Dysperium
Dawning (Demo) 2003 None
The band and their followers claim that Dysperium is a doom/black band. I can see why many would call it that, but after nearly half a year of careful listening, I have concluded that it's not a doom band at all. I think that it's a very doomy folk inspired black metal band. But genre labels aside, people who do enjoy what we at doom-metal.com call doom/black, would still be the main fan-base for this band. Once upon a time the demo was free for download on the band's homepage. Sadly the site underwent a makeover and all but 2 of the mp3s were taken down. This is most likely due to the fact that Dysperium has signed this demo up for re-release on Dark Horizon Records. So what can you expect from this release? Well, you can expect calm, depressive and bleak sections of slow to mid tempo Katatonia-like music, contrasted with faster, aggressive sections which can at times seem influenced by Norwegian style black metal. Clean guitars and an avant-garde sound that reminds one of a snow-covered forests does conjure memories of bands like Agalloch and Winterkou. It's not often that you find a black metal release which can be considered to be slightly romantic, but in this case you can. Despite a bleak feeling to the music, it does remind me of an old-fashioned lodge in the mountains; one of those romantic scenes covered in snow. But the music is too sad for there to be any happy ending.	1. In Your Absence 2. Dawning 3. As The Sunlight Dims 4. Nights Caress 5. Endless Approx. 35 minutes
Reviewed by: Arnstein