Their name is death and theirs is a cold and very claustrophobic one as apparently the two shadowy entities behind Dauþuz, Aragonyth and Syderyth dwell deep under the ground. Conceptually the music here explores the subterranean mines hidden beneath the German countryside pre the 19th century. I guess if in the UK we had an equivalent we would be far beneath the Welsh mountains or perhaps the Cornish tin mines of old. It’s quite a nifty little subject matter but we have had odder, I will never forget a Czech Republic band Stíny Plamenů who took to the sewers as inspiration.
When they come up for air this duo are active in all sorts of other acts such as Idhafels, Seelenfrost, Isgalder, Morial & Wintarnaht and it’s no pun to say most of these acts are quite underground to us in the UK either. They have released two albums under the Dauþuz moniker and this is an EP although it is one that at 36 minutes could well be considered album length.
We enter the Dwarves Curse to the clanking of machinery taking back to bygone times where one never ventured without a canary and certainly never with a naked flame in case of combustion of gasses deep below the bowels of the earth. Steinhammer has an acoustic guitar intro and develops into blazing blackness with melodic furrowing riffs and hellish screams. You are instantly caught up in the tumult which cleaves away with a certain amount of insanity and a blazing, incendiary, whiplashing pace. This is strong Teutonic black metal and deadly serious stuff, there’s not a whiff of the comedic about it and whereas a band like Finntroll who have rattled down similar caverns would have oompahed it all up this is much more authentic and genuine a sound sticking to the roots of traditionalism. Not afraid to slow things down we get the impression this pair are prepared to explore every nook and cranny, wild screams are perhaps the applause of striking a rich vein as they prospect. After another atmospheric acoustic interlude which could have been borne from an early Ulver album we get into the main meat of the three part Des Zwerges Fluch I (The Dwarves Curse) and no doubt thematically it is an interesting and doomed tale. The first part ‘Unwerk’ chants in giving the impression that one has entered a vast hall perhaps where a mountain king inhabits, then it romps off with adventure at its very heart, jubilant vocals and melody following every step of the way. From subtle doom like textures to sudden dynamite like explosions this three pronged attack takes you through plenty of emotions although not speaking the lingo I have lost the story and would like to know a bit more of what is going on. The second part’s title Buße (Redemption) giving me the only real clue. If there’s one complaint here it’s that the vocal delivery on the folky concluding part are a bit too high pitched to be taken seriously although I guess they do succeed in getting a sense of anguish across if that’s where the story is going. I get the sense of our dwarf being trapped and trying to use his tool to pick his way out, the sounds of which can be heard clearly in the music; either that or he got his other tool stuck in his zip!
With the last track retaining the cut and thrust from acoustic origins to fiery, rampant black metal I really feel like I have been taken on an adventure with these manic miners. I’d rather get in the pit to them than down the pit with them but for now this EP will do the job nicely and their other albums are up on Bandcamp for a listen too.
(7.5/10 Pete Woods)
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