Style: Blackened Death (Mixed vocals)
Review by: Jonah
Country: Germany
Release date: 1-9-2020
Oh boy here I go reviewin’ again.
So before I dive headfirst into my review of the new album Moonlit by German blackened death band Dahlian, I think it is worth noting that this is a genre I am, at best, unfamiliar with. My dabblings include some 1914, some Behemoth, and some Bathory among others, but never have I done a truly deep dive into the style, as more often than not certain elements of it turn me away. Yet here we are, so let’s see how I feel about this Dahlian debut.
Right off the bat you can tell this album is more prog than any other genre label. The song structures are long and winding, with only a single of the 6 tracks clocking in at less than 10 minutes, and the songwriting itself is varied and enjoyable. Death metal riffs of the particularly Opethian variety, blackened tremolo, and raspy roars abound through the albums runtime. The moments that really stand out though are the ones where they break that up with a mixture of softer acoustic sections and clean vocals very much in line with Opeth and the like. This is done with generally successful results, and although the clean vocals could be a bit stronger in both tone and performance they work well enough.
The real standouts on this album are the drums and the harsh vocals. The drumming is appropriately pummeling when needed, but the rhythms are never boring or conventional. Flashy fills are present when needed, and things are constantly switched up to match the needs of the music. The harshes, in contrast with the clean vocals, are vicious and strong, reminding me most of the vocals of bands like Cult of Luna more than any particular death metal band. The bass is also incredibly present in the mix, which is a welcome change from many bands in this style that I have heard. The production on Moonlit is quite strong as well. Although the tones of the various instruments could use a bit more meat and things get a bit muddy in the more blackened sections, for the most part each instrument is clear and audible and nothing feels like it is overpowering anything else.
This unfortunately brings us to the part where I complain about the weaknesses of the album. Thankfully there aren’t many. The most prominent being the aforementioned clean vocals, which while not appalling certainly are the weakest performance here. Also of note is the presence of quite a few moments that sound just a bit TOO much like Opeth. I’m all for influence from prominent bands, but if a section sounds like it was lifted directly from, say, Ghost Reveries, I’m going to be just a bit bothered.
Minor quibbles aside, this is a very enjoyable album from a clearly talented band. I’d love to see some stronger clean vocals from them in a future release, and perhaps a bit of drifting from the Opeth school of songwriting, but fans of this style should absolutely enjoy this album, warts and all.
Recommended tracks: Moonlit, Dividual, Moonblaze parts 1 and 2
Recommended for fans of: Opeth, Ne Obliviscaris, Persefone
Final verdict: 6/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Metal-Archives page
Dahlian is:
– Sebastian Bracht (vocals, guitars)
– Lars Strauder (guitars)
– Malte Schmidt (drums)
– Rahul Dwarakanath (bass)
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