The lack of guitar is probably the first thing people will mention about Mama Doom. Fair enough. But after a while it isn’t really the interesting part of Eminent Womb anymore. Chuckie Rumbles’ bass carries enough weight to keep the songs firmly in doom territory, while D. Lolli’s keyboards give the album its stranger side and Anne Terror keeps everything moving underneath.
Mama Doom don’t sound like a band trying to compensate for anything. There are grooves here, actual hooks, and quite a bit more melody than the doom tag might suggest. “Mothers Mercy” is a good example. The chorus gets stuck in your head, then the band slows everything down and suddenly it’s back to that low, ugly doom crawl. That contrast turns up throughout the album without becoming a formula.
Lolli’s voice is a big reason it works. She doesn’t spend the whole record singing in one dramatic register, which would probably get tiring. There is a softer side to her delivery, but when she opens up, the songs get considerably bigger. She also knows how to leave some space around the vocal instead of filling every second.
The keyboards are doing plenty of work in the background. Sometimes they barely register. Then you notice that they’re the reason a section feels uneasy, or almost psychedelic, or just slightly off. On “Blue”, they become especially important to the atmosphere around the bass and drums.
There is an old-school feel to the record, and the Black Sabbath and Type O Negative references aren’t difficult to understand. Still, Mama Doom aren’t doing the usual long-form doom routine. Most of these songs are relatively short. They get to the point, find the groove and move on. Good decision.
The darker subject matter could easily have made the whole thing unbearably solemn. Motherhood, sacrifice, depression, mortality, rebirth. Instead, the record has a playful streak.
“Home is in the Ground” is a fitting closer, with the keyboards turning particularly ghostly and the whole thing ending somewhere between doom and horror soundtrack. Not a huge finale. Just a rather unpleasant place to leave the listener.
That’s probably what I like about Eminent Womb. It has an unusual setup, but the unusual setup isn’t the point. The songs are. And there are enough good ones here that you stop thinking about what Mama Doom don’t have and start paying attention to what they do with what they’ve got.
Eminent Womb will be released on September 25, 2026 via Argonauta Records / Grand Sounds PR. Today, we’re pleased to present the album exclusively:
Order album here: https://tinyurl.com/mamadoom
