Nothing hurts more than the loss of a loved one. For Massachusetts based metal band, Old Man Gloom, it was friend and long time member, Caleb Scofield, who was killed in a car crash in 2018. The remaining members (which include Aaron Turner of Isis and Nate Newton of Converge) decided to continue on in his honor. After recruiting one of Caleb’s bandmates from another band, Stephen Brodsky (Cave In), to fill in, OMG released a pair of sonically pulverizing records last year. Seminar VIII: Light of Meaning and Seminar IX: Darkness of Being. Dynamic tempo shifts, sludgy riffs, guttural roars, but not without melody in both music and vocals for balance. Doom metal at it’s finest. Drifting in and out of the tracks are all types of static noise and pulsing sounds layered together, almost cinematic in scope. This was a therapeutic experience for them, and you can tell in the grief stricken lyrics. But there is also comfort for each other, and a process for moving on together in these songs.