ALBUM REVIEW: Dalkhu – Lamentation And Ardent Fire

The second review from Godz Ov War Productions today is of Slovenian Black Metal band DALKHU with their 3rd full length album! Also set for release on the 17th September!

1. Profanity Galore comes in with some awesome horn sounds and double kick drums creating a nice Pagan Metal atmosphere. The intense riffs and vocals soon join with some Leviathan elements to them, really heavy stuff that also takes a folky vibe, this seems to be some really epic Black Metal from what I can tell at this early stage and I love the vibe they are creating. The bleaker riffs and drums work perfectly together to create a nice sombre and transcending atmosphere that really builds up beautifully into more intense traditional Black Metal riffing that goes into more of a Sargeist or Nargaroth vibe. The chaotic yet tranquil vibe is really enjoyable and the lead work elevates the track gorgeously while remaining humble and simplistic. The bands sense of songwriting is really impressive and the song itself is beautifully intense and wonderfully put together. Great opening piece of music!
2. I Am… follows beautifully with bleak riffs and then cascading and stunningly huge atmospherics. The guitar work on this album is amazing and the drums sound really intense, the vocals certainly perfectly suited to the instrumentals and finally the production is absolutely brilliant. The band create some incredibly unique material which is evident from the beginning of the first song and continues nicely with clean guitars and leads over some more depressive sections that just take everything into a whole new and wonderful territory. The haunting vocals over such perfectly orchestrated guitar riffs is really chilling and appealing to me, another beautiful piece of really original Black Metal material with some really groovy discordant sections changing things up wonderfully.
3. Rime blasts into existence with some insanely good drums, dissonant riffs and a much more aggressive, malignant feel to the song. This is so damn intense! The progressions are beautifully used in a way the really makes the atmospheres flow smoothly while not becoming overambitious and disjointed. The song really convulses into something much more forceful but equally brilliant as the first 2. Amazing stuff with a really gorgeous depressive edge to it but also plenty of melody!
4. A Race Without Hope becomes more epic once more with some lovely drums and riffs but also synths taking the album into another entirely new spectrum of sounds. I am really loving their ability to keep each song fresh and new while tying the together so well. The grooves, blasts and just in your face attacks of the track coupled with pristine synths work really nicely to create something very original and spectacular. Some of the best riffs I have heard from the band are present throughout this song! The growled vocals are another unexpected change the added a more Blackened Death Metal feel to things, still the band make it all tie together very well!
5. Gaps Of Existence has a really interesting dissonant introduction that is just full of foreboding and then drops into cataclysmic riffing the cascades over the blast beats perfectly and are met with tormenting vocals that just decimate through the mix in such a powerfully cathartic manner. The song has both a really pretty and uplifting vibe to it and also something much darker and more terrific underlying within the extremely well written Black Metal. The guitar work is just fantastic as we have seen through out but really flourishes on this piece especially in the lead sections. The more intense sections with snarled vocals have a really nice morbid attack to them but stay in keeping with the beautiful atmosphere the song started with. Great work once more!
6. The Dead Sleep With Their Eyes Open fires into their glorious arsenal of riffs once more to create a ferocious attack of melodies, bleak intervals and are complemented wonderfully with some absolutely amazing drum work. The vocals sound really emotionally performed especially on this song and the band once more incorporate many elements from more traditional Black Metal but using tons of melodies, progressions and soundscapes really making a unique sound that has been consistently varied and musically diverse throughout the release, this song being no exception. The introducing of clean vocals is another new and exciting element with wonderful execution and they sound huge in the mix especially with the really punchy bass guitars. Beautifully done!
7. Night has the role of closing this epic release, I am curious as to how they will draw such epic music out in the confines of a single track. Beginning with a short synth that drops into wicked riffing and blasts once more this is sure to be an intense closing track. The tight musicianship and vocal performances giving one last wonderful bout of glorious Black Metal with some really interesting howls used from the frontman really adding to the atmosphere nicely. The final morbid assault is put together perfectly bringing the album to a well deserved, fantastic ending continuing the use of clean vocals really nicely drawing them from the previous track well. Great stuff guys!

This is some wonderfully epic and really beautifully written Black Metal that features plenty of great soundscapes to really become lost in. This will definitely appeal to fans of more atmospheric bands but it also has some really great progressive elements to it too. -8/10