Drottnar – “Monolith”

 Posted by on January 26, 2019 at 11:54  No Responses »
Jan 262019
 

Bunkermetal returns with a vengeance as Drottnar further refine the dark metal genre they created in this full length collection of the Monolith eps released over the last year, held together with three new tracks.

If you go all the way back to 1996, you can find the origins of Drottnar in the Norwegian black metal band Vitality, one of the first black metal bands to challenge the anti-Christian mentality the characterizes most of the black metal genre.  Since that time, the band has matured and their sound evolved from more typical black metal to what has been come to be called “bunkermetal”, a technical, chaotic offshoot of black metal.  Their full length albums Welterwerk (2006) and Stratum (2012) both show an evolution of this style which continues into Monolith.  Along the way, the band has performed with bands like Extol and even played the legendary Cornerstone Festival during a short US tour in 2008, a show I was lucky enough to see.  Appropriately enough, Monolith was recorded at Der Bunker and was mixed and produced by Jock Loveband and vocalist/guitarist Karl Fredrik Link at Urban Sound Studios in Oslo with mastering handled by Chris Sansom at Propeller Mastering Oslo.

For the uninitiated, Drottnar have created their own genre, “bunkermetal”, which to my ears is a combination of Norwegian black metal with technical death and strong industrial overtones.  The overall tone is dark and cold and everything proceeds in march-step fashion fitting with the Eastern European military uniforms they are famous for wearing on stage.  This full length is mostly a compilation of the parts I, II, and III that were released over 2018 as eps, combined with three new songs that didn’t appear on the eps.  Continue reading »

Bunker Metallers ‘Drottnar’ to Release Long-Awaited New Album In February, Music Video for ‘Funeral Of Funerals’ Released

 Posted by on December 21, 2018 at 19:35  No Responses »
Dec 212018
 

Through fire and tribulation, Norway’s Drottnar return to defy conventions and overturn expectations with their next evolution in sonic ascendancy. Melancholic introspection meets industrial precision as Drottnar continue to transcend genre while surveying the limits of musical discord.

Uncompromising and iconoclastic, “Monolith” will warp your beliefs in the boundaries of extreme music. Profound caverns of jarring dissonance and inexorable resonance meld effortlessly into the coldly calculated fringe of technical brilliance.

This is not music for the faint of heart. There are depths of darkness yet to be uncovered as the Masters of Dissonance seek to reinforce unheralded new frontiers in their relentless campaign. This is Drottnar as they have never been heard before. Continue reading »

Dalit – “Descent”

 Posted by on March 20, 2016 at 17:52  No Responses »
Mar 202016
 

Dalit_Descent_0c1Dalit returns with Descent, their second full length release, seven years after their first.  Expect more of the melodic death and doom they became known for in their first release on this album.

The Norwegian band Dalit formed in 2006 with the sole purpose of “striking the raw nerves of the listener with a portrait of the abused, oppressed and derelict souls”, which fits with the term “dalit” meaning oppressed or member of the untouchables, the lowest caste in India.  Taking that into account, if fits well that their chosen genre is a combination of melodic doom and death metal, and one can see how that mission would fit nicely.  Descent is the band’s second full-length album and joins their self-titled debut which was released in 2009 to positive reviews.  For this album, the band enlisted Samuel Durling for production and Magnus Lindberg (Cult of Luna) for mastering and recorded the various parts of the album at several locations.

A lonely drum fill opens up Descent and immediately brings to mind some of the doom pioneers of the past, notably for me early Black Sabbath.  “Limbo” has everything  I’ve come to expect from doom metal and yet, seems very different.  Normally, I actually pass on doom metal albums because I am not a fan of the genre, but Dalit have managed to bring something new into the mix.  There are the heavy, plodding riffs and thunderous rumbling drums one would expect, but there are also some brighter tones mixed in and some quiet moments that add a needed respite from the heaviness. Continue reading »

Opus Irae – ‘The Burden of Man’ (single)

 Posted by on March 13, 2016 at 01:55  No Responses »
Mar 132016
 

Opus_Irae_The_BurdenThe extreme metal band Opus Irae from Southern Germany have released a single for the song ‘The Burden of Man’ from their upcoming full length release on Endtime Productions later this year.  Listeners will hear a blend of the classical with black metal that hearkens back to the sounds from early Emperor and Dimmu Borgir.  If the “Burden of Man” is a good indication, one can expect melody, blast beats, atmospheric keyboards, and shrieking black metal vocals combined in a way that blends beauty, darkness, and power. Continue reading »

Norwegian Doom Metal Band ‘Dalit’ to Release New Album “Descent” on March 18th. through ‘Endtime Productions’

 Posted by on February 29, 2016 at 16:26  No Responses »
Feb 292016
 

Dalit_bandEndtime Productions just announced that they will release Dalit‘s sophomore album “Descent” on March 18th. The album was already available since last summer in their own shop. A music video for the title track of the album was released last June. The video can be watched below.

Descending down the golden path of old into the pits of dismay, Dalit open the gates to Purgatory. “Descent”, the sophomore album from Norway’s Masters of Melancholy, provides a perfectly wrought offering for those yearning for release.

Over six opuses, Dalit sweeps our tired souls into the wastelands of desolation, relentlessly driving us to consider our fragile human position in life and death. Continue reading »

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