ALBUM REVIEW: Vanishing Point – Dirge

When French post-metal titans DIRGE announced they were calling it quits after 25 years together following the release of their 2018 album Lost Empyrean, it left a significant hole in the scene. Rather than simply disappearing, however, the band had one last gift for their fans in the aptly-titled Vanishing Point. Rather than a final album of new material, instead the band combed their entire history for B-sides, rarities and unreleased songs for a retrospective to chart their history and evolution over their career. The result of that search is a nearly three hour extravaganza of post-metal that also acts as a timeline of the band’s evolution from industrial-tinged metal the post-metal giants they became later. 

The variety in the track listing is striking; opener Wounded Chakras is an synth-heavy industrial wrecking ball, while Sine Time Oscillations that appears near the halfway point is almost eight minutes of incredibly uncomfortable and unsettling feedback and ambience. There’s also a number of remixes and live cuts that could quite easily make up a release all of their own; final track The Endless (live) on its own lives up to its name at just shy of thirty minutes in length. First remix Meure Menace (Dirge Remix) is another strongly industrial track, standing at seven minutes long and creating undulating soundscapes with nods to the SUNN O))) school of drone in the dense mix.

One thing that DIRGE have always done exceptionally well is exuding an air of menace even in comparatively brighter moments. A Rebours, for instance, opens with an almost serene ambience but there’s a hint of underlying dissonance. Always that faint sense of unease, though often felt rather than heard, prevents it from being remotely peaceful. That’s made apparent around the three minute mark of the song, when a droning string-like moment takes over and is pitched just ever so slightly wrong to give that menacing air. Carrion Shrine, similarly, is a dense and foreboding song that shows where bands like GOJIRA and CULT OF LUNA may draw some of their inspiration from. 

With Vanishing Point not being designed as an album, that does mean the spectre of pacing raises its head. Even opening tracks Wounded Chakras and S.N.T.D.F. are vastly different propositions, with the industrial stomp of the former being very different to the swirling repetition of the latter. It’s also a hit or miss collection and some are less refined or polished than others, though the band’s experimental nature always shines through and keeps the music interesting. 

As a career retrospective, to call Vanishing Point an essential listen isn’t entirely accurate. It contextualises each song within the band’s various eras but since it doesn’t contain truly new material it is of far more appeal to a completionist or someone with a deep interest in the genre already. The runtime also bears considering; at not much under three hours, listening to this in one sitting is a mammoth undertaking for anyone and is potentially a sticking point for some. That said, there’s also the upside of the sheer value of the collection to fans – that huge amount of music translates to plenty of material to sink teeth into. While it isn’t for casual fans or those wondering where to start with DIRGE, for fans of the band or genre Vanishing Point is both a curiosity and a must-have. 

Rating: 8/10

Vanishing Point is set for release March 26th via Division Records. 

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