Reviews list for Bethlehem - Dark Metal (1994)

Having heard the delirious display of Dictus te necare many times before now, the album that comes before it has been quite a turn up for the books by way of comparison.  Depending on your view of Bethlehem's sophomore release you will find the vocal performance on their debut effort much more controlled whilst still retaining the ghastly edge that goes into overdrive on the follow up record.  Going into Dark Metal I was not expecting a predominantly death doom orientated record.  The progression from this death march-paced release to the demented, depressive black metal of Dictus te necare in just two years is more obvious than your may at first think.  Musically and often stylistically as well it is certainly structured differently, however Dark Metal is laden with a sense of the futility and despondency that spewed forth with such vitriol on the follow up album.

Feeling much more measured and balanced than its successor, Dark Metal feels more inviting a prospect to listen to.  It is well constructed and thoughtfully produced death doom metal in the main that has an undeniable black metal aesthetic to it.  This bm influence is undeniably in the vocals of Andreas Classen, however he does have variety in his kit bag to be able to pull off some great death metal vocals also.  The latter part of his skillset certainly serves the direction of the album better overall.  The riffs are simple yet effective and the drumming is perfectly serviceable if not all that remarkable overall.  It is the daunting atmospheres however that really carry the album home.  Combining these simple structures with a solid use of pacing really does create some density to proceedings and there is a constant sense of dread throughout Dark Metal. 

For me, it takes a bit too long to truly get going and I would argue that for the first three tracks at least, the band are clearly finding their feet.  I would say that the latter half of the record therefore is much stronger than the early track listing.  Although not searching for an identity as such, the band are definitely unable to settle on a permanent direction at first.  From 3rd Nocturnal Prayer onwards however the record is virtually a flawless experience.  Colour me impressed though as I had always assumed Bethlehem to be an out and out bm band so their debut release is a neat find.

Dark Metal is a brilliant death doom album with a large dose of black metal influence.

My only previous experience with Bethlehem prior to checking this album out was their most recent outing Mein Weg, which despite the many negative ratings on this very site, I find extremely entertaining. Considering how strange the material is on that album, I guess I didn't really know what to expect on this debut album released 10 years earlier. From looking at the band logo and cover, one can't be blamed for thinking raw black metal, but that's not really an accurate description of Dark Metal. There are elements of black metal to be found, particularly in the vocal and riff department, but this is better categorised as death doom metal which caught me entirely by surprise.

Dark Metal is filled with immense atmosphere, created through extremely moving riffs and melodies, along with some truly great vocals. When the band choose to ramp things up a little (and they never hit high speed), such as on The Eleventh Commandment and Vargtimmen, they still produce some nice stuff, but the longer, more epic tracks are certainly the highlights here. Check out Apocalyptic Dance to find fantastic death doom with all the elements that comes with this emotionally crushing genre. Vocalist Classen switches between raspy black metal vocals and deep death growls, as well as the occasional spoken word section and his performance is totally captivating.

For some reason, even though I've stated this is more doom than black metal, the band that comes to mind often is Shining. I can't help but feel that they were influenced by the total despondency and depressive atmosphere of Bethlehem and the use of varying styles also found its way into the Swedes music. Highlights for me are Apocalyptic Dance, 3rd Nocturnal Prayer and Funereal Owlblood and I can't recommend this enough to fans of melancholic, depressive music, no matter whether they sway towards doom or black metal.

It's also worth noting that despite what the track listing on Rate Your Music states, there are only 8 tracks on Dark Metal. I was originally quite surprised by the running time of the album I'd downloaded, being over 70 minutes, and even more baffled by the final 2 tracks on the album which were of a lesser quality in the song writing department. I've since found out that Supplementary Exegesis and Wintermute are from the 1993 EP Thy Pale Dominion. They're still worth checking out but should not be considered part of the brilliance that is Dark Metal.