Dordeduh: Dar de Duh (2012)

Remember Om?

Review by Patrick, proprietor of Beards, Etc.

Dordeduh are an atmospheric folk/black metal band based out of Romania. Their formation came after a couple members split from Negură Bunget in 2009. This fall they released their first full-length album, Dar de Duh.

This music isn't easy to really pin down. With long, flowing tracks that smoothly shift from mellow to intense, they have a better grasp than most on the proper use of the soft/hard dynamic. And with little splashes of Middle Eastern folk flavor blended into some of the softer sections, in addition to some folk flavor from eastern Europe, there is a nebulous quality to their overall sound.

Folk Briefs, Part 4

Folk It

I hope you're getting as much out of my folk explorations as I am. Or at least, that you're getting something out of them. Since my posts in this vein have gotten a positive response so far, I think you do. I recently decided to split the Americana from the rest of folk music, so this is purely outside of the 16 Horsepower realm.

Din Brad: Dor (2012)
3 out of 5 stars

Negură Bunget, without the metal parts. That's the best way to describe Din Brad, a folk project that features three members of the famous Romanian pagan metal band. The music features many traditional instruments, such as drums, flute, and some kind of lute (plus synths), as well as mostly female vocals. The drums are often tribal-sounding, and most of the music is atmospheric in nature, although album highlights like the title track and "Durere" can get much more interesting, the latter ending on a kind of war dance. The biggest drawback to Dor is the handful of a capella songs, mostly with male vocals, because they offer absolutely no interest.



Buy Dor

A Forest of Stars: A Shadowplay for Yesterdays (2012)

Shtick Notwithstanding

Throughout the history of hard rock and metal, there have always been bands with a shtick. Kiss's alternate personas. Gwar's alien thing. Ghost's anonymous Satanic proselytization. Brujeria's claim to be Mexican drug lords. It's nothing new. Even considering that tradition, taking on a ridiculous backstory is a gamble, because it can raise your profile, but cause people to unfairly dismiss your music.

I initially dismissed A Forest of Stars because they claim to be of the Victorian era, regardless of how much that particular gimmick appeals to me. But I may have been a bit too hasty. A Shadowplay for Yesterdays is their third full-length, and clearly an accomplished piece of work.

Dornenreich: Flammentriebe (2011)

Review

Pagan metal is not a genre I devote a great deal of time to, but I have been making a rewarding effort to become more familiar with it. The Austrian band Dornenreich was one of my first exposures, with their very unusual (extremely soft but with harsh vocals) Hexenwind. Flammentriebe cements them as one of my favorite pagan metal bands, if not the overall favorite.

The music is based around dynamic contrast between softer acoustic-oriented parts, usually with whispered vocals, and harsher black metal parts, usually with emotional yells and screams. It's a simple and cheap enough formula which has been used many times, but rarely has it been done so convincingly.

Alcest: Écailles de Lune (2010) Review

And the post-metal honeymoon phase is over again.

Alcest is a French band which started out in black metal, but has moved to a post-metal/post-rock sound. Since I recently reviewed Altar of Plagues, I thought I'd check out the other post-black metal band out there.

I kept hoping for a little more black metal in this, but there is almost no metal to be found at all. Post-rock is the best way to describe this, though "Écailles de Lune - Part 2" and "Percées de lumière" are both good tracks with metal elements.

Trying to judge it on its own terms is difficult, because I keep wanting to treat it as a metal album. It is hauntingly beautiful, with a melancholy sound. I don't know whether it's all the moon imagery which brings that word to mind or not. It gives the feeling of cold sadness, with too much hidden hope and self-pity to be truly dark, the way My Dying Bride is.

Judging it as a whole, it's a decent enough listen, but I think I'd have to be really in the right mood for it. I can see how good it is--and it's very good--it's just not my kind of music. I think I'll just stick with Altar of Plagues, thank you.



The Verdict: If you're into sad music and shoegaze, or maybe you're a goth with better taste in music than goths tend to have, Écailles de Lune will be right up your alley. For me, it was OK. I give it 2 out of 5 stars.

The Vision Bleak: Set Sail To Mystery (2010) Review

A week ago, I reviewed this German gothic metal band's last release, giving it a 4 star rating. I've managed to get my hands on their new album, though, so now I'll be reviewing Set Sail To Mystery, by The Vision Bleak.

It doesn't start out very strong. Don't let the nearly 4 minute run time fool you: the first track is a throwaway intro, one nobody would ever listen to except as a prelude to the rest of the album. I gave their previous album such praise because of the excellent, groovy but heavy riffs overlaid with interesting lead guitar. On the next couple tracks, they have ditched that sound in favor of a very standard, very done-and-done-over-again gothic metal. Not to say that they're bad--they're just not the superb, unique songwriting I was used to from these guys.

One area of improvement, though is in the vocals. Particularly on "I Dined With the Swans," you could almost swear they enlisted Till Lindemann for the pipes.

Things really pick up on the fourth track, "A Romance With the Grave." They've brought back some groove metal-inspired riffs, but instead of 90's groove it sounds more like current-day groove in the vein of DevilDriver.

On "The Outsider" they take a gothic death/doom approach, apparently channeling My Dying Bride, and on "Mother Nothingness (The Triumph of Ubbo Sathla) they seem to take a standard doom approach to their gothic metal. The last two tracks return to their faster-paced gothic groove.



The Verdict: I give it 3 out of 5 stars. The Vision Bleak explores more territory on Set Sail To Mystery than on their previous effort, but it's territory that's been explored before by other groups. It's not particularly lacking in strong songs, but with the incredibly slow start--about 14 minutes before it gets really interesting--it's difficult to get into the album in the first place. They should have dropped the first track and rearranged the song order.

The Vision Bleak: The Wolves Go Hunt Their Prey (2007) Review

I was turned on to this album by "Vancouver’s longest running Metal show on the air," Powerchord on CITR. The podcast, of course. I got the album and held on to it for a while before listening to it, because I had other things to listen to first. But, after listening through, I was sad I didn't get to it a lot sooner.

Their new album, Set Sail To Mystery, is supposed to come out today, but since these guys fly under the radar I'm guessing it will be a while before I can pick it up. Instead, I'll be reviewing 2007's The Wolves Go Hunt Their Prey.

The Vision Bleak is a German gothic metal band. I know, gothic metal usually isn't a genre a lot of people get crazy about, but these guys are different. Many successful groups in the genre, such as Lacuna Coil, Theatre of Tragedy, Nightwish, and Evanescence, rely primarily on a female vocalist, many of them also including a male vocalist. The high vocals are what provide most of the interest in the music for those groups.

The Vision Bleak, on the other hand, has only a male vocalist, whose style is similar to Peter Steele's on early Type O Negative. The rhythm section (including rhythm guitar) sounds not entirely unlike mid-90's Paradise Lost, but plays riffs which could have come out of a groove metal album from the same period. The excellent rhythms are what draw you in, but the real interest lies in the lead guitar, which is pure gothic metal goodness. There is no better way to understand what I'm talking about than to hear it for yourself:



Most of the album is great, especially "The Demon of the Mire" and "By Our Brotherhood With Seth." It does get a bit boring in the middle, however, with the three-part "The Black Pharaoh." Don't let that stop you though. These guys have a unique, theatrical take on the genre, and are worth checking out.

The Verdict: I give it 4 out of 5 stars.