Album Review: DAGOBA – Post Mortem Nihil Est

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Don’t be fooled by the plinky piano and music hall humming on the intro to album opener ‘When Winter…’ Within seconds, Shawter unleashes a death roar to split brains and splinter souls. This is damn fine album, full of power, twists and thrills. But for my money it’s Shawter’s epic vocals that steal the show. The range of styles, effects and distortions is impressive, ranging from full force gutteral screams to multi-layered melodies and hints of properly harmonious chorus.

This is the French metallers 5th album and the first to be released since the departure of founder lead guitarist Izakar. The band have grown from death/doom/industrial roots and all those influences are welded together with craft and ambition on this new platter. Shawter is joined by Z on guitar, Werther (that’s original…) on bass and Franky on the drum stool.

‘When Winter…’ sets the tone with changes of pace and mood, though it’s Shawter who dominates the sound. As the album develops, the rest of the band muscle the front man out of the way to hog some space for themselves. ‘The Realm Black’ slams in with doom-laden riffs and vocals, but the mayhem is stalled with a gorgeous mid-paced lead guitar outro. ‘I, Reptile’ is a high point, powered by thunderous drums that make way, mid-track, for pretty synth strings swelling under a tenderly plucked guitar, counterpointed with a killer machine gun guitar salvo. It is seriously all going on.

‘Kiss Me Kraken’, picks up the pace with a bass drum weave that agitates the pit of the stomach. The stomping guitar and growling vocal are irresistible enough, way before the soaring doom (is such a thing possible?) tingles the spine and would put you in mind of prime time Paradise Lost.

The brief instrumental interlude ‘Nevada’ emphasises the band’s confidence. Picture the scene: It’s a dusty, empty frontier town. A cowboy picks at his dobro, Stetson shading his eyes. And then all hell breaks loose as the bar doors swing open and the band sweeps down the street bashing out thick guitar melodies underpinned by gloopy keyboard hooks. And just as you are trying to make sense of all this, they are gone into the sunset. Well, you get the idea.

‘The Great Wonder’ is the first single and presents slightly more straight forward imagery! There is a hint of commerciality around the churning riffs but that doesn’t make it uninteresting. Indeed the whole album reveals its patterns of intensity and movement more fully on repeating listenings.

This is cracking disc for those who like their metal hard but with a bit of progression. The only reason it doesn’t get a big 5 is because, though Shawter’s vocals are rightly front and centre, that power is sometimes at the expense of some seriously nasty guitar bite. Logan Mader from Machine Head has done a fine job behind the desk. And maybe this is splitting hairs. But sometimes you want the guitar chug and snarl to really claim centre stage by leaping out of the speakers and planting oily size 10 combat boots all over the shagpile. A minor quibble. ****1/2

Review by Dave Atkinson

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)