Genre : Doomgaze, Doom metal, Deathgaze
Released : November 11th, 2022
Label : 20 Buck Spin
FFO : Pallbearer, Kardashev, Tomb Mold, Blood Incantation, Elder
This will probably be my last write-up of 2022 before the craziness of end-of-year list-posting takes hold, and what a fantastic album to close things out on!
Until very recently, I was completely unaware of the existence of Dream Unending, a duo fronted by Derrick Vella (Tomb Mold) and Justin DeThore (Innumerable Forms) which seeks to explore and experiment with doom and death metal through the concept of an oneiric journey.
The niche for death and doom metal bands mixing their sound with stylistic elements derived from shoegaze is still fairly recent yet seems to have sparked a trend and breathed new life into both of those genres of extreme music, with contemporary acts such as Kardashev, Holy Fawn or the underground Breaths coming to mind as living proof of that statement.
And yet, Dream Unending's approach to "dreamy but heavy" feels different and quite singular. Yes, "Song of Salvation" has that hazy, dreamy quality that you would find in the music of the aforementioned bands, but that quality feels less so directly derived from shoegaze and rather brought to life by the odd, cold clean guitar melodies floating around like unstable wisps and the ambiant synth work as the band incorporates hypnotic leitmotifs in their lengthy compositions to maintain a sense of flow and direction at all times.
"Songs of Salvation" takes on a more serpentine and treacherous approach to their amalgamation of dreaminess and viciousness, making it feel like the sort of dream one can have where there is seemingly no threat of being plagued by nightmares but something feels off and things can take a discomforting turn in the bat of an eye ; which is precisely what it feels like whenever Justin DeTorre's guttural vocals shred through the hypnotic veils of sound the band had been building on thus far, completely unannounced.
The structure of the album itself is quite odd too in the first place, with two fifteen minute tracks sandwiching the other three tracks that make the entirety of "Song of Salvation", all three of them averaging around the five minute mark.
"Song of Salvation" is definitely a striking album with a unique sound which effortlessly pulls the listener in within its seemingly soothing tides that can never, however, be fully trusted.
I'm so glad I managed to get my ears on one last great musical discovery before closing the year out... That is until I cover the infamous month of December once the new year is upon us. But in the meantime : close your eyes, open your ears and hear the song of salvation as it carries you away into places unknown to all.