Penance

Penance is a US doom metal band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, active from 1990 onwards. It forms out of the breakup of Dream Death, with several members choosing to move toward a more traditional doom sound after Dream Death’s mid-1980s run, which mixed doom, hardcore and thrash metal.

History

The group is founded by drummer Mike Smail and guitarist Terry Weston, both of whom previously play in Dream Death and remain central to Penance through its early years. The band’s line-up changes over time, and one of its notable later members is Mary Bielich of Novembers Doom. The current listed members are Richard Freund, Terry Weston, Mike Smail and Brian Lawrence.

Releases

Penance’s debut album, The Road Less Travelled, appears in 1992 on Lee Dorrian’s Rise Above Records. It is one of the first doom metal albums released on that label, alongside Revelation’s debut. The band then releases Parallel Corners in 1994 on Century Media, an album widely regarded as a classic of 1990s traditional doom metal. Later recordings bring in some psychedelic influence while staying close to the band’s doom roots.

Spiritualnatural, released in 2003, is the band’s final album. Afterward, Penance tours Europe in 2004 with Well of Souls and Orodruin, before splitting that same year. A posthumous release, The Road Revisited, follows in 2005 and presents the unreleased original recording of the debut album.

Later links and associations

Mike Smail later joins Internal Void and Pentagram. Across its catalogue and activity, Penance is associated with doom metal, heavy metal and stoner metal, and is described as a traditional doom act rooted in the Pittsburgh scene.