Here’s the seventh album from this particular German school of creeping black death. “The musical expression of emotional abysses” is the way they describe it. “Venereal Dawn” centres on the theme of living light but in a way that spawns disease and eats away at civilisation.
If you, like me, think that “Seance” (2006) is one of the best albums of all time, then you will not be disappointed by the beginning. “Venereal Dawn” creates the customary sounds of despair and images of whispering death and rotting corpses that you could wish for. The merciless, steadily-paced guitar work and croaking ghastliness pick up in pace but it’s always a world of nastiness and gangrenous body parts. “Pandemic glow subdues the world” croaks Morean. Dark Fortress’s world is not just of death but defines mental illness. There’s an unnerving chorus. The 11 minute opening track “Venereal Dawn” is simply exhilarating, an ode to all-consuming catastrophe but paced in a way that carefully extracts all life forms. Energy goes into the destruction. But the burst of energy subsides and gives way to ghostly creepiness.
“Lloigor” then has an acoustic beginning and a riff which has an air of Opeth. Dark Fortress are not good on rules. They don’t normally ignore melody but this one is pronounced. We’re taken to the deathly end of progressive death. There’s an epic freshness about the guitar playing, which contrasts with the repressed vocals. We’re humming and buzzing. Is that a folk rock anthem I hear? “Betrayal and Vengeance” take us back to grisly normality. To Disbelief-like vocals, the deliberate discordance creates a hazy effect. A treacly black metal riff treads the nettles and spreads controlled mayhem. The unpleasant sub-text distinctly recalls “Seance”. Slowly and patiently it plods on. It’s hypnotic. There are ghastly utterances, flamboyant guitar lines and what sounds like an angelic choir. The drama continues with the chilling ring of “Chrysalis”. A frisson of terror escapes. It’s unusual and highly atmospheric. The drum spices up the drama of this spine-chilling track. The pace ramps up. Yet in all this horror there’s flamboyance. “I Am the Jigsaw of a Mad God” is simpler. It’s classic Dark Fortress: pummelling, pounding and leading us nowhere but darkness. There’s an upbeat element but it’s still like being dragged into a deep, dark chasm.
The mood completely changes with a strange and moody Mediterranean guitar sound, but the grisly and thunderous assault is back upon us. It cranks up defiantly. “I am the wind that slows you” sneers Morean. Then “Luciform” begins. It is the heaviest and most impact-laden track so far. Triggering drums match a crunching crescendo. It’s like grinding through rocks. It’s powerful. The riff line is twisted and compelling. There’s real atmosphere. It takes off. There’s a deeply triggering drum. It slows down. The sound is big. The bass takes us along. “All nightmares burn in sacred flame” “Luciform” is what nightmares are made of. All that’s left then is 11 minutes of “On Fever’s Wings”. And there’s another surprise as another creepily dark and bass-driven dirge leads to a Middle Eastern chant. This is an unexpected twist. Dark Fortress are full of new dimensions. It gets deeper and deeper. The mysterious Arabic flavour returns and we’re finally left in a funereal yet overwhelmingly exotic and sad atmosphere.
This work has all the controlled and measured blackness that you’d expect of a Dark Fortress album. There’s no continuity as such as each track takes us to a different plateau. “Venereal Dawn” is bold and widespread in its presentation of disease-ridden images. This is Dark Fortress on top creative form.
(9/10 Andrew Doherty)
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