This is without doubt a weird album. Weird in a good sense, that is.
Experimental, progressive and ultimately metal, Dominium present 11
songs and a video track of inspired music.
The album opens with "Mouth Like an Open Wound", an acoustic piece vaguely
reminiscent of Anathema, melancholic and with some interesting guitar work.
The next track is "Obsession", and the music changes abruptly to something
more avantgarde, with a piano moving through the guitars, and black metal
vocals being introduced. A progressive piece with various rythms and
interesting riffs, the song cannot really be compared to any other band,
although the feeling the song gives me reminds me of bands like Arcturus,
early Septic Flesh, Solefald, Rotting Christ, and what have you. Interesting,
to say the least. The song is filled with detail, many technical bits
scattered throughout, including groovy thrash-like pieces as well as some
blast-beats. The song changes constantly throughout, and sets the stage
perfectly for the rest of the album.
The third track is "windigo", with a heavy intro leading the way for a
grim black metal part with howling vocals, growls, mosh parts, and more.
The song has a fairly unoriginal riff around the second minute, but this
quickly changes to a heavy, cool death metal part and even more changes
later on.
The band continues to spew out their hybrid of black and death metal
throughout the rest of the album, often melodic, with nice breaks and
some acoustic parts here and there.
The album really has only two flaws; the production isn't the best in the
world (although far from underground debut album sound), and the lyrics
are..well...not what I'd expect considering the songwriting talent
("I was born because my father didn't want to spank the monkey that day").
The album improves for each listening as more details are kept in mind.
Very enjoyable, and a gem you shouldn't miss this year.
4 out of 5.
Experimental, progressive and ultimately metal, Dominium present 11
songs and a video track of inspired music.
The album opens with "Mouth Like an Open Wound", an acoustic piece vaguely
reminiscent of Anathema, melancholic and with some interesting guitar work.
The next track is "Obsession", and the music changes abruptly to something
more avantgarde, with a piano moving through the guitars, and black metal
vocals being introduced. A progressive piece with various rythms and
interesting riffs, the song cannot really be compared to any other band,
although the feeling the song gives me reminds me of bands like Arcturus,
early Septic Flesh, Solefald, Rotting Christ, and what have you. Interesting,
to say the least. The song is filled with detail, many technical bits
scattered throughout, including groovy thrash-like pieces as well as some
blast-beats. The song changes constantly throughout, and sets the stage
perfectly for the rest of the album.
The third track is "windigo", with a heavy intro leading the way for a
grim black metal part with howling vocals, growls, mosh parts, and more.
The song has a fairly unoriginal riff around the second minute, but this
quickly changes to a heavy, cool death metal part and even more changes
later on.
The band continues to spew out their hybrid of black and death metal
throughout the rest of the album, often melodic, with nice breaks and
some acoustic parts here and there.
The album really has only two flaws; the production isn't the best in the
world (although far from underground debut album sound), and the lyrics
are..well...not what I'd expect considering the songwriting talent
("I was born because my father didn't want to spank the monkey that day").
The album improves for each listening as more details are kept in mind.
Very enjoyable, and a gem you shouldn't miss this year.
4 out of 5.
