SAINT VITUS: Heavier Than Thou Vinyl LP

Doom metal didn't get invented in 1988, but Saint Vitus spent that year making a strong case that nobody else was doing it right. Heavier Than Thou is a compilation that doubles as a field guide to the Los Angeles underground at its most wilfully slow, heavy, and ignored by radio.

Wino was already a cult figure by the time this landed, and the band's Black Flag connection, SST Records pedigree, and sheer refusal to play fast made them the patron saints of everyone who thought metal had gotten too glossy. This is where gothic doom and the American underground shook hands. If your shelves already hold Pentagram, The Obsessed, or Candlemass, there's an obvious gap where this should be.

Vinyl LP. Released 1988 on SST Records. Artist origin: USA. Genre: Doom Metal.

Fans of: Pentagram, The Obsessed, Candlemass