Dawnwalker – Ages
The rich, grandiose opening of “Melekh” sets Ages on a journey of discovery as the initial steps of the record move in rising waves of sound that ushers in visons of dark clouds stretching across the horizon to bring forth a storm. Of course, there is a calm that precedes the tumult and “The Wheel” does much to settle the nerves for what the future may bring with its gentle progressive melodies and beautiful clean vocal lines. However, as the song progresses through its eleven-minute runtime, the vocals become darker and jagged and the music turns into a foreboding weight. This is a theme which runs throughout the record and enables Dawnwalker to structure their songs as singular narratives that speak of change and memories lost to time, while the record contains an overarching story that pays homage to long forgotten rites and the descent of the world into darkness.
The artwork depicts a ritual on a beach with the cliffs behind and a darkness that creeps forward and Ages echoes that in its musical output. Radiant guitars and shining vocals are often countered with heavier passages and harsh vocals and as the band melds folk with black metal, progressive metal and post-rock, Dawnwalker create a unique sense of time, and tone, on their third full-length (2018s In Ruins was reviewed here). The rolling, pastoral atmosphere that is reflected in the base elements of Dawnwalker’s music sets them apart from other atmospheric leaning bands, not least because of the liberal use of clean vocals which serve to add an older, more…..traditional aura to the record (think Hexvessel rather than Wolves In The Throne Room).
Ages features several long compositions that are interspersed with a handful of instrumental passages that serve to link the songs that precede and follow in a smoother manner and while all of those longer tracks are engaging, it can feel overwhelming on the first listen. Luckily, Ages is extremely charming and there is plenty of scope for going back and discovering more on repeated listens. “Burning Forests” features emotive clean vocal lines and subtle synth structures that devolve into more aggressive tones as the song progresses into a diatribe against heated, inhospitable lands wrought with drought – something which is pertinent to our own modern world.
As “Cataclysm” falls into view it becomes ever more clear what the message of Ages is: humankind has wrought untold destruction on Earth and only when it turns to dust will the damage be reversed and nature can rise once again. The song progresses from a calm, albeit serious beginning which features serene singing to an altogether different beast as the vocal lines twist with anger and the music pulses with hostile intent towards those who have brought this landscape to ruin.
Listen and purchase here.
Mythos Lore – Comfort & Joy
Comfort & Joy is four hours long which is, by any calculation, a bold statement for any band to make and particularly so for a band who decided to release a four hour debut record on Christmas Day. Mythos Lore make no apologies for this and instead give you several routes through the album if listening to the whole thing in one go is not palatable, although doing so will certainly bring moments of euphoria, sorrow and hope that are heightened due to the time that you’ve invested in this monumental work.
Mythos Lore offer seven different ways to listen to the record, should you wish to experience it in a range of ways.
1. (Spring Equinox) tracks 1-3
2. (Summer Solstice) track 4
3. (Autumn Equinox) tracks 5-7
4. (Winter Solstice) tracks 8-10
5. [Comfort] tracks 1-5
6. [Joy] tracks 6-10
7. {Comfort & Joy} tracks 1-10
Comfort & Joy contains ten tracks and several push the limit for what is “acceptable” in terms of track length. If you’re a fan of doom fan, then listening to a record that is only one song in total which plays for an hour, akin to Bell Witch’s Mirror Reaper, then Mythos Lore’s journey might not faze you at all. However, listening to a record that is four hours long in one sitting is likely not the most…enticing of experiences. Mythos Lore, though, do want to make you think and their tales of religious indoctrination (using samples of the speech given by Jim Jones in “VII: ATTIS” which fully make the skin crawl ) and protest against Christianity set against a backdrop of progressive, post-metal are fascinating.
Mythos Lore are a collective of musicians from differing backgrounds and so the record winds its way through many genres on its journey to disentangling from organised religion. Black metal, post-rock, shoegaze and folk all make an appearance and each contribution to the overall style allows the band to add depth and texture to their narrative as to the way religion can sink its claws into you before you’ve even realised you’ve been imprisoned by its poisonous thought process.
There is a sense that Mythos Lore have much more invested in Comfort & Joy than just the creation of music as the anger that spills from “II: MITHRA” becomes a palpable rage as the song builds its waves of sounds, constantly adding to the intensity in stages before it falls back into Americana-styled guitars and curious echoing sounds of worship. There is no joy here, however, and the song feels like a scream into the darkness that religion offers.
The crunching of snow underfoot and the howling winds of “X: Esus” gives a feeling of isolation and belies the horror of the samples that are used to open the song – religion used as reasons to go to war, that God told you do invade a country and that Jesus is our saviour and that everything that has led you to this point is all the doing of an all-knowing, all-mighty and powerful deity. It’s terrifying hearing that elected officials put so much into the words of “God” and allow their people to blindly follow. Mythos Lore, by using these words, are showing us just how ridiculous this notion is and as the song moves away from those words of insanity, it pushes for hope and light in its echoing guitars, bright melodies and use of traditional song “Auld Lang Syne.” Perhaps this is Mythos Lore bidding farewell to the past, to old and outdated ways and ushering in a new dawn.
Listen and purchase here.
Sepulchre by the Sea – Conqueror Worm
Conqueror Worm is the first full-length from British artist Sepulchre by the Sea which shows a great deal of progression from 2019s demo …and so it crumbles (a song which also features on the debut in a more fully realised form). The richer textures of the song in 2020 give rise to melodies that were once tinny and while this is still evidently a home recording, Sepulchre by the Sea are putting their all into their music and are producing interesting moments on their journey into darkness.
Inspired by the world of Edgar Allan Poe, the band takes literary references and twists them into narratives that are somewhat closer to home, all while incorporating and melding post-rock and black metal in a way that, honestly, is reminiscent of a lot of Caïna‘s earlier work. The pulling of inspirations from gothic style texts, the curious post-punk drums of the title track, the vocals that swing from spite-filled to beautiful clean lines – they are all techniques that have been put to use before and they are all techniques that clearly work well together.
Conqueror Worm is the sound of a band finding their footing; the gorgeous introduction of “Slices of Death” and its echoing, mournful clean vocals evoke a painful sadness while its simple progression towards the inevitable end is laced with just enough light to keep you afloat in the darkness. “Behind the Walls” shatters the serenity with punishing (programmed) drums and incisive vocals that cut through the peace with no regard for the hope it left behind. The rises and falls of the record hit at just the right moments, however, a handful of songs do veer into long-form territory (“Plutonian Shores” takes a good ten minutes to really get going) which, with careful editing, could be made all the more impactful. Of course, creating music that speaks to others is a learning curve and there is time for Sepulchre by the Sea to hone their craft. As it stands, Conqueror Worm is a great first foray into the world of atmospheric black metal and a record to seek out in these dark winter months.
Listen and purchase here.
Sunyata – The Great Beyond
Sunyata is the work of English artist John D. Reedy who creates music under various guises and here uses symphonic elements to create a doomed landscape of dark, heady proportions. The Great Beyond does what many doom records do – it talks about death. However, Sunyata also talks about life, the light and the darkness and the contrasts that are needed to balance these two huge events.
“The Great Beyond” begins the record on huge swells of radiant synthesised lines as the song charts the beginning of a journey of discovery, although it is “The Great Below” which comes next that lifts the work into the stratosphere. Lyrics are kept simple throughout, each song running at ten minutes exactly and the words kept to the bare minimum , Sunyata allowing the music to paint the scene which it does so with bellowing synths, funereal progressions and curious, electronically affected vocals. “The Great Below” uses choral elements to push through the darkness and it gives the song a strange and uncomfortable edge that continues into “Meditation on Death” through its bombastic ecclesiastical voices and off-kilter strings.
As “Meditation on Death” moves forward it begins to fall into introspective, doomed territory as Sunyata’s grief rises up to become a tangible character in this narrative of facing death and accepting the fate that will come to us all. Vocals take on the echoing, guttural aura of funeral doom which is in complete contrast to the bright simulated lines of “The Great Beyond” and its exploration of the stars. Death is real and Sunyata uses their music to contextualise that overwhelming feeling of coming to terms with our own humanity and subsequently, our mortality.
Listen and purchase here.