If you are familiar with this German band then you probably already know that they have sort of tagged themselves as mining black metal since their lyrical ideas all stem from the idea of mining and to some degree blacksmiths that were involved in forging metals. The title of this sixth album is fairly self-explanatory as the duo of Aragonyth S. and Syderyth G. explore the mining of uranium and how it is linked to world conflict and the ensuing hardships of the people who were involved in its production, particularly during the Cold War when the Soviet Union had a firm grasp on the East German people and its industry, hence Uranium ore and its mining was central to the cold war in all its nerve jangling terror of the time before German reunification.
The bands previous album ‘Vom Schwarzen Schmied’ was fantastic, a masterful display of emotive black metal steeped in atmospherics and saturated in poignancy. The release of a clean vocal version of that album was also a masterstroke and added yet another dimension to the release as this sixth album continues the path forged on previous outings. You’ve only to look at the album cover to get an idea what the conceptual basis for Dauþuz is about as the album opens with the awesome near ten minutes of ‘Pechblende (Gedeih Und Verderben)’ which I think translates as ‘Pitchblend (For Better Or Worse)’, which as you may know is the common name for the ore containing uranium. The noise effects and Geiger counter like noise sums up where the song is heading, its eruption of atmospheric black metal finesse is unparalleled majesty surrounding that epic aura the band always manages to create. As the song progresses it offers sweeping catchiness amidst its hostile delivery which is accompanied by reams of dramatic flair. The blending of ghoulish shrieks with typical black metal harshness enables the song to be caustic yet stacked with atmosphere.
‘Radonquell 1666’ follows the opener and is equally epic in duration, the mournful opening is coupled to a clean vocal wail that drenches the opening in morosity. I did note down Winterfylleth as a reference point here as the song twists into a half blasted beast yet peppered with melody as always. I especially liked the piercing aura of these songs which are linked to the vocal tone but also the acerbic guitar tone too. The switch to a calmer more serene phase is something this band does a lot on their songs and here it is accompanied with softer clean vocals. As it progresses you get that goose bump feeling that something is about to happen and indeed it does as the avalanche of double bass is immense and grandiose in its execution.
Shorter and instilled with ferocity is ‘Wüst Die Heimat’ which has an annihilating blast beat assault on its initial phase. The glacial embittered carnage is superbly realised as the song diverts its melodic strains into that grandiose aura I mentioned previously. ‘Ein Werkzeug Des Todes’ links with it nicely as the duration increases back to the near ten minute mark. When the band has these longer compositions, you just never know what is going to materialise next as the song has a slower beginning that smoothly connects to the ensuing blast beat. In places the song has a pagan like tone, particularly through the vocals but also the upbeat nature of various parts in the song as there is always a degree of sadness and heartbreak to the mood too. You can feel the torment and torture of what potentially happened during this period of time, the horror of mining, the pressure and resulting intimidation that was most likely present at the time all delivered through the despondence endowed vocal tones and styles.
‘ Wismut »Justiz«’, I assume, is about the company responsible for the uranium mining at the time and being shorter is a truly hostile piece of music set against the template of resounding angst that this album possesses. As I have already mentioned, the vocals throughout are stunning, veering in tone according to the mood and this track is no different as we even get what I would deem as a slight choral vocal chant ingrained alongside the clean vocals that it also utilises. Closing the album is another colossal tune called ‘Uranfeuer 55’ which I struggled to find a meaning to, but I am assuming it relates to fires and possibly the damage inflicted on miners through radiation burns etc, but I could be wrong and I apologise if I am. With fire crackling noise to start it off the song uses a melodic riff and clean vocals, beautifully conjuring that stridently epic superiority the band always has. The switch to an isolated guitar piece is perfectly situated as the hostility rears up with beast like qualities where the vocals take on another level of corrosiveness that sees a tortured dissonance appear.
You’ll be hard pressed to find a more stunning black metal album this year as ‘Uranium’ encapsulates everything that is epic, grandiose and superbly nihilistic about the genre.
(9.5/10 Martin Harris)
Leave a Reply