Exclusive Audio Conversation With Dutch Avant-Garde Black Metal Band Dodecahedron

Infernal Dominion, India presents yet another exclusive conversation for your enlightenment, this time with Dutch avant-garde black metal luminaries Dodecahedron who have been making waves with their ground breaking self titled debut album which unleashed a bizarre mixture of sound synthesis influenced with modern contemporary classical composers like Ligeti and electronic composers like Jaap Vink; and dissonant, harrowing black metal which was a means to create sounds which were abysmal and extremely unnerving.

I got in touch with their guitarist/composer Michel Nienhuis and vocalist/lyricist Michiel Eikenaar for this mind-numbing, almost one and a half hour long intense conversation about various topics ranging from DDCHDRN's impressive aesthetic/concept, lyrical and musical visions, philosophy, religion and most importantly the basis of creative freedom in art.

If you are seeking for intelligent, unabridged and enlightening conversations rather than an average, cliched 'metal' interview, then this is what you should listen to. Not for the close-minded!

Listen here:

http://infernaldominionradio.podomatic.com/player/web/2012-04-22T02_11_07-07_00

Official Dodecahedron Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/DODECAHEDRON/293386514027130

Official Website:
http://www.ddchdrn.com/

Infernal Dominion's Official Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/InfernalDominionBER

Nightbringer - Hierophany of the Open Grave

Full Length, August 2011

Season of Mist

Colarado's visionary entity Nightbringer has been delivering a fierce brand of occult, esoteric black metal since a few years now. While they started off circa 1999, their debut album wasn't unleashed before 2008. The next full length entitled as ''Apocalypse Sun'' saw the light of day in 2010 and it was my first brush with the band's sonic alchemy. Honestly I wasn't too impressed with it upon my first few listens and decided to move on. Enter 2011 and the band delivered a new album entitled as ''Hierophany of the Open Grave'', within a mere gap of a year and few months. I was skeptical but still decided to give it a shot and didn't contemplate my decision because it changed my opinion about the band's music. It wasn't an easy listening experience because of the complex nature of the album but it eventually grew on me after several attentive plays. This experience may be paralleled with the sense of revelation one exults in, while re-reading a long lost book that had failed to create an impression due to the lack of understanding or inattentiveness.

'Hierophany' is certainly not your average, run of the mill black metal album which could be listened casually; while simultaneously grumbling that a certain riff was repeated for the umpteenth number of time. It is an hour long collection of alchemical and allegorical hymns crafted with intricate detail and meticulous labor. Benjamin Vierling's impeccable artwork acts as an enthralling visual medium in depicting the grandeur of the album concept which constitutes a suave depiction of a spiritual mortification symbolized by the alchemical nigredo in ''which one dies to one's profane sense of self, withdrawing from sensorial exteriority to be reborn within''. Nightbringer's conceptual profundity has always been spiritually rooted in the fathomless depths of the self and its synonymy with 'death'. 'Death' has often been depicted as a 'female' in their allegorical poetry which according to certain Left Hand Path techniques, is used as a force of sexuality which deals with transcendence of the self. The themes of 'death' here do not merely deal with the physical end of the body; they emphasize on the importance of spiritual transcendence through a gate of transition which goes beyond the conditioned existence of oneself.

The psalms presented on this release definitely do justice in portraying the mysticism of the lyrical aesthetic. Unlike many of the ordinary black metal bands/projects around, Nightbringer have always offered something majestic and unique. Hierophany is the epitome of their inimitability as it marks a lethal progression of the band's caustic and dissonant soundscape's. The compositions present on this release are extremely well carved, with a great attention to atmospheric details and instrumental complexity. Albeit the technicalities have not played an abhorrent obstacle in making the album compelling and noteworthy. They have actually enchanced the esoteric fervor of the music and the experience while listening to this sonic malevolence could be paralleled with the assessment of any masterpiece by Beksinski. Both of them are surreal and intensly rich in detail, yet they are able to strike a chord with the viewer/auditor after an in depth analysis. This is the quintessence of art and very few are able to relate with it.

Production values are superb and the overly trigerred drum sound of 'Apocalypse Sun' is gone. The guitars and bass parts were recorded by the band themselves and that is what makes them sound so exuisite. Compositionally, this is the band's finest attempt in harmonizing the dynamic tempo changes, massive tremolo picking and thunderous blast-oriented percussion which was present in their first two full lengths. Earlier, the song lengths were a cause of worry due to their somewhat tedious and over ambitious nature at times but these minor flaws have been corrected on the new album. Arcane melodies, acoustics, mid paced atmospheric segments and a proficient drumming assault make this album a grand affair. Naas Alcameth and Nox Corvus' fierce dual guitar/vocal assaults are inherently harrowing and enthralling. The combination of mid pitched growls a la Funeral Mist (albeit not as savage in their delivery) and demonic shrieks/howls works wonders in creating the required essence for the music. Their tremolo picked patterns are much intriguing and effective than ever and several odd pinch harmonics are also spread throughout.  Corvus and VJS have also done a commendable job on the percussion which is varied and more organic sounding.

Interestingly, ar-Ra'd al-Iblis (Acrimonious, Matrcide) has also contributed lyrics and vocals on the album. Musical dexterity hasn't been compromised for the sake of appealing newer listeners but it has only been improved with well crafted detail. This quality is rather absent from many of the newer releases I usually come across and that is why Nightbringer have carved a niche in the black metal paradigm with a release as baleful yet artistic as this.

Their brand of music is way ahead from what US generally offers and is more synonymous with what the French visionaries Deathspell Omega have been doing since the past few years. Although both their sounds are unique and unparalled, the area which both of them coincide is their arduous manifestation of black metal as an art form; something which has not been done on an appreciable scale. But the true virtue of art is the fact that it is able to stand the test of time, whereas the feeble entities perish in agony. 'Hierophany of the Open Grave' will be a testament of this virtue in the coming years as people shall slowly and gradually comprehend and appreciate the bodeful aura which it emanates. Followers of the current 'orthodox' and occult black metal scenario must take notice, as this album is almost tailor-made for your requirements. Others may stick to their nonsensical and juvenile trash, which is unfortunately branded and propagated as 'music' or 'art' these days.

Originally written for ''In Blackest of Hate#2''


Official Nightbringer Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nightbringer/173562699366139

Negative Plane - Stained Glass Revelations

Full Length, January 2011
The Ajna Offensive
Negative Plane is undoubtedly, one of the finest band's which the American black metal dungeon has spawned in this era. Their debut ''Et in Saecula Saeculorum'' had caused a stir in the underground 'scene' on the time of its release and not without a good reason.
Now their sophomore album entitled as ''Stained Glass Revelations'' appeared out of nowhere early last year and again appeased their fans and new listeners with its novel approach towards black metal. It invokes surreal dimensions from the 'negative plane's' of an unfathomable abyss. A befitting band name indeed.

Few albums have the charm of enchanting and horrifying the listener on the first listen itself and this is one of them. Listening to it is an extremely compelling and painstaking experience because the amount of attention it demands is overwhelming. Imagine that you have been transported to a void, where there is absolute nothingness or 'shunyata' and ghoulish sounds are dragging you deep within the invisible portals of that chasm. There is absolutely no escape as the harder you try to venture out, the deeper you get dragged into it.

This is what ''Stained Glass Revelations'' could do to you if you are willing to admire the majestic grandeur which it possesses. The unholy trio of Negative Plane have successfully weaved a web of magic with their meticulously etched instrumentation. Dark, cavernous passages of doom and medieval horrors are presented by the reverbrating guitar feedbacks which are enriched with a psychedelic menace. Apparently, the band spent years in writing these songs with due attention and care and that is why they were able to unleash such intense structures. Note that the band's aim wasn't to compose a complex song structure just for the heck of it. Every single note present on the album makes perfect sense and it would be understood only after several attentive listens. Nameless Void's raspy and almost 'spoken-word' vocal delivery is even more reverb laden than the debut and it works fabulously in enchancing the overall mood of the music. Clean vocals are also mixed with these creepy howls on tracks like ''Angels of Veiled Bone'' and ''All Souls''.

Another good surprise was the presence of bass, an instrument whose potential is not usually exploited in many of the modern releases. The bass is not merely present here but it does a lot of the talking, as it supports NV's excellent guitar passages while acting as a sort of rhythm guitar itself. It kind of reminded me of the suberb bass presence on StarGazer's last release ''A Great Work of Ages''.

But it is N.V.'s avant-garde and artistic approach towards the guitar melodies and leads which has raked in most of the moolah. The guitar work has been often compared to 70's pyschedelic rock, kraut rock and even surf rock, while still being rooted in the aesthetics of first wave black metal. While I wouldn't completely agree with these comparisons, I would not them either. The band has always stated their major influences in their interviews which are legends like Master's Hammer, Mercyful Fate, Ved Buens Ende, Mortuary Drape and even doom metal like Black Hole and Death SS (with Paul Chain). I think that the nearest comparison which should be drawn with Stained Glass is Martyrium's underrated classic ''L.V.X Occulta''. After listening to both albums together, it makes perfect sense about Negative Plane's immediate influence for this album. Both the albums present an almost similar atmospheric weirdness, with deeply echoed vocals and muffed up, reverbrating guitars and muddy drums.

It is highly commendable of the band to present such a perfect mixture of various elements while not sounding mundane or uninspired. Classical instruments like bells, piano and organs have also been used to create somber instrumentals which have been arranged perfectly amid the swathing darkness of the main compositions. Negative Plane have manifested these macabre sounds with panache and delivered one of the most important extreme metal albums of the modern era. This album is already a classic but its important would grow incessantly in the coming years and if the band continues to deliver such balefully orchrestraed works of art, then nothing can stop them in being crowned as the forerunners of their sub-genre. So if you are willing to enter the abyssal realms of this occult gem, then do not waste more time and treat yourself with its impeccable splendor.

Originally published in ''In Blackest of Hate#2''