Band: Dunderbeist
Release: Songs Of The Buried (Album)
Release Date: Out Now
The chilling, almost Tom Waits style introductory track ‘Y‘ takes the listener into the groove-ridden, pounding sound of ‘Father Serpent‘, a track with subtle yet frantic edge, reminiscent of bands such as Mastodon, Red Fang combined with a little bit of Queens Of The Stone and maybe just a touch of Alice In Chains thrown in, purely just for good measure.
With the theme of death rife throughout this release, ‘Acheron‘ is the track that addresses this theme thoroughly, in a dark, sinister and almost disturbing fashion. The haunting line consisting solely and simply of ‘Row, row, row your boat‘ is repeated throughout the chorus, the band turning a once nursery rhyme into something much daunting and terrifying.
The band maintain relatively simple time signatures and strong structures throughout tracks such as ‘Enter Exile‘ and the chug-heavy ‘The Hidden One‘, the harmonising vocal sections paying homage to the growled, raspier vocal styles throughout the record.
As the rapturous final notes of the title track ‘Songs Of The Buried‘ draw the track to a close, we are greeted with the opening notes of ‘Centuries‘ – played upon a piano minor notes with the perfect amount of reverb and echo to create an atmosphere before kicking in to the ‘real’ song, and yes, it kicks hard.
‘Four Of The Seven‘ sometimes appears to the ears (if that is at all possible), to be an avant-garde love song or ballad, the varying vocal styles giving the listener many a pause-for-thought, of sorts. There is more than just one side to Dunderbeist, these Norweigans are most definitely not a one-trick-pony.
The thrashy speed and relentless behaviour of ‘Forcefed Boar’s Head‘ leave the listener well and truly melted as the final trip is taken into the closing track ‘Mongrel‘.
All round variation and experimentation has paid off for Dunderbeist, they have done more than enough to lay down a top-bollock record, rife with different styles and something for everyone in the most un-cliche way possible. This record is most definitely worth a few of your pound coins. Pick up a copy!
8/10
Reviewer: Luke Davis
