Washington, D.C.’s Gloom has been aptly described by MetalSucks as “towering, savage, blackened death groove”; frontman Bill Calomiris names Suffocation, Gorgoroth, and Crowbar as influences. You Indie thinks that is a pretty friggin’ appropriate description.
While many bands dazzle with their technicality, Gloom transcend the herd by using their shred in the service of concise, memorable songs. On the Gloom EP, they one-up the try-hards and slay eardrums with short, sweet, and modern metal anthems.
Out June 24, Gloom was produced by Marshall Wieczorek of Wretched and features cover art by Steven Mercado (Dillinger Escape Plan).
Ghettoblaster recently caught up with Gloom frontman Bill Calomiris to discuss some songs that influenced him in the writing of the EP. This is what he told us…
Lyrically:
Gorgoroth – “Carving a Giant”
Gaahl is one of my favorite vocalists. His tone, vocal patterns and lyrics are, in my opinion, extremely inventive. He paints a picture with words and compliments the music with vocal patterns that enhance the composition as a whole. Thematically, there aren’t any satanic lyrics in Gloom, but that same spirit of ‘painting a picture with words’ without getting too abstract is something I always try to strive for.

Range:
Dir En Grey – “Different Sense”
In my book, Kyo is the best vocalist in metal or any other genre. PERIOD. His range is unmatched and he seamlessly blends genres. The brutal gutturals and high screeches in the first movement of this song caught me immediately! I hope one day I can have the range this guy is capable of hitting. I saw Dir En Grey once in Baltimore and was floored – Kyo hit every note and tone FLAWLESSLY!!! If you haven’t already seen it, the video for this track is not only brutal, but textural and visually engaging to a degree that most videos aren’t these days.

Tone/Patterns:
Hour of Penance -“Paradogma”
Francesco Paoli is brutal. There are no two ways about it! I remember the first time I heard this song…. The power in his voice was staggering and his ability to maintain that level of intensity and still serve the song rather than vomiting vocal patterns all over the entire track (which is pretty common these days) is praiseworthy to say the least. In my mind, Paoli definitely stands as one of the top Death Metal vocalists out there.

(Stream Gloom’s “Unrequited” on MetalSucks.
Stream Gloom’s “Entity” on GunShyAssassin.)