***"Of all metal’s disparate subgenres, doom metal and its offshoots impose the fewest barriers to entry for aspiring musicians. Most of it is structurally simple relative to further-flung branches of the metal family tree, and its slow tempos and emphasis on repetition make it easy to play. Ironically, these same qualities mean that doom requires immense attention to detail and control to really hit home — it’s an easy-to-learn, hard-to-master kind of affair. Hell’s sole musician, M.S.W., is a master. This 7″ is Hell’s first solo release since his great III LP in 2012, and though it’s only 13 minutes long, it’s one of the most rewarding doom recordings I’ve heard this year. (Its chief competition comes from Indesinence’s excellent new album, which we touched on earlier this month.) The base components for its A-side “SubOdin” are familiar: a trudging pace, syrupy tones, moments of vaguely bluesy dissonance, and so forth. But there’s a whole lot of devil in its details. M.S.W. employs careful performance and production touches — a distant pick scrape here, a deliberately lagging tempo there, intensive vocal distortion throughout — to envelop this song in an air of occult menace more often associated with black metal. On-again/off-again collaborator T.A.S.’s inarticulate shrieks certainly further the effect. The riffs themselves are great, of course, as they must be for doom to have a prayer of succeeding the way this stuff does. Here’s hoping that a fourth LP is in the offing from this underrated band."—Doug (Stereogum)