Now here’s the real stuff. In the grand Suomalista Metallia legacy, these black- doom merchants prick the very same vein of local legends Unholy, Thergothon and the monumental Skepticism. Ultimately more structured and accessible than most in the black-doom scene, Dolorian’s hymns possess crunch, melancholy, solitude, pain and misery in each of its morbidly awesome chimes and barren soundscapes.

Incomparably sombre and morose the way only the Finns know, each track unwraps into a sinister melange of tortured Quorthon-esque screeches, pounding dulcet guitars and a genuinely jet-black heart buried within throughout. Never inserting a single moment of bliss or euphoria into the gloom locked within, this set of massively offsetting funereal marches require a certain mood , atmosphere and completely receptive ears to digest, as was Skepticism’s huge Lead and Æther masterwork, but when you do sit down to it is a dark gem to behold, unveiling new atmospheres and emotions every time it pours out of your speakers.

Unspeakably dark, unspeakably brilliant.

[9.5]

© 2000 equimanthorn