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Dominion: Born God and aware
10/09/08 || The Duff
In my ongoing quest to hunt down as many Pär Olofsson works as possible, equating the albums he has contributed to with quality death metal, I came across Dominion. On paper, all seems well: signed to Unique Leader, owned by legendary Deeds of Flesh and home to bands like Decrepit Birth (although now signed to Nuclear Blast, who seem to be picking up a hundred and one acts all of a sudden after years of silence), Hour of Penance and Severed Savior (their new album is going to smoke), as well as old label to Odious Mortem, Aeon, Spawn of Possession, Psycroptic and Vile – all some of death metal’s finest. Oh, and Beheaded (lolzz)… The band comprises two band members who look like Immortal without make-up; things remain positive. As mentioned, artwork by the now legendary Pär Olofsson (the worst band to have recruited his services being Disavowed, who are still pretty damn fucken good), and it would appear we’re definitely on a roll.
To cut to the chase, this is actually a decent album; it’s just the lack of collaboration between two or more individuals is made very apparent. All the music is written by guitarist/bassist (and vocalist) Victor Brandt, leaving the drums to be covered by a very run-of-the-mill musician; this album’s only appeal therefore is to be found in the riffs, which although strong and indicative of having been written by someone passionate about the scene, really needed at least one other person’s input – there’s not much continuity to this disc, many a song overall seeming quite complete, but only for the two or three recurring riffs – the structures are quite simple, and the ideas just seem to clash somewhat before running on from each other with nothing keeping too fresh.
The musicianship is good, if a little jagged – again, because of the nature of the songs, but at the same time, there’s a feeling that this here is the “common man’s” technical death metal; a year or two practicing, getting the technique down and absorbing a range of influences from Necrophagist/Behemoth to the great legendary acts of yesterscore (that’s twenty years ago, if I know ye olde Shakespearean English like I know Alexis Texas’ buttocks), and anyone could write this stuff, as not only is there no flow suggesting years of experience, but there’s no infusion of self in anything being played; Victor Brandt sounds like someone who has spent his entire past as a musician practicing in his basement/bedroom/dungeon/underground pit of a tormented soul, and spending no time on the touring circuit or in front of a crowd, let alone trying to carve his own personal sound.
And there you have it; a band I’ve never really seen mentioned other than once or twice in reading forums/Blabbermouth postings etc. (even on the site someplace), yet the response to their music has seemed generally more positive than my own take. All I can hear in this record is technique, good riffs and solos that definitely indicate a gifted musician, but also a great lack of experience and soul. If you’re into tech death, then there are better bands for sure that play with heart, and are far more original and interesting; if you’re into death metal for the brutality, these guys don’t deliver enough punch, even though I’ve cited intense bands like Behemoth as an influence – the vocals certainly let this album down on such a front, and as mentioned, the drums, due to the production (which is too drum heavy and not sharp enough with the guitars) and the lacklustre musicianship, don’t deliver where necessary.
Pär Olofsson definitely didn’t let me down, though.
6 bands that make it easy on my listing the bandmembers out of 10.
- Information
- Released: 2006
- Label: Unique Leader Records
- Website: Dominion MySpace
- Band
- Chauveau Ludovic: guitars, bass, vocals
- Jockeue Olofsson: drums, vocals
- Tracklist
- 01. The endless
- 02. Appreciate to mutilate
- 03. A demonstration of domination
- 04. Legion dominion
- 05. Born God and aware
- 06. Temple of insects
- 07. I bury blades
- 08. World downfall
- 09. Dominance hierarchy
- 10. Elite
