January 2024 Feature Release - The Sphere Edition

So just like that we find that a new month is upon us which of course means that we’ll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we’re asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter. We’re really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on our chosen releases so don’t be shy.

This month's feature release for The Sphere, nominated by me (Shadowdoom9 (Andi)), is the 1999 3rd album by Norwegian avant-garde/progressive metal band Dødheimsgard, their industrial/black metal masterpiece 666 International. Although a few of us can agree that the Morbid Angel feature release from last month is never really the best industrial death metal album while still decent and not as bad as what others think, This Dodheimsgard album is a much better attempt at blending industrial metal with an extreme metal genre. Here they don't go strictly black metal (unlike their first two albums) and instead mix it with experimental industrial metal that has shocked listeners with its magic with fantastic results. This masterpiece deserves more attention in the site and should please fans of industrial metal or black metal or both.

https://metal.academy/releases/1695

Here's my review summary:

Dodheimsgard's 3rd album is all done by fate. The band knew it was time to spice up their black metal that was already going mainstream, and here they added industrial elements to their sound, though more techno-sounding rather than Ministry-esque. Not many other black metal bands have tried that kind of equal mix until about a decade later. 666 International can still be a shocking black metal album without being firmly placed in that genre, and that can be quite innovative. As much as Darkthrone established the Norwegian black metal scene with their early 90s albums, it's albums like this DHG album that deserve great appreciation! With an industrial beat and shouting that leads into black metal riffing and shrieking, industrial black metal really takes time to sink in before you're finally intrigued. You can also hear techno rhythms and occasional piano interludes, mixing the calm with the storm. DHG's 666 International has helped a couple metal genres with their survival!

5/5

Recommended tracks: "Ion Storm", "Regno Potiri", "Final Conquest", "Sonar Bliss", "Completion"

For fans of: The Kovenant, Samael (especially if you want to hear the bridge between those two bands' black metal and industrial metal eras), Thorns

Nice one Andi. It's been many years since I last visited "666 International" so I'll be giving this one a walk down memory lane. I don't think I ever forged any further forwards into Dødheimsgard discography after that release but I see that their latest record is receiving some very high praise around the traps.

I perhaps don't enjoy "666 International" quite as much as I did when Ben first brought my attention to it back fifteen years ago. I'd describe it as being an avant-garde industrial black metal release that combines the industrial black metal sound of Thorns with the avant-garde metal of Ved Buens Ende.... & throws in a little Aborym for good measure. It's certainly a very interesting record that perennially keeps you on your toes but it's also a flawed one in many ways. You see, there are just so many ideas floating around but not all of them work from a compositional sense with the outcome sounding noticeably pieced together from widely disparate parts. It also sounds to me like an intentional attempt to sound weird rather than a natural creative evolution. The black metal components are unsurprisingly my favourite sections while a couple of the piano interludes representing the weaker moments. The vocals of Thorns/Zyklon-B front man Aldrahn are certainly pretty psychotic but he also overdoes it a little bit at times & comes off like a raving madman. The production is a little inconsistent with the guitar sound being pretty thin & the electronic drums sitting further back in the mix than I would normally like with an industrial metal release. I do really enjoy the gothic rock influences though & would have liked Dødheimsgard to have explored those a little further. My favourite tracks are opener "Shiva-Interfere", the blackened "Sonar Bliss", the lovely piano interlude "Magic" & the gothic rock hidden track but none reach classic status which leaves me with a middling score overall &, even while I generally find myself enjoying the album, I can also see why I haven't felt the need to return to "666 International" or explore Dødheimsgard's subsequent material over the last decade or so.

3.5/5