owens and the singer of Lost Horizon, and gorgeous vocal harmonies that bring to mind Russell Allen, Tim Aymar of Control Denied, and Charles Sabin of Toxik. The man even has a DUEL with Phil, voice against guitar. Not only is that absolutely insane, but the band somehow manages to make it moving and powerful rather than JUST impressive. You even get Think This-style GANG vocals. Gang vocals on a doom record of all things is not what you’d expect to be great, but it works sooooo well in the few spots it’s used