Dornenreich - Bitter Ist’s dem Tod zu Dienen
Dornenreich is one of those “what if…” bands. If you’ve ever wondered what Immortal would have been like if Jorn from Hades (Norway) had stayed on, this is probably what it would sound like. If you took Alone Walking and Pure Holocaust and threw them both in your favorite food processor, the resulting carnage would sound like this album almost exactly. This is not to say that Dornenreich aren’t good. They really kick some serious ass. If these guys can get a thicker guitar tone and maybe up the bass a little bit, they just might knock quite a few bigger name bands off their perches in the top spots in Black Metal today.
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Domine - Dragonlord (Tales of the Noble Steel)
Oh fuck, are these guys dorks. Back when I was maybe 13 or so (almost two decades ago!), I could have better appreciated the Elric inspired fantasy lyrics, but I guess at least it proves that the members of Domine read, so that’s good. What is also good is their musical ability. All fans of traditional Power Metal who have not already long since had their fill would be well served to check out this band. Okay, they’re not the best, but they are better than most, and there is certainly a plethora of Power Metal these days.
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Domestic Altercation - 7
Most of the time I have little use for Ambient “soundscapes,” because most of the time they really suck, and are pointless abominations devoid of all interest - bullshit attempts at being creative by retarded jerkoffs simply desperate for any kind of attention. That, however, could not be further from the truth concerning Domestic Altercation. Sure, these are Ambient soundscapes, but they’re disturbing, with weird stuff building up in the background and then coming unexpectedly to the fore. These tracks actually have structure, and that makes them all the more demented. I’m not exactly sure how often I’ll be listening to this CD, but the next time I have need for unsettling ambience, this is probably what I’ll pick.
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Dodheimsgard - 666 International
These guys are fucking weird, mixing every style imaginable with programmed drums, and mostly Black Metal guitars. If you like experimental stuff, then be my guest, but this will certainly be too strange and disjointed for most. It does have its moments, though.
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Divine Rapture - Divine Rapture
I’ve heard this band compared to early Morbid Angel, and unless we’re talking about just the production on Abominations of Desolation, I really don’t hear it. Sure, this is “technical” Death Metal, but it is missing two essential things: memorable songs and good production. It sounds as if I recorded this on my Yamaha 4-track (but I am pretty good with it). But, that aside, I think that the only real problem here is that this band just needs a little more time to develop, which they have probably had by now. The CD also features a video track for one of the songs, and although it’s not exactly great, I do appreciate the effort.
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Dismal Euphony - All Little Devils
I’m having a hard time with the two major style choices this band seems to project. With vocalist Anja Natasha’s melodic croon, the band make a very convincing “atmosphere” act, a la Tiamat. With Ole’s vocals they become a pretty fierce, technical Death Metal band. The problem is, they don’t blend these two styles together very well at the same time, and I think ultimately this will keep them from being accepted by Metal fans or the “gloom and doom” Goth crowd. I must say the band is very talented and this is a strong effort.
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Disciples of Mockery - Disciples of Mockery
Everything about this band screams mediocre, plain and simple. I find this kind of disappointing, as the lineup features ex-members of Incantation and Rotting Corpse. Hmmm… their bio says that their influences are early acts like Bathory and Possessed, but this band just completely lacks the aforementioned bands’ intensity that made their basic, simple styles so effective. Gotta pass on this one.
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Dimmu Borgir / Old Man’s Child - Devil’s Path / In the Shades of Life
Hammerheart has created a real must-buy situation with this one. This disc has an old EP from each of these now-well-known bands, and unless you already have the original versions, I think you’ll be tracking this down. Looking at the reviews above [of Godless Savage Garden and Spiritual Black Dimensions, which were both printed above this review in Metal Curse #12 -Editor], you can see that I happen to like Dimmu, and they are just as good here, although perhaps more raw and less produced. And OMC is also very impressive - even more so than their later work on Century Media, if you ask me, although they do just barely keep this from a perfect ten. I consider it to be extremely cool of Hammerheart Records to have re-released these EPs on a single disc, when they could have just as easily had two separate CDs, and milked it for more money.
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Dimmu Borgir - Spiritual Black Dimensions
Well, despite the lack of Accept covers to help this along, I really like it. It’s intense and memorable new wave Black Metal, with more than a little Thrash and Death Metal seeping in. Sure the production is very polished, but not to the degree that it detracts. In fact, it’s really quite well done. I might just be first to say it, but I honestly think these guys deserve their success, and I certainly like them a lot more than Cradle of Filth. There is damn little keeping this from perfection.
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