Doom Ceremonies

Mephistofeles, Purple Roadhouse, Sankt Joachim & der Wiener Untergrund

Presented by Black Rabbit, Viper Room, Vienna, Austria 20251009

Mephistofeles was a kind of myth in my mind. As many of you know, I never miss an opportunity to chat with musicians and fans about doom metal, and whenever the topic of Latin American doom comes up in the conversation, Mephistofeles is practically an omnipresent name. They have even appeared in the famous Does It Doom guitar tutorials. However, I must confess that I did not know them before I moved to Europe. Whatever the reasons, as a Chilean, I did not always receive novelties from across the Andes as fluidly as one might expect. Anyways, life’s little ironies: I discovered these Argentinian (Paraná) monsters only after stepping on European soil.

Along with Mephistofeles’ performance, the programme at Viper Room also included two Viennese bands. Just before 21:00, the first band took to the stage: Sankt Joachim & der Wiener Untergrund, which define themselves as heavy underground rock n’ roll. According to our records, the band has been active since 2022, when they released their first and only demo. In their show, I could clearly differentiate between two repertoires, one much closer to rock and the last two songs definitely much closer to doom metal: heavier and harmonically more dissonant. The audience enjoyed the presentation and even got an encore.

Second on stage were Purple Roadhouse, a band founded in 2016 that cultivates a stoner/heavy rock style. They have released several records, the latest being the full-length Smoke & Mirrors (2024), from which they played songs such as “Children of the Sun” and “Infernal World of Doom”. One of the things I personally highlight is the strong presence of the bass, including a short solo in one of the last tunes.

At around 22:45, Mephistofeles‘ show began. I am not going to lie: while their studio sound is already quite interesting, their live performance is impeccable, thick, and excellently amalgamated. The live sound is also clearly heavier compared to the three first albums, following the general line of the last one, Violent Theatre (2022). The musicians’ execution on stage was also top-notch and some compositional strategies, such as convenient tempo changes or the alternation between swing eighth notes and ‘normal’ (or straight) ones, crowned a perfect live performance.

The band has an extensive discography, including four full-length albums. Their visual and sonic aesthetic, rooted in doom metal, is heavily infused with 1970s influences, references to Electric Wizard, psychedelic, stoner, and occult elements, as well as some drone foundations on their early releases. Without a doubt, however, one of the most recognisable aspects of Mephistofeles’ aesthetic is their fusion of objectified female sexuality with themes of drug abuse and diabolical ritualism.*

Gabriel Ravera, the band’s guitarist and vocalist, remarked to an enthusiastic audience that this was their first European tour, which began at the start of October and will conclude in mid-November. At exactly one hour into the show, which included tracks like “Profanation”, “Black Sunday”, and “Buried in Worms”, Mephistofeles said goodbye to the Viennese audience, and the shouts demanding one more song did not take long to be heard: at first the almost unanimous clamour was in Spanish, slowly transforming into the German Zugabe. After what felt like an eternity, Ravera returned from the backstage to try to pacify the crowd and inform us that they had no more songs to perform. However, he promised that they would return soon. I hope so.

*For those interested in further exploring these topics, scholar Owen Coggins has published a detailed article analysing aspects of the representation of female sexuality in Doom Metal.