DIM - Dark Age Decadence - review
DIM - Dark Age Decadence - review
Tracklist
01. The Weeping02. Gilded Lambent Black Metal Offering
03. Clergy's Lamentation
04. Fra Den Hellige Lidelses Jord
05. It Kindly Bent (Angel's Bloom)
06. Full Of Blood, Sealed Well
07. Look Into The Jaws Of Existence
A review by
Roman Doez February 13, 2025
Dungeon synth is a genre I have written off as always being the same thing; forefathers of the genre such as Solanum and Depressive Silence effectively perfected the style very early into its lifetime, with no real major evolution since the 1990s.
DIM are part of a movement of bands that, at their core, play a very standard blend of dungeon synth and neofolk. While their previous releases definitely stand towards the higher end of what the genre has to offer, they do not in any way reinvent the wheel. Dark Age Decadence marks a shift in DIM’s approach by adding black metal to their palette of sounds.
Now, that move in and of itself is not anything I would call particularly original or groundbreaking. But DIM go beyond what could have been a very standard black metal release and explore a surprising number of genres and ideas in no more than 40 minutes. On the surface, the dungeon synth and the neofolk are still there, but different influences are felt throughout, with ventures into folktronica and neoclassical darkwave territory. In general, electronic experimentation is more present than in DIM’s previous releases, which helps make the album a very varied experience.
It’s a constant guessing game trying to figure out where the tracks are going to take you, and that is true even for the black metal. DIM could have played it safe and chosen to add your usual raw black metal to this already very eclectic mix, and it would probably have gone very well. However, they instead picked the more unconventional choice of blackgaze, adding these very uplifting riffs and melodies to create a really unique and captivating atmosphere, sometimes even bearing more avant-garde sensibilities.
So far, I have depicted a very positive portrait of Dark Age Decadence, but there are several things still holding the album back. For one, I think the harsh vocals could be better integrated into the whole experience. They are mixed with a much rawer production than the rest of the album, which makes them stand out negatively. Additionally, since the longer tracks are so diverse, with “The Weeping” and “Gilded Lambent Black Metal Offering” being the clear standouts, the shorter, less experimental songs like “Clergy’s Lamentation” and “Look Into The Jaws Of Existence” feel comparatively underwhelming. Finally, as a whole, the compositions can be very hit or miss; the album really started clicking with me after a few listens, but its eccentricity means not everyone will be able to fully get into it.
Still, overall this is the kind of dungeon synth I want to hear more of: taking the genre in its own new direction, while keeping intact at its core what makes dungeon synth so unique and special. In a way, it reminds me of Offermose’s 2020 album, Stilhedens Tårn. Sonically, both albums do not have much in common, but they take dungeon synth into a new, unusual, and exciting direction.
If other projects keep pushing the boundaries of what can be done with dungeon synth as successfully as what DIM accomplished with this release, we might be looking at a prosperous new age for the genre.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 7 |
| Originality: | 9 |
| Production: | 6 |
Written on 13.02.2025 by
Written on 13.02.2025 by
It's not good music if it doesn't give you a headache Comments
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I agree with both the positives and the negatives that you point out. I also started appreciating the album more after a few listens, so I am hoping people will give it some plays before judging it.
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I suspected this from the name, but a look at the Bandcamp page confirms that "Clergy's Lamentation" is indeed a rendition of Turlough O'Carolan's planxty, which dates back to the late 17th/early 18th century. That would be the primary representative of the folk side, although there are pleasant snippets to be found elsewhere in both the acoustic and electric portions of the album. There's already a great deal of overlap between dungeon synth and folk that I'm always interested to see explored in greater detail, so this was interesting (as an example, here's a more traditional harp performance that's not too terribly far from dungeon synth in style and mood). Overall this is a pretty cool blend of ideas that manages to remain interesting throughout. I agree that the vocals could be performed with more finesse and blended into the mix better, and I think the typical thinness of the sound leaves it feeling a little bit lacking sometimes - it works for the more metal elements, but it's not able to be quite as immersive as I'd like for something so atmosphere-oriented. I also find that the sheer variety prevents me from having a sense of the album's character, as if this were a sampler rather than a cohesive work; ultimately it does feel a bit too much like an amateur experiment for me to be completely satisfied. Something longer with better production and better flow from track to track could make this concept work very well. Still, it's a good find, and it's definitely one of the more unique dungeon synth-adjacent works I've heard in a while.
---- "Earth is small and I hate it" - Lum Invader I'm the Agent of Steel.
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