Suffering Existence

Prepare yourself for another obscure metal project to commit suicide to. This time, the band in question has been fitted with a lethargic, wordless moniker and offers up a solitary 2-track demo, limited to less copies than there are albums in Mayhem's discography. And although that fact isn't exactly surprising, the quality on display here certainly is.

Dotdotdot(...) play depressive black with the lingering pace of doom. Think of the general slowness of Khrom, but with less variation in the riffing. If you're familiar with the excellent USBM band Ancestral (who recently released their 'Avowal' EP as a free download), then you have your closest comparison. The cathartic drone of the buzz saw riffing echoes a mad intensity on both tracks, while the tortured howls paint these sonic landscapes with a dismally grey turmoil. Thankfully, this band, like Ancestral, is clever enough to splice in just enough dreary melody to stir heavy hints of emotion within the listener. For those of us who drown our souls in this kind of music, these hints may be accompanied by the feeling that one's own emotions are gasping for air as they're smothered under the pain that is inherent to life.

Though I must admit that the material here doesn't sound quite as full and mature as Ancestral's brilliant 'Avowal' EP, there's still a lot of obvious potential for something great in the future. In fact, a taste of that greatness can already be heard on Dotdotdot(...)'s official MySpace. They've brilliantly covered a song that listeners generally wouldn't expect, but that fits completely with the depressive black metal aesthetic. This song is currently set to be released on an EP that is still in the works, and I hope to Les Légions that it isn't abandoned. If the stellar music on this demo is any indicator of what's to come, then the next great DSBM band may well be lurking just around the corner.