Dreams of the Drowned - Thanatotropic Principle (2008)

I was a bit mislead here. Sometimes claimed to be nearly direct descendants of Ved Buens Ende (and that a cover of Coiled in Wings appears on here is another clue), but that's not necessarily it. For example, the first track is relatively straight, especially considering the twisted manifestations of Ved Buens Ende. Something lying in the vein of one of the "hipster black metal" bands of the current, although some horrifyingly demented vocals buried in the tremolos (a croon that is admittedly close to Czral does sound briefly); not something that you'd mistake for Written in Waters, at least. And the next song... is this hardcore punk? A riff from deep in the gut and grunting vocals lead to it and then there's even a rapid solo. hm... I guess, for those looking for a direct rip-off of Ved Buens Ende, it's not here.

But don't skip this, don't even think about it. The first song I mentioned? It's brilliant. Intense, moody and throughly engaging. The second? Wholly entertaining for anyone who's even had a feigning interest in the sort of chug-heavy hardcore/stonerish rock stuff. And my denouncement of the Ved Buens Ende sound isn't entirely accurate. They don't appear to be directly in line with one of the new "neocrust" bands (Vestiges, Fall of Efrafa) (which they do occasionally sound like), they, at the very least, have the same sort of spirit of Ved Buens Ende.

Enough with parallels, they don't share enough (or they share too many). At any given moment you could probably try to relate this to another band: this point has a little of the second wave black metal sound, this one like hardcore punk, this... what is that sound? At the most basic, they do seem to teeter between all sorts of tropes typically considered black metal, mostly keeping everything at a ferocious rate, a key on pummeling drum lines. In fact, that cover of Coiled in Wings I mentioned? The original is 7 minutes of a fairly laid back scene. This one is just under 4 and hardly intelligible. Only the replication of Czral's brand of croons seems to relate.

But, again, I must remind myself to stop comparisons, there are so few! Walls of sounds so intriguing I can't even collect myself to find anything that sounds like it. It's sonically expansive and somewhat of an aural abuse. But even as it's stretched to extremes it breaks itself from monotony with underlying sounds and structures that are just plain weird. If Ved Buens Ende is a bad trip, it's only one that creeps deep within you and leaves a lasting memory. This is the scare that leads you to a mental breakdown. In Mulholland Drive, if Ved Buens Ende relates the moody journey out of Winkie's, Dreams of the Drowned is the moment at the dumpster.

Download (also, free for download on last.fm)
Buy (I don't know, but I haven't looked at the moment of writing this. Plan to, though)