Blood Stained Dusk – Continuance of Evil
The Emperorisms remain intact on Blood Stained Dusk’s second CD (especially vocally), but are a lot more subdued as this US quintet injects a lot more of themselves into their heavily Scandinavian influenced blackness. I thoroughly enjoyed the “Dirge of Death’s Silence” CD unearthed by Baphomet Records, but “Continuance of Evil” strikes me as the superior in terms of recording and the dark spaces that surface within these 5 atmospheric tracks. Guitarist/vocalist Dageth can really offer up some range in terms of agonizing black metal screams. He has the orcish shrieks of Varg down for accent, but effortlessly bends his vocal chords into a more caustic midrange for the verses, even more of a muppety Atilla croak when the mood calls for a touch of the weird. The music takes on a simplistic aura, but the chords and overall dissonance of the riff work keep the tracks moving along with an excellent flow and vibe. Tracks like “Tentum Tormentum” take on an almost hypnotic quality where the music centers on a rhythmically slow picked series of dissonant chords with subtle changes, allowing Dageth the free reign to accentuate the pull of the song however he saw fit with varying intensities of vocals. This is a good side of Blood Stained Dusk, one that offers a nice contrast up against the equally varied, though more traditional styled black metal of tracks like “Invokation to Baphomet” and the title track. As this disc progresses, the less Blood Stained Dusk sound like a direct product of their peers and more like a harmonically deep vessel of depressive US black metal. Simplistic synth lines seal the deal by introducing a haunting quality to strengthen the riff ideas and feed off of the reverb drenched screams of Dageth. Since this album was released, Dageth lost his life in an auto accident, but leaves behind an impressive monument of inspired black metal. R.I.P. – Marty
BLACK FLAME RECORDS
Worm Gear 