Demonic Death Judge are a Finnish stoner/sludge band, who released their debut album Kneel back in 2010. In a world with a lot of average and frankly similar and unoriginal stoner/sludge and southern metal bands, this doomy Finnish outfit comes like a breath of fresh air. I wasn't hoping much when I listened to Kneel for the first time many years ago from today, but it turned out to be one of the best stoner/sludge metal releases of 2010. The album is all about Weedeaterish stoner mixed in good old psychedelia, growling vocals, and some obviously catchy and epic riffage that stick to your mind, and won't leave you alone. Trust me, I have been possessed since 2010. There simply aren't more spaced out and heavier tracks with an epic feel that come to mind from the last half a decade apart from Kneel, Fire In The Eyes and Carlyle.
While Kneel was an outstanding stoner doom album, the later Demonic Death Judge albums have been almost equally great. The same thing can really be said about their latest split release with Coughdust from 2015. Although I must admit here that it is hard to surpass the epic feel of Kneel, The Descent and Skygods, to which it is right to pay homage to by kneeling before the apocalyptic skygods. Demonic Death Judge feels like a prehistoric demonic mammoth roaming the plains under the approving eyes of the apocalyptic skygods with no one there to stop it. It smashes into everything and is out to destroy all in its path. The time of reckoning is at hand, the end of the world is here, just like the Demonic Death Judge judged. Death shall be handed out to all by being crushed by a demonic mammoth with fire in the eyes on these acid soaked endless plains. The world will fall apart.
Not sure this metaphoric description is epic enough though to convey the seriously epic nature of this band. Better to let the music do the talking. It is some epic Finno-Ugric stoner/sludge metal, which comes apparent to all after a single listening of Carlyle. Demonic Death Judge has succeeded in mixing spaced out psychedelia with heavier stoner doom and sludge metal riffage, that almost has a krautrock feel to it in places. Not many bands manage to do this and thus this epic Finnish stoner metal band deserves more recognition than they have gotten so far.
Bandcamp: https://demonicdeathjudge.bandcamp.com/
Dicogs: http://www.discogs.com/Demonic-Death-Judge-Demo/release/1932528
Last.fm: http://www.last.fm/music/Demonic+Death+Judge
