Dwaal ‘Gospel of the Vile’
Album Review By Adam McCann
Dark Essence Records/Sludge/Doom/Post-Metal
Dwaal began to make little edgeways into the heavy metal scene back in 2017 with their debut EP ‘Darben’ on the back of this, it has unfortunately taken the Norwegian band until now to release their first-full length studio album ‘Gospel of the Vile’.
What Dwaal have released is an album which is a bit of a breath of fresh air into the sludge scene with its addition of certain post-metal motifs such as a hugely minimalistic approach. This approach is delivered through a melancholic and gloomy atmosphere that would appeal to fans of doom metal, particularly the likes of Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride and even Neurosis; but this is not an album which sounds like it was recorded back in 1995, what ‘Gospel…’ has is a real contemporary edge to it that is partly down to modern production which is very accessible easily being able to drag in fans of YOB, Cult of Luna, Thou and Amenra. Normally, albums of this nature with tracks that extend well above 10 minutes have to have that special something; something whilst allows the album to flow along without feeling dull or boring and Dwaal easily achieve this as tracks such as ‘The Whispering One’, ‘Descent’ and the title track which crash forward with the heavy stomp of a behemoth looking for a place to sleep with its bone-crushing riffs traded off against some beautiful minor passages that easily manage to hold the listeners attention.
‘Gospel…’ is a very good album and as a debut album, it provides the perfect foundation stone for the band to expand on in future releases and hopefully, it won’t be another three years before Dwaal are back again.
Rating : 78/100
MHF Magazine/Adam McCann
