Dauðaró - Kyrr​þ​ey

The Icelandic one man blackened death funeral doom project Dauðaró has released its most  potent, and perhaps best, album with "Kyrrþey."  

I have reviewed several other Dauðaró releases before and have always found its sound to be as varied and dynamic as it is extreme and abrasive.   None of Dauðaró's releases have been afraid to take a more unconventional approach to extreme doom while still keeping it abyssal and unfathomably dark.   

However, "Kyrrþey," is definitely the most straight up funeral doom album that has been released.  The atmosphere is truly oppressive, the music conjuring images of dark skies that only grow darker.  A nearly permeable draft of iced death blows through the three long songs, chilling down to my bones.

Musically it is masterfully written and devilishly deceptive.  It crawls along at such a slow tempo that someone with an untrained ear to the art that is doom might wrongfully perceive it as simple music. Of course, this isn't tech death, jazz, or progressive but that doesn't mean it is simple.  If anything, it is just as complicated as those genres but instead of being seemingly random or full of time signatures that go no where, it is the multitude of layers within the skin of the songwriting that gives it its undying depth. 

It is very hard to write a review for music like this just because the nature of it eschews such 'normal' song and structure approaches that it's best to actually listen to and experience this first hand instead of reading about me talking about it.  The atmosphere is just as important as the music itself. 

So listen to my words but I implore you to experience this for yourself.

The album opens with “Fornar vættir,” and its funeral-like tones that hang heavy in the air. This is a surreal moment, death trapped within the ambience. But it breaks looks, bringing with it heavier tones and vocals.

The growls are an instrument unto themselves, a slow moving hurricane born out of this ambient chaos. Now it's real and threatening.

“Vosbúð,” is a much more physical track, taking the moods and feelings up the prior miasma and solidify them into a terrifying force.

The tempo is slightly increased, the music a slow death march as opposed to a cloud floating throughout the air.

After the nine minute mark, a layer that is cinematic in scope mixes with the Doomed carnage to create one of the heaviest and also most epic moments in Dauðaró entire discography.

The song doesn't let up either. The rest of the remaining minutes are immersive on a scale that is nearly hard to believe. Put on a decent pair of headphones and you'll think the ground is cracking open and about to swallow you whole.

“Upprisan” is a towering song that feels like it is climbing and reaching new heights as the seconds pass by. At 13 mins, it is a “short” song and will be a good place to start for people new to the band or funeral doom in general. 

I feel like this song takes elements of the previous two tracks and puts them together in a more focused way while still remaining as doomed sprawl through hellish lands.

Ultimately, “Kyrrþey,” is a masterclass of funeral doom metal that ticks off all of the genre's boxes while still very much being its own entirely new beast.

Funeral doom the way it should be: super slow, super low, and super dark. These three long songs unfurl like the birth of darkness and unending depression. Each song features common elements but they are all distinct from each other. Their length is an advantage because the songwriting is always engaging despite the slow tempo—there are so many details to discover with each listen.

If you like doom, especially funeral doom, this is a must listen release and a very special one to end the year and begin the new one with.

Forever Falling - The Determinism of Essence in Matter

Forever Falling is a death/doom band that has been active since 2020.  The group is of international origins, with vocalist John Suffering (Chalice of Suffering, Solemn Echoes) being from the United States and Tullio Carleo (Gods of Sadness, Voyage Noir) from Italy.

Their first album, “Suspended Over The Immanent,” received high praise from me—-this second full-length album "The Determinism of Essence in Matter“ shows clear progression and the band taking their sound to the next level. 

"The Determinism of Essence in Matter”  has six tracks, two less than their debut.  However, it is a little longer so the misery has been prolonged through the use of longer structures, including the eleven minute epic “The Wind of Remembrance.”

Doom fans obviously won’t mind the longer songs/album but even those who have a less than focused attention span won’t have an issue absorbing the music.  The six tragedies that make up the album are smartly constructed and their glacial pace moves quite smoothly—the seconds will tick by very easily for such sullen music. 

With that being said, this is doom, so it is as heavy with the weight of emotion as it is with the riffs and vocals.  The production must be praised—it has a very organic feel to it, making the music all the more cathartic and potent.  This is definitely one of the more depressing doom albums I've heard in some time. But that's why it is good. Life isn't always great and for many, it seldom is. The world needs music like this, even if it doesn't understand it yet.

The opening song, “To You” perfectly encompasses the overall atmosphere and style of the album. The music is funeral dirge like, the melodic tinge anything but a respite from the grief. John's vocals, his growls, are so deep he sounds like a mountain that decided to crawl out of some abyss and begin walking.  Tullio's mastery over the instruments is at once apparent. To make music this slow and devoid of so much light stay interesting is no easy feat.

The title track is up next and is slightly more immediate with melancholic but vibrant melodies crashing against the shore of the riffs and thunderous bass. It's really impressive how full this song sounds with just two members, which can be said of the album as a whole. The synergy between the vocals and music is so perfect that it's impossible to tell which was was written first but both seem to have the other in the their minds.

The orchestra part around the 4:40 mark appears at just the right moment and is a great bridge that adds in another dynamic layer while still keeping the atmosphere from dropping.

“The Touch of Ice,” is as cold and unforgiving as its namesake. The song builds up nicely, the drums in particular laying a strong foundation for the build up even as  they help push attention to various parts of the song. The riffs have an old school Gothic doom approach to them. It works, especially when the bass peaks out from behind the oppressive combination of the vocals and guitar.The halfway point sees the lead guitar soaring its way through the night, building up towards a slow but sense movement afterwards. 

The aforementioned “The Wind of Remembrance” begins the second half of the album on the highest of highs. The depressive lead guitar weaves a dark tale before handing the story off to some of the best riffs on the album. Subtle use of clean instruments interwoven into the heavier elements are an excellent addition, adding an unique tone of the song.The middle portion of the song is just darkly beautiful, the clean instrumentation born out of the previous realm of darkness even while they give way to their own impending doom.

“It is Absence” is a woven tapestry of melodies, harmonies, and everything that makes doom metal so goddamn great. It seems to be creating a void that sucks out all the light because around the two minute mark, the song becomes one of the most bleak on the album that is obviously saying a lot. The vocals during this movement are frightening.  The later half of the song reminds me much of SATURNUS, in that light and dark elements are put together to form a new beast that captures the best of both aspects.

The final song is “September Song” and, in places, the music actually sees the tempo “speed” up to a degree. It is a fitting way to end the album.  The first half is slow and cautious but then a break consisting of clean tones arrives, stretching the music to faster waters. The last few minutes of the song are very captivating with mesmerizing riffs and a sterling drum performance. 

All in all, Forever Falling's "The Determinism of Essence in Matter," is a doom album that leans into its sound hard while being highlighted by miserable but clever songs. A funeral you will want to attend. 

Pre-Order the album here

Suton - Sacrilegious

Suton is a doom/black metal band from Bosnia and Herzegovina who formed in 2014.  Although they released a split album in 2016, 'Sacrilegious' is their full length debut.  The band's style is definitely black metal based but it also includes so much more than that.

A very strong mix of doom metal is also presented here and it really works amazing with their sound.  The riffs are dark, grimy, and extremely thick.  But they have the acidic tone of black metal and just enough melody to tie it all together.

While every instrumental aspect of the album is strong, a special mention must go to the rhythm section.  The bass is magnificent and, thankfully, the well crafted production/mixing job, allows it to shine through the guitars.  The drums are consistently engaging and did a fine job of pulling my ears around to different parts of the song that I might have other wise missed.

The vocals are varied and present a well rounded range of styles.  Blackened rasps, screams, growls, and even cleans all find their place among this blackened doom.  

'Grandiose Anthropomorphism. Godlike Incubus,' is the opening track.  The riffs build up the song while the drums lay a sterling foundation as the vocals come into play, adding another layer.  Despite how much is going on in the song in such a short time, it doesn't sound cluttered or messy; everything, very note, every vocal line, is exactly where it needs to be.

'Thirty Seconds. Enlightenment Ritual,' is a slow burn of a song and one of my favorites on the album, if not my favorite. I love how the guitar and drums both wind up the track and push it all upwards and forward.  The bass and vocal patterns are unfurled effortlessly way.  This track showcases what the band is very adept at:  combining solid rhythm guitar and chunky riffs with engaging and melodic lead guitar.

'Beyond Me. Forever Me' has some of the best riffs on the album.  The momentum is there from the beginning and I found myself headbanging uncontrollably  to the first couple minutes of the song.  What sounds like a violin or maybe some type of key, pierces through this and it makes for a very harrowing moment. The suddenly uptick in temp in the later half is awesome because it leads into a clever guitar solo and very punishing guitar.  

All in all, Suton's 'Sacrilegious' album is yet another album on Satanath's discography that is one that presents its extreme mindset in a very engaging and dynamic fashion.  Any fan of doom or black metal would do well to check this out!

8/10 

Dhishti - Life Is Suffering

Dhishti is a black metal band from Sri Lanka who formed in 2019; 'Life Is Suffering' is their third full length album.  I am actually surprised about how dynamic this album is.  The band's sound is certainly rooted in DSBM and it is, overall, quite tragic and sullen.   However, the band does add a lot of variety to their sound and it makes for a very engaging listen.

The ethnic sounds of 'Kannalaua' open the album, setting the stage for the listener to experience the full depressive fallout of the first full length song, 'Marnashruti.'  I really enjoy the melodic riffs that open the song; throughout the rest of the album, the band certainly displays a knack for weaving their depressive style with delicious melodies and slower tempos that remain catchy.

The vocals alternate between insane shrieks and desperate shouts, a perfect vehicle to deliver the band's brand of blackened sorrow.  The lead guitar on this song is quite vibrant; never taking center stage but definitely steering the song in its needed direction. 

The next song, 'Sooryawansha Kala Sajhayana' is a bit more aggressive, with the riffs being deep and wide to cover a wide area of destruction. A more classic black metal tone is permeated throughout the song and it gives the music a classic extreme vibe while still allowing the band to inject its own brand.  The middle segment of the song is tribal drums and wonderful harmonies that add in an unexpected but appreciated moment in the song. 

'Neecha Paapa' is a surprising track, with its very emotional guitar solo and clean tones opening the song.  This definitely provides a different type of atmosphere fear that isn't always presented in this genre. But the black metal soon finds its way in---this song ends up being one of the more intense for me.  It is just an expertly composed and layered track that builds upon itself well and provides a lot of different paths. 

The final song is 'Marudepawilla' and it is a banger.  The riffs in the beginning are slow, low and sweltering.  The the double bass runs underneath is like an undersea volcano.  The music and vocals really work together here to present a song that is constantly on edge, an entire musical journey of trepidation and unforgiveness. 

All in all, this is a pretty unique take on DSBM and offers a lot of little nook and crannies that will make this appeal to people who aren't even fans of the style.

8/10

Top 30 Doom Metal albums of 2023

There were so many great albums released this year, doom metal or otherwise. However, with doom metal being my favorite genre, I decided to focus on just bands that fell under the range of its vast umbrella. With the exception of the number one pick, these are not in any particular order. There were many, many albums I wanted to add here but time contraints meant I had to, very painfully, bring it down to just thirty.

Two Years of Grief by Rise to the Sky

Dauðaró - Ylur

The one man Iceland based funeral doom band Dauðaró returns with another incredible release.  "Ylur" is one 47 minute long song that unfolds in a very special way.

The story behind the album's inspiration is nothing short of amazing.  Basically, Dauðaró saw the eruption of a volcano, an incredible event he witnessed from the balcony of his own home.  To create music like this on the spur of the moment is nothing short of amazing in of itself.

Obviously the artist himself and even other fans might interrupt this different.  But the beauty of music, especially the sprawling, emotive doom of Dauðaró, is that it can be different things to different people.  When I listen to this album, I can hear two perspectives.  Obviously one is of the musician but another is the volcano itself.  

During the Bandcamp listening session he conducted for this album's release, he did say he was never in any real danger from the volcano.  Be that as it may, this is a force of nature that is inherently dangerous in its default setting.  Even without imminent danger, it is something to be feared on a basic level and respected.  I get both those feelings here.  Perhaps not true fear but definitely trepidation on some level.   Dauðaró was on a break from creating music but the very power of nature's groans and pains inspired him to create this.  That is a powerful gesture. 

Musically, the album unfurls very smoothly, despite the subject matter and the style in which it is presented.  That's the perspective of the volcano.  Silent, patient.  Then it is loud and on the move with rumblings and lava flow.  But still patient.  There isn't a need to rush because there isn't a real sense of time.  Nature will happen when it happens and it will unfold as it unfolds.  There is no right, wrong, good, or evil.  What is..is.  It must be embraced as such because that is, quite simply, the only option.

The album represents this journey in a way that makes for both a challenging and fun listen.  Dauðaró's brand of doom is always atmospheric and slow but it is dead on perfect for an album like this. Clean and ambient textures begin the journey to the epic eruption.  The first few minutes are very organic, a very natural flow that is never boring.   Soft, almost gentle, tones can be interesting as heavier moments and Dauðaró nails that aspect down. 

Around the five minute mark, the tone grows darker as the guitar and death growls make their presence known.  The music has purpose, much like the volcano: to release this long dormant, pent up energy in the only way it knows, the only way it can. 

The tension grows, the danger reaching towards an ever approach climax.  By the time the twenty minute mark as been reached, the volcano has exploded, spewing out forth its deadly nature.  The music now is violent, explosive and the pace picks up just enough for a very uneasy feeling to permeate around the dense, layered music.

The album's end is very interesting and just as engaging as anything that came before.  The music winds down as easy as it was built up.  As the chaos gives way to drone, ambient tones, I can feel the sense of release as the danger recedes.  However, bubbling uneasy under the surface, is a feeling that will never go away.  It is one of nervous calm, the knowledge that none of this is, or ever will be, truly over.

With "Ylur," Dauðaró takes a concept that most bands or musicians would have trouble building into such a musical tapestry. Not only is this a highly successful release but it was that touches on a variety of emotions, a music that reaches down into the very nature of what makes the planet, and us, tick.