By Aniruddh ‘Andrew’ Bansal
Dying Embrace and Dusk, hailing from Bangalore (India) and Karachi (Pakistan) respectively, are undoubtedly two of South-East Asia’s oldest doom metal entities, and as a rare and special offering to fans of the genre, they have joined forces to contribute five tracks each for a split full-length release called ‘Through Corridors Of Dead Centuries’ which was released internationally via Indian record label Cyclopean Eye Productions in August. This collaborative release has been talked about by members of both bands for the past two years or so, and it’s exciting to finally see its release, to hear what these cult legends of the scene have to offer on their newest material.
This being Dying Embrace’s first batch of new material in a decade, it comes as eagerly awaited and comprising four original tunes along with an Autopsy cover, it certainly satiates Dying Embrace fans and intrigues exploratory first-time listeners with a grim intensity that bleeds through it from start to finish. The opening track ‘Ascendance Of Namtar’ provides an excellent start boasting of Dying Embrace’s signature blend of dark gritty guitar melodies, harsh vocals and creative rhythm fills, after which ‘Horns Of The Divine’ and ‘Ravagers Of The Lamb’ build further upon all these elements as each member gets to express himself more freely, and the eerie 90-second instrumental ‘Sky Chariots Of The Annunaki’ serves as an ideal closing item. A well-executed rendition of Autopsy’s ‘Twisted Mass Of Burnt Decay’ comes as a bonus encore offering and brings nothing but pure delight to the genuine extreme metal fan. Aside from the collective creativity of vocalist Vikram Bhat, guitarist Jimmy Palkhivala, drummer Deepak Raghu and bassist Pritham D’Souza which clearly showcases a level of maturity acquired through the past few years and the performance that delivers these new tunes to perfection, the production is brilliant, perhaps better than any of Dying Embrace’s past releases as it retains the raw grit typical of the band’s recordings but presents the material in a very listenable and decipherable form, driving the point across with great conviction. This gripping 21-minute slab of grim musical expression proves that the old guard of Indian doom is still very much intact.
The second half of the album features Pakistani extreme metal veterans Dusk, who themselves hadn’t released any new material since the 2010 split release ‘Eastern Assault’ wherein they teamed up with Singapore D-beat band Distrust. Just like Dying Embrace, their contribution to ‘Through Corridors …’ is a total of four original tracks and one cover, combining for the exact same duration as well. Led by the efforts of vocalist, guitarist and bassist Babar Sheikh, Dusk succeed in making a strong statement with these new tunes and the sheer depressiveness of the expression being conveyed through this music is greatly powerful, as drummer Tremor and second guitarist Omran Shafique also play a role in delivering the fullest extent of Dusk’s sonic onslaught. The haunting atmospheric guitar work on the opening track ‘The Light of Thy Countenance’ pulls the listener in, while ‘Shadow Poet’ and ‘Forged By Fires Of Duality’ come across as great representatives of Dusk’s death-doom sound, but ‘For Majestic Nights’ is clearly the highlight of this Dusk EP owing mainly to its compelling, sonically rich guitar work. The album comes to an apt end with Dusk’s fantastic cover of Motörhead’s ‘Bomber’, also featuring Impiety frontman Shyaithan on guest vocals. Overall an incredibly dark and thought-provoking set of tunes from Dusk that is sure to turn first timers into lifers.
And so, it’s safe to say that both Dying Embrace and Dusk have delivered their strongest music on this release, their combination to create this single album turning out to be quite enormous in every sense of the word. While there’s a plethora of doom metal brewing in every part of the world at present, bands like Dying Embrace and Dusk portray a certain sense of uniqueness in their creations. It’s something that’s perhaps unexplainable but definitely prevalent, and this South-East Asian expression of doom is quite indigenous with an identity of its own.
Rating: 9.5/10
Related: In Conversation With Babar Sheikh Of Pakistani Doom Band Dusk
Record Label: Cyclopean Eye
Release Date: August 2014
Track Listing:
Dying Embrace
01. Ascendance Of Namtar
02. Horns Of The Divine
03. Ravagers Of The Lamb (March Of Bohemond)
04. Sky Chariots Of The Annunaki
05. Twisted Mass Of Burnt Decay (Autopsy cover)
Dusk
06. The Light Of Thy Countenance
07. Shadow Poet
08. Forged By Fires Of Duality
09. For Majestic Nights
10. Bomber (Motörhead cover feat. Shyaithan of Impiety)
Dying Embrace links: facebook
Dusk links: facebook | bandcamp