Pilgrim

Despite hailing from Rhode Island, a state of modest proportions, Pilgrim projects the aura of a group displaced from an earlier time. Their austere, icy tone revives the weighty sonic mysticism forged by doom forerunners Witchfinder General and Candlemass, as the band excavates the elemental directness of classic doom through outsized riffs, crushing volume, and measured pacing. Launched as a trio under cryptic appellations—the Wizard on guitar and vocals, Count Elric the Soothsayer on bass, and Krolg Splinterfist, Slayer of Man, on drums—the outfit first asserted its ominous existence with the 2012 album Misery Wizard. After Elric’s exit, Pilgrim persisted as a duo and delivered a commanding return via 2014’s shuddering riff-fest II: Void Worship.