Dolorous Death Knell

Over the past few years an ultimately raw and bleak branch of death metal has seen a huge renaissance. Often being contemptuously referred to as “cavernous” or “Incantation core” there are certain places around the globe where a major concentration of bands acting within this murky and nihilistic sub-genre can be witnessed. Beside the Pacific Northwest area of the USA there are also several hotspots located within Europe, with the probably biggest waves having their origin in the Danish scene. Acts like Undergang, Phrenelith, Taphos or Hyperdontia have quite a huge following among the death metal community, and with Denmark being a pretty small country with less than 6 million residents it should not come as surprise that a lot of the artists are part of more than one project. Another act from within the orbit of the mentioned bands are Sulphurous, and while the level of hype might not be the same, the quality of the music surely is, as the two lads have proven on their full length debut “Dolorous Death Knell”.

This group have an almost hellish, ritual worship atmosphere to their music that proves to be one of their main assets. At times, the swirling maelstrom of rapid down-picks and tremolo riffs proves somewhat overwhelming, and fans who expect catchy melodies might look elsewhere. That said, the band sometimes vary tempos dramatically to high efficacy, and also frequently switch riffs on the faster sections to provide variation. Guitarist M surely is one of the best of his guild, something that should not come as surprise, as he also wields the axe for Taphos and Hyperdontia. He keeps dropping hook-laden riffs and murky lead passages, but he never loses himself in redundant wankery. Instead his playing leads the line, defining the character of each song. While most of the time the music has a certain kind of stoic nature there are some chaotic and more unorthodox sections thrown in for good measure.

The ultra-precise drumming by T (also swinging the sticks for Phrenelith and Hyperdontia) helps ramping up the intensity level even more. His playing underlines the crushing heaviness of “Dolorous Death Knell”. Everything on this record is consumed in a dark, dense atmosphere that makes songs like “The Flickering” feel murky and apocalyptic. The low end creaking through this record is ludicrous, with each chugging breakdown sounding like the cracking of the earth’s plates, best felt in the titanic final track “Reapers Gale”.

The vocals, bellowed with sinister allure by M, crept from beneath the murk, while his bass stabs murderously through the shadows. From what I understood he has also taken over vocal duties for Hyperdontia, and while the former singer of this band has also been a beast this surely was not a bad decision. The production is dirty and rotten, but this should not take away from the fact that beneath the layers of disease and uncleanliness there’s genuine craftsmanship and excellent songwriting to be found. While I am of course also a fan of the better known bands listed in this text Sulphurous is one of my favorites of the bunch, as they have produced a fantastic genre piece. I am excited to find out where they are going next.

Dolorous Death Knell succeeds in two realms, from what I can decipher.

Firstly, we’ll dissect the realm of intricate simplicity. The oxymoron refers to various specific portions, as well as the album’s coating in general, which is musically built with technicality in mind, but is absorbed by the ear easily. The first minute-or-so of “The Flickering” exemplifies this perfectly. The aforementioned swirling-style riff is equally offset by brief tempo changes, whereby a thumping drumbeat is introduced. Following a few repetitions (which have allowed for the listener to settle into this off-tempo yet digestible format), a frantic lead guitar solo juts into the mix, adding another layer of complexity. This segment is so well crafted, however, that all of this underlying musicality goes unnoticed; yet the listener is nonetheless bobbing their head.

The second succeeding trend falls within the band’s ability to manufacture the presence of heaviness through tempo control. The subject falls prey to discussion around these parts quite frequently, as a lot of bands miss the mark due to this reason. Constant, perpetual blasting does not translate to an equally heavy atmosphere. You might be playing the drums a million miles an hour, and your picking speed might average at a triple digit BPM, but these seemingly indestructible factors don’t equal crushing destruction. The human mind is a creature that adapts to its surroundings, and thus interprets incessant blast beats as the norm after a minute or so, thus diminishing your output due to its stagnancy.

Tempo variation and proper song composition will get your music to heavy status, as Sulphurous have proven. I mentioned the inclusion of melodic guitar solos and interludes earlier in the review. I must stress that these tinges of melody, which can get borderline emotional at times, are placed throughout the record. However, when melody is introduced, hard-hitting sections certainly follow, resulting in a delightful juxtaposition of odds. “Aura of Decay” does this really well, by accenting tasteful guitar solos with heavy guitar chugs, equalizing into polar emotions felt by the listener.

Furthermore, “The Flickering” (which is my favourite track on the record by the way, can’t you tell?) features an interesting melodic interlude, which is crushed by the breakneck guitars and percussion that enter during its conclusion.

In terms of aspects not as pleasant, there aren’t too many. The 40 second melodic interlude “Incoherent” is interesting, but I don’t feel like it fits on the record, especially since the melody doesn’t fully develop due to the song’s short length. I feel like a little more time could have been dedicated to this one. Also, the inclusion of a short melodic interlude song before the final track is cliché by now; Pestilence has done it, Demolition Hammer has done it, Skeletal Remains has done it because Demolition Hammer did it, and so on. I’d forgive the inclusion if a little more thought went into the number, but this feels like it was tacked on at the end because it’s the thing to do.

I really like this debut. I believe the band only has two members, so I think this project will stay in the studio for the time being, and of course they have other bands to attend to, so we probably won’t see another Sulphurous release for a while. Nonetheless, Dolorous Death Knell checks off a lot of my boxes. Solid death metal, the replayability factor is there, and the contributors are clearly masters of their craft. Another great Danish output.

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2018 has been a year completely loaded with quality death metal, with plenty of excellent debuts from hyped bands, and surprising returns to form by veteran bands as well (Deicide, Hate Eternal, and Monstrosity all still doing Florida proud). The metal scene has essentially hit peak retro-OSDM, so not everything is gonna be a die-or-buy, gamechanging release: Dolorous Death Knell is one of these. It’s pretty good, but pretty good is closer to average in such a stacked year. Sulphurous hasn’t done anything wrong here, but they simply need to do a little more right in order to stand out. No fault of their own, it’s just the way the hands were dealt at this moment in time.

Basically what we have here is more caverncore, even more murky and dark death metal in the style of Dead Congregation and Incantation. Couldn’t sound any more typical if the band were called Sulphuration instead. Disma-l tremolo riffs leading into death/doom sections, deep and monotone vocals, and a steamrolling drum performance holding it all together with solid momentum. A good reference is the Phrenelith album from last year, which isn’t surprising considering this band is also Danish, and even shares the same damn drummer as that band. Apparently Sulphurous has been around longer, but if you had told me this was the new Phrenelith album, or even a demo preceding Desolate Endscape, I’d buy it. The riffs here aren’t quite as strong as that album, but the atmosphere and style are very comparable. If you liked that one, you’ll like this; which one you’d prefer is basically up to chance, or perhaps which one you heard first.

There is precisely one element here that stands out and makes Dolorous Death Knell worth hearing: the lead guitar. The guitar solos here are plentiful and just excellent, creating a desolate (heh) atmosphere that holds the record together. The production pushes the lead guitar far into the back of the mix, but this is all for the better. Each guitar solo sounds like its miles away, floating with the winds over hills and valleys, never within reach but always calling to you. This album is filled with sad melodies that just barely appear to you, giving the music an ephemeral and hopeless vibe. The drumming of Paweł Tunkiewicz is also above average: I really love the ending of the final song “Reapers Gale”, which has him playing a bunch of fun drum fills while the guitars echo a depressing, repetitive melody.

As with a lot of death metal of this style, I enjoy the slower, more crushing moments more than the constant flurry of tremolo riffs. If Sulphurous had maybe focused on playing true grimy death/doom, I think they’d have a real winner on their hands. Highlights include the title track, which has a great groove riff at the 1 minute mark, and of course an awesome guitar solo on top. “The Flickering” has the most solos of all the songs here, and “Aura of Decay” has one of the catchiest tremolo riffs as well as a great doom section at the end. Most any one of these songs would make a fine addition to a “Death Metal 2018” playlist, and I always enjoy them when they're playing, but there's always a nagging voice in the back of my head wishing I was listening to Burial Invocation, Outer Heaven, or Zealotry instead. Even the Hyperdontia record, another band which shares members with Sulphurous, had sick thrash riffs to help distinguish itself from this tired style of metal. Thanks Santa, but this is one cavern I’ve been down before.