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.