DODHEIMSGARD - A Umbra Omega
April 26, 2015, 8 years ago
(Peaceville)
Norway's Dodheimsgard found renown in 1999 with its landmark 666 International effort, that record embracing second wave Norwegian black metal but unafraid to experiment with EBM and industrial tones and flashes. That bringing together of crossed purposes was a critical and commercial success, and it seemingly emboldened Dodheimsgard, the group vastly opening up the textures and soundscapes it now experiments with and clearly revels in. In that vein, latest record A Umbra Omega possesses many genuinely interesting and intriguing ideas, and there's an undeniable cache of both darkness and uncomfortable moments found here.
This record's problems are twofold, however, as it unapologetically inundates the listener with histrionic vocals that verge on parody, and then surrounds those moments with Mr. Bungle-esque elements that lack the irony and genuine absurdity of that band. Which is not to say A Umbra Omega is a bad record, as it is willing to move past conventional delineations and push the listener into spaces that are without precedent, which is to be commended. Finding some coherence in the midst of this jaggedness might not be the worst of all possible cases though, because, holy shit, when Dodheimsgard locks into that second wave riff at the beginning of "God Protocol Axiom" it's literally the sound of hell breaking loose.