It may sound sombre and perhaps even instil certain apprehension when it is uttered but, when accompanied by the words ‘Malta’ and ‘Metal Festival’, the word ‘doom’ takes on an entirely different meaning.

The fourth edition of the Malta Doom Metal Festival (MDM) will be held this Friday and Saturday at Buskett Roadhouse; two eagerly awaited nights that collectively bring to the Maltese stage the best of what the local and international doom metal scene has to offer.

More than that however, the festival itself is fast becoming a sought-after event within the international doom metal community, thanks to the amazing choice of line-ups covering the many shades of doom it has presented in every edition, and this year will be no different.

The 14-band line-up at this year’s MDM will feature no fewer than four Maltese acts, namely the island’s foremost doom act Forsaken, sludge doomheads Griffin Device, Oblique Visions and stoner act It Came From the Desert, a new band featuring members of Slit and The Areola Treat.

The festival will be co-headlined by none other than Swedish epic masters Sorcerer and seminal Italian cult band The Black, renowned for the manifold talents of singer and guitarist Mario Di Donato. The latter received the prestigious Dante Alighieri award in 2010 for his contribution to contemporary Italian culture .

The foreign line-up features other significant bands, among them Germany’s Dawn of Winter, whose The Peaceful Dead album is considered a classic in the Doom genre; Evadne from Spain, Dutch/Belgian traditional doom act Hooded Priest, Iron Void from the UK, Mortalicum from Sweden, French ‘Doominoids’ Children of Doom, Tethra from Italy, and last but not least, Russian folk-doom outfit Forest Stream; truly a selection that underlines MDM’s efforts in covering the entire European doom scene.

Tickets cost €12 (Friday), €20 (Saturday) or €28 (both nights).

www.maltadoom.com