Dysanchelium

Another act I tracked down due to a reportedly Demilich connection/allusion; the thing is that those recommenders quite often make such references based on just one or maximum two tracks that have passed by their ears, without even perusing through the album. In other words, apart from the fact that these folks also hail from Finland, plus a couple of bizarre cavernous echoes ala “Nespithe” scattered around the album reviewed here, there’s not much that can associate Tenebrae with their mentioned compatriots.

That doesn’t mean that their style is not much to talk about; on the contrary, this is a fairly interesting take on the doom metal idea, a twisted outlandish interpretation that is quite comparable to what the Germans Dark Millennium did on their first two instalments at around the same time. So expect a pinch of death metal as well the latter strengthened by the hoarse semi-shouty deathly vocals which can’t help but play second fiddle to the original, unorthodox musical setting.

The band capture the listener’s imagination with lengthy, sometimes drawn-out (“Welcome Death”) compositions where surreal atonal riff-patterns suddenly rise out of thin air, literally, intercepting a hypnotic slow-burning layout with both sides merging into one surreal melodic whole at some stage, a gimmick served unerringly throughout except on the parts where neurotic, jumpy Confessor-esque strides (“Dimension Depression”) take over for an even less predictable, more eclectic ride. Less eventful morose doomy vistas (“Everlasting Freeze”) are inevitable, but they never outstay their welcome especially those which carry this macabre reverberating… well, Demilich-esque vibe (“Salvation”), also recalling another intriguing doom/death outfit, Ghoulgotha from the States. Less bridled death metal escapades (“Human Factory Odor Part II”) emerge here and there spicing the dense doom-laden proceedings, giving this opus a momentary energetic boost, these isolated outbursts quickly drowned in the next portion of ship-sinking antediluvian oblivion.

It’s amazing how this effort sounds both traditionally doomy and eccentrically alien to the established for the genre template; the band have achieved a very good balance between the two sides which sound mutually inclusive in this case, the approach seamlessly flowing from a more crooked passage to a more linear one and vice versa, the transitions never sounding awkward with the mentioned merger of the two aspects timely provided, wherever applicable, to ensure the hybridization manoeuvres are also firmly in place. The element of surprise is always in the air regardless of how long a certain slow heavy section may last, the guys gaining the audience’s trust with the regular change of scenery, winning a wider range of fans for the fields of doom in the long run.

The same appetizing inventive amalgam was served on the “Sick Spinning Wheel” EP a few months later, the four numbers presented on it seeming leftovers from this album’s recording sessions. The sophomore must have been quite a shock for the band fans, though, a noisy proto-industrial blend of post-thrash and hardcore, a sloppily assembled collection of short rushed anthems, the near-perfect opposite to the serious officious delivery on this opus. It would be difficult to recognize the same musicians responsible for the crooked doomy forms here, but on the other hand variation and defying the expectations mustn’t have been such a bad idea, especially during the groovy/aggro 90’s… only that sometimes they can wake up the dormant spirits of bigger, less nameable horrors than just the bad old Mater Tenebrarum.