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░ ██ ██ Artist: Dodkvlt ██ ██
▓ █░░ ■█ Album: III: Domini Ascensionem █■ ░░█
■ █▓▀ █ Year: 2012 █ ▀▓█ ░
█ ▓ Rel. Date: 2016-09-12 ▓ █
▒ ▒ Genre: Black Metal ▒ ▒
█▄ ░ Label: Misanthropic Art Productions ░ ▄█
░ █▄ ░ Source: CD ░ ▄█
░ █▓ Type: Album ▓█ ░
▓ █ Quality: VBR, 44.1kHz, Joint Stereo █ ░ ▓
▓ █ █ ░ ▓
▄ ■ ■ ▓ ■
░█ █░ ▀
█ Album No.3 from one-man black metal Finnish band █
█ Dodkvlt who I'd never heard of until just a month █
█ ago, "III: Domini Ascensionem" is a solid and █
█ brutal work that deserves to be brought to a wider █
█ audience, and might just be the break-through that █
█ Dodkvlt needs. The first track "Dark Void █
█ Architect" is a 12-minute opus that sums up the █
█ band's style: it's at once full-on heavy and █
█ aggressive, dense and raw in style and sound, grim █
█ and relentless in attitude, and apt to fly off at █
█ unexpected musical tangents. Even the opening bars █
█ of the song are unusual: they're stately (synth) █
█ chamber music string work worthy of a Baroque █
█ concerto and through several passages in the song █
█ you can hear this orchestral loop repeat in the █
█ background. The rhythm and pace of the track swing █
█ from strong driving riffs to black metal storm █
█ blasts of fury to suddenly quiet passages of █
█ delicate solo piano melody. There's some melodic █
█ hard rock in parts and some super-technical black █
█ metal riffing in others. All of this is laid over █
█ by incredibly demonic croaky vocals. █
█ The rest of the album doesn't quite reach the █
█ versatility of the opener if the songs are taken █
█ individually but they do boast some unexpected and █
█ interesting surprises. "A Curse upon this Wretched █
█ World" is actually very headbangingly groovy yet █
█ also features some unusual rhythms in parts and █
█ even a bit of sparkly space ambience that's easily █
█ missed if you sneeze at the wrong time. As if to █
█ confuse listeners, the Dodkvlt man Lord Theynian █
█ brings back that orchestral loop from Track 1 into █
█ the dense structure. "As I Descend into the █
█ Bottomless Void" is fierce and uncompromising in █
█ its attack though it also has sections where the █
█ music appears to float in a huge empty cavern █
█ where there are no inhabitants and blackness is █
█ everywhere. About the ninth minute there's an █
█ unexpected turn into post-metal rock bordering on █
█ lounge pop that very few bands would have thought █
█ of doing: Caina springs to mind as one of those █
█ bands not afraid to dip their toes into occasional █
█ easy-listening pop fluff. █
█ It's hard to keep up with the music as it changes █
█ a lot and there are no pauses between tracks so █
█ the album ends up sounding like a continuous █
█ hour-long drama with six varied if sometimes █
█ confusing movements. Suffice to say though that █
█ for an album that features a lot of improvised █
█ music, Lord Theynian's ability to sustain the █
█ aggression and furious attitude through the entire █
█ recording and several episodes of melodic acoustic █
█ guitar, post-metal, classic strummed black metal, █
█ orchestral music loops, quiet solo piano █
█ interludes and the odd episode of space ambient is █
█ a marvel in consistency. █
█ The last track "Final Seal Broken" is slightly █
█ mellow and slows down on the pace, allowing for █
█ some of the raw energy and aggression to ease off █
█ and reveal the inner agony behind the vocals. The █
█ black metal element is toned right down in favour █
█ of melodic post-rock and more conventional hard █
█ rock with a symphonic slant and some grand piano █
█ playing. █
█ The album is best heard as one whole if listeners █
█ can manage that: there's so much variety thrown at █
█ listeners nearly all at once, and that can be a █
█ weakness in that the music might pass as a blur █
█ over many people's heads and won't get the █
█ appreciation it deserves. Probably the most █
█ important thing about this album is one that a lot █
█ of listeners won't be aware of while they're █
█ listening to it and that's the skill and restraint █
█ Lord Theynian has applied to structuring the music █
█ here: with so many different genres he can █
█ command, he's arranged everything so every style █
█ of music can be heard clearly and there's no █
█ overkill on any one style. The result is an album █
█ of varied music done in good taste and with █
█ respect for the different elements. Everything █
█ serves a purpose here. I sort of wish that the █
█ good lord had applied the same approach to his █
█ subject matter and his lyrics as they're not that █
█ much out of the ordinary for black metal but █
█ that's perhaps a minor point compared to the █
█ music. █
▓ ▓
▒ ▒
░ 1. Dark Void Architect 12:00 ░
░ 2. A Curse Upon This Wretched World 6:43 ░
░ 3. As I Descend into the Bottomless Void 12:26 ░
░ 4. Enlightened 8:03 ░
░ 5. Abysmal Mausoleum 10:09 ░
░ 6. Final Seal Broken 10:05 ░
░ 59:26 ░
░ ▒ ▒
▓ █ ░ ▓ ░
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