Dreams in Splendid Black

Path of Destiny's recent comeback album Dreams in Splendid Black is a loud, boorish affair that makes conscious use of the excess at its disposal, cranking all constituents to the point of overwhelming the listener with voluminous, swelling orchestral padding, blast-centric drums and riffs that seem perpetually glued to the lower end of the fretboard, inveigling by sheer force and muscle as opposed to the serpentine temperament black metal influenced acts like this often do. Riffs are crushing, ascending fare that sound more like later Vesania or maybe even Behemoth than more lightweight symphonic black metal acts more heavily hinged on baroque opulence and more fragile melodic posturing. This extreme genre potpourri is redolent of later Dimmu Borgir, although there isn't such an overt emphasis on the orchestration at the cost of the riffs' collective bite. This band can still write more than their share of crushing riffs, telegraphed via a primarily death metal assault laced with blackened ichor. These guys can stand with many genre stalwarts in regard to raw propulsion and the ability to cram in such a high level of extremity without becoming a cacophony, but is it enough?

I would say that yes, Dreams in Splendid Black succeeds at most of what it attempts, but it wasn't until the third track "Embers" that I was truly enthralled in the context of the album. Path of Destiny can really lock into a crushing, percussive-centric groove and scatter maelstrom tremolos all about to keep riffing relatively fresh. The weaker sections of the album are typically those that grow complacent and slide into an upper mid-paced half-time blasting sort of jaunt, during which the lasting power of the riffs begins to suffer and the band tends to focus more on the orchestral stingers. As far as the symphonic element, it works fairly well but isn't loaded with as many melodies as one may think going in. Thankfully, the riffs are a searing and monolithic affair, bestowed with stellar production values and a condensed, supple tone that excels during the threadier blackened tremolos as well as the choppier death metal grooves. Schaffert radiates an intelligible death growl that fits the music well, and sneering interjections are not uncommon. It's a fair performance and expected given the style.

Even better is the fact that few of these songs truly overstay their welcome. Cuts are compact and get to the point (for the most part), avoiding latching onto the orchestral cues too tightly and riding them into meandering oblivion. The drums can get a modicum carried away with the blasting, but the clinical precision of the performance works well enough to forgive any shortcomings outright. Along with a few splashes of sheer black metal discord, it's a more muscular modern death metal affair, and one that will appeal to fans of most modern death/black mashups, especially Vesania and Finland's Gloria Morti. Instead of scrawling out cycles of monotone genre posturing via repetition, Path of Destiny keep things moving dexterously enough to maintain (at least my) interest. This won't change your mind out there if you can't stand this polished style, but Dreams in Splendid Black is a smashing success.