Confessor

Standing out amid the death-and-grind focus of Earache Records, North Carolina’s Confessor specialize in slow, dirgy doom metal. The band took shape in 1990 with wailing vocalist Scott Jeffreys, guitarists Brian Shoaf and Ivan Colon, bassist Cary Rowells, and drummer Stephen Shelton. After issuing their debut album Condemned and a self-titled EP, insufficient interest in the group’s work prompted a breakup. A decade afterward they reunited under sorrowful conditions to perform at a benefit for the recently deceased Colon; while active they also chose to cut the 2004 EP Blueprint Soul.