Further carving out the “mining black metal” niche for themselves, prolific German duo Dauþuz return with their fourth full length album in five years, having squeezed a couple of EPs into this timeframe too. Continuing to eschew traditional black metal themes, the storytelling in “Vom Schwarzen Schmied” (translated as “Of The Blacksmith”) focusses on the history and folklore of mining communities across mainland Europe.
Introduced with swirling synth and keys, “Der Bergschmied I: Mein Berg” (“The Mountain Blacksmith I: My Mountain”) sets the scene with raging, tight percussion and a rich guitar sound. Tremolo-picked lead melodies permeate the entire album, providing icy yet uplifting hooks. The tortured shrieking vocal performance of previous releases has been reigned in for a more consistent venomous rasp, juxtaposed and enhanced with soaring folkish chants.
“Der Bergschmied II: Der Eid” (“The Oath”) is an epic, heroic call to arms with frequent changes in pace and tone throughout its ten-and-a-half minutes. “Desperatio” (“Despair”) provides brief respite with haunting vocals accompanying acoustic guitars, broken up with a harsh sounding spoken word outro before “Zauberwerk” (“Magician”) and “Sagenlieder” (approx. “Songs Of Legends”; apologies for my rusty language skills!) bring back the industrious folk-laden black metal sounds, the latter notable for its intro of clanking metal on rock.
A further acoustic interlude is provided by “Cognitio” (“Knowledge”), with a further harsh spoken word passage bringing us to the fast-paced penultimate track “Der Frevel” (“The Sacrilege”), which hardly comes up for air. Album closer “Sargdeckel” (“Coffin Lid”) is another sprawling epic which frequently alters both gait and mood over the course of twelve minutes, before coming to a close with more clanking metal over crackling fire, no doubt the sound of the blacksmith going about his labour.
Dauþuz’ firmly established composition skills are clearly rooted in classic black metal sonics and folk influences, which they continue to seamlessly blend with contemporary atmospherics. “Vom Schwarzen Schmied” represents a further evolution of their songcraft, and a welcome addition to the rapidly expanding Dauþuz-iverse.
(7.5/10 Doogz)
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