At Dusk: "At Dusk"

Building upon the work of titans

Popularised by bands such as Shining, Xasthur and Silencer, depressive black metal has been gaining quite a following in recent years, focussed mostly on droning rhythms and a cold atmosphere. While depressive black metal is mainly about the lyrics - which are more often than not about nihilism, apathy and depressed moods - you often see it go hand in hand with the above description also featuring lengthy passages of simplistic guitars, gritty production and acoustic elements.

As the documentary "One Man Metal", which features interviews with Xasthur, Leviathan and Striborg, you'll find representatives of black metal in the most unlikely of places. At Dusk hails from the sunny state of California in the US, and true to form the project is a one man band. With a play length in excess of one hour this self-titled demo tape is quite an undertaking early on in the project's lifespan. In continuation, At Dusk's demo is a textbook example, ticking all the right boxes.

"His 13 tracks offer many minutes of emotive compositions and simplistic structures that invoke a great atmosphere."

The At Dusk demo tape is exactly what depressive black metal needs to be. Gritty, dark, cold and desolate, but not completely devoid of life or emotion. His 13 tracks offer many minutes of emotive compositions and simplistic structures that invoke a great atmosphere. Among the traditional elements there are strings of foreign parts; weird melodies that at times sound almost psychedellic, horrific and cosmic, further cementing the unearthly atmosphere.

Korihor offers the total package as At Dusk. The mid-paced character of his music perfectly envelops everything a release of that type needs to be, and more.

8/10

Released in 2011 independently

Links

At Dusk OFFICIAL SITE
At Dusk BANDCAMP

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