Dommin, four-piece LA based alternative rock band, are gearing up to release their second album at the end of this month. Titled Rise, the new record comes five years following the release of their debut. The ten-track album focuses on themes of recovering from lost relationships, and at times fittingly brings in a darker, gothic element to mesh with the band’s alternative sound.
This haunting presence is most evident in opener ‘These New Demons’, where an echoed ringing overlays the slightly chanted verses. To create the melancholic atmosphere they seem to be going for, instrumentals are obviously a powerful tool for imagery, but so are singing lyrics like: “My world is falling into ashes, living in the past is all I can do,” as you’ll encounter in ‘Falling Into Ashes.’
‘My Reality’ is yet another great example of creation of imagery, with the eerie echoed intro creating a setting we would visualize as encountering an isolated still lake in the middle of the woods. Despite it being one of the slower tracks, it reminds us a little of early 2000’s mainstream rock, and if we were a decade back, this probably would be getting quite a bit of airplay. As a contrast, ‘Next Day Apologies’ is a mix of a lot different vibes; starting out with bells that seem to trigger thoughts of Christmas; then moving into a droning verse before leading into an upbeat, dancey chorus.
Essentially, Rise is a pretty good effort; and Dommin show that they’re capable of creating a varied catalogue of tunes yet still possess a signature characteristic to link them all together. The only issue is it doesn’t really stand out from the numerous other rock albums released this year. Solid effort, but we’re not sure how memorable it could potentially be.
