ALBUM REVIEW: Dirge – Dirge
Just as India looks set to become, or may even already be, the world’s most populous country, its presence as a force in the global metal scene grows ever stronger. Last year many jumped on board with the groove-heavy folk metal of New Delhi’s BLOODYWOOD, and now we journey some 800 plus miles south to the nation’s second city of Mumbai to enter the far less uplifting world of post-metal quintet DIRGE.
Not to be confused with the now-defunct French outfit of the same name, although unhelpfully operating essentially within the same sphere of music, DIRGE deal in that tried and true vein of post-metal that makes it feel like the entire world is crashing down around you. Moving beyond the exploration of ancient Mayan myths and South American history found in their debut full-length Ah Puch, the themes of this self-titled sophomore effort are arguably even more suited to the band’s apocalyptic sound, this time centring on “emotions that lie at the core of discomfort”, namely “anger, guilt, sorrow and fear”.
Perhaps nowhere is this more clear than in the vocals of Tabish Khidir, whose pained and rapturous bellow is placed quite low in the mix in a manner that really matches up with what the band are trying to evoke here. They paint a picture of someone just on the precipice of being overwhelmed – drowned even – by their emotions, and yet finding just enough breath to cry out, somewhere between defiance and desperation. The rest of the band meanwhile capture something of the all-encompassing nature of the emotions themselves, particularly at their most sonically intense as waves of sludge-heavy riffs hit with the kind of earth-shaking, overwhelming force that anyone who has ever felt any of this stuff will quickly recognise.
But it’s not just in its most traditionally ‘heavy’ moments that this album is strong. DIRGE are just as capable of creating an atmosphere when they dial the dynamics down a little – almost a prerequisite for the post-metal genre, but one that is nailed remarkably well here nonetheless. Second track Malignant has a full 13 minutes to make its mark, and it does so just as much through its moody and meditative opening and lengthy hypnotic mid-section as any of its most thunderous passages. The intro to Grief meanwhile carries real menace even as most of the band back off and Khidir’s vocals drop to a whisper – proof perhaps that feelings of guilt, fear and whatever else can manifest just as easily through quiet unease as they can at their loudest and most obvious.
Full marks must also be awarded for the album’s production, particularly as it captures the full range of DIRGE’s sound with such clarity. Even in its quieter moments this record carries a real sense of depth and space, while at its heaviest it can stand just as tall as the work of the likes of CULT OF LUNA, DVNE and ISIS – all of whom it should be completely uncontroversial to label as the bullseye for a band like this. To twist that into the lightest of criticisms, one could argue that DIRGE are shooting for a target that plenty of others have hit before, but the fact remains that they have kept their aim steady and found their mark with just about every arrow they’ve launched here.
What that means is Dirge is post-metal essentially as it should be – dynamic, powerful and imbued with an emotional heft that just suits this genre so well. It’s an album that’s easy to get lost in, the kind that makes 45 minutes feel like 15 as you emerge not so much defeated by the themes at hand but hopefully having found some form of catharsis in facing your emotions head on. You could probably name a few other records that offer a similar experience, but there is always value in albums that do something like this, and no doubt for some this one will be exactly the emotional outlet they’re looking for.
Rating: 8/10
Dirge is set for release on March 10th via Immersive Sounds.
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