Thulsa Doom

In Oslo during 1999, leading Norwegian underground producer and Black Debbath guitarist Ole Petter Andreassen launched Thulsa Doom as a side project. The name pays tribute to the Snake King portrayed by James Earl Jones in Conan the Barbarian. Adopting the alias El Doom, he recruited vocalist Papa Doom, guitarist Doom Perignon, bassist Angelov Doom, and drummer Fast Winston Doom. Despite the moniker, the group steers clear of traditional doom metal conventions, thanks in equal measure to their conspicuous sense of humor and their habit of favoring rapid stoner-metal propulsion over the genre’s signature ultra-slow grinding riffs. Their debut release, the five-song EP She Fucks Me, appeared on the Spanish label Safety Pin Records in May 2000 and swiftly built an underground audience. This momentum secured a recording contract with the California-based independent label This Dark Reign, which issued the band’s first full-length album, the enigmatically titled The Seats Are Soft but the Helmet Is Way Too Tight, to critical praise in 2001. The track “Birthday Pony” later featured on the 2002 compilation Rebirth of the Heavy, while the follow-up album And Then I’ll Take You to a Place Where Jars Are Kept was slated for a mid-2003 release.