ALBUM REVIEW: Diseased Remnants of a Dying World – Dødsferd

With a history that goes back close to two decades, and with an impressive back catalogue made up of plenty of great music, DØDSFERD are a band who’s sound has gradually evolved and developed over the years from a bleak and acerbic black metal sound through to a thoroughly more atmospheric and emotive. Their latest, tenth full length album, and second release this year (the other being a split with FHOI MYORE), Diseased Remnants Of A Dying World, shows a band that still have plenty of great ideas and talent for song writing, and stands as perhaps one of DØDSFERD‘s more impressive records in the last few years.

My Father, My Wrath! kicks this album off incredibly well, with some truly bleak and ominous sounding guitars, which slowly creep out of the speakers, accompanied by a steady, primitive drum beat. This is contrasted by a soaring and glorious lead guitar motif that carves through the mix and add some nice, intricate melodies to the proceedings. With a few sparsely use but well placed acoustic guitar parts, DØDSFERD are able to add even more depth to the sound and give this song a slight folky tinge, complementing the clean vocals that come into the frey just shy of the half way mark. This is a slow burning track, which gradually layers on one musical element after another to help to build a powerful, grandiose opening statement, characterised by a more restrained, catchy sound than we’re treated to later on in Diseased Remnants Of A Dying World.

Rather than go straight for the jugular, DØDSFERD are slowly easing the listener into the album, before diving headlong into denser and more acerbic territory. An Existence Without A Purpose is a palpably dark and bleak song, with minimalist, expansive lead guitars and thick, sludgy rhythm guitars and bass that add a considerable amount of depth to the music and give the track, as a whole, a far more robust and aggressive sound. The music does gradually begin to take on a much more hypnotic approach, with cleaner guitar tones and airy hooks, which helps to further diversify the sound and make for a far more engrossing and powerful offering. The vocals, as sharp and acidic roar over the comparatively ambient musicianship, creating a cutting contrast that it’s hard not to love. As the song progresses, DØDSFERD collectively lean more towards speed driven and fierce motifs, which does a great job of leading this song towards its final, climactic moments, before it eventually, and fairly abruptly, coming to an end.

Diseased Remnants Of A Dying World, the albums title track, proves to also be it’s longest and most expansive. beginning on a thunderous, descending drumming pattern and relatively restrained guitars, it quickly bursts into life in a sea of crashing cymbals and brilliant, hair-raising lead guitar flourishes. With spectral, whispering vocals, it’s every bit as atmospheric and bleak as anything you’re likely to find on the rest of the record, alternating between subdued, sublime sections and far more dense, dark and domineering ones. There’s plenty of excellent, truly epic moments on this track, and it’s hard to find fault with it at all. Normally, a track that ran to over sixteen minutes could be in serious danger of becoming repetitive, drawn out or musically cumbersome, but luckily there is so much great music spread through this track that it rarely, if ever, is boring, and definitely doesn’t outstay it’s welcome on the album, proving, in fact, to be one of the better offerings on here.

Loyal To The Black Oath, bursting into life on a hellish shriek that quickly gives way to some tight, razor sharp rhythmic guitar hooks and impressive, soaring melodic lead guitar flourishes, it still rooted fairly strongly in the depressive black metal sound, with the tortured howls of the vocals in particular having the sort of arid, ghoulish quality to them. The music, as a whole, has a far more epic and atmospheric sound, and routinely comes across as immensely vast and monolithic. The drumming is especially intricate and powerful, and helps drive the sublime riffs perfectly.

The fifth and final song on this record, Back To My Homeland… My Last Breath, is both the shortest and most musically experimental on the record, opening with a haunting folk music instrumental passage broken up by tortured screams and spoken word sections, which adds to the climactic feel of this song. The folky parts of this song slowly become more dizzying and frenzied, adding a sense of urgency and lunacy to an already demented song. Unlike the rest of the album, there’s little in the way of guitars, bass or drums, and relies on a few elements to carry the song. It’s interesting, and borders on avant-garde at points, but it feels so out of place on here that it might as well not have been on the album, and should have been replaced with a solid, epic black metal offering instead. It’s a mildly disappointing end to an otherwise great album.

Diseased Remnants Of A Dying World is a solid and impressive record that strikes a brilliant balance between the dark yet soaring atmospherics and the unerringly bleak and melancholy musicianship. More often than not, it pays off and works incredibly well, although there are a few points where the contrast between the sharp and the sublime doesn’t gel too well, the final song being a prime example. However, some songs, in particular the title track and Loyal To The Black Oath, are absolutely great, and make use of extended running time to fill each song with imaginative and interesting music. Overall, it’s a great record that does a great job of blending harsh elements with much more sublime ones, and is well worth checking out.

Rating: 8/10

Diseased Remnants Of A Dying World is out now via Transcending Obscurity Records. 

Like DØDSFERD on Facebook.