Dordeduh’s magic is once again ready.
Created in Romania in 2009 by Sol Faur (guitar/keyboards/hammered dulcimer/xylophone) and Hupogrammos (vocals/guitar/keyboards/percussions/bucium/mandola) after they leaved Negura Bunget, the line-up is completed by Flavius Misaras (bass/vocals, Mirthless) and Putrid (drums/percussions/toaca, Ordinul Negru) for Har, their second album.
The band called Costin Chioreanu (Arch Enemy, Arcturus, At The Gates, Be’lakor, Dread Sovereign…) for the artwork and Jens Bogren (Amon Amarth, Amorphis, Arch Enemy, At The Gates) for the mix/mastering of their sound, that melts Black Metal and romanian Folk/Pagan influences.
The album begins on Timpul întâilor, a long song that sounds like both a real pagan communion and an introduction to traditional romanian music. Its ambience is very seizing, taking advantage of mesmerizing rhythms to place dark and weighing Black Metal riffs, making live together heady clean vocals and raw howlings. The final acceleration drives us to the majestic În vielistea uitarii, that places sharp riffs into this impressive melting. The contrast between the mystical universe and this storm of violence finally drops us Descânt, a more joyful and melodious song. We have softer backing vocals and a quite accessible rhythmic that hides soaring tones, then the sound gets appeased with Calea magilor, a short composition with mystical accents.
Vraci de nord offers darker and more occult influences, while making us follow a sound that gets progressively strengthened when instruments come, then Metal’s raw strength sometimes joins the melting, creating once again an epic and majestic contrast. Desferecat comes next with heady and strange tones, on which shamanic percussions take place, throwing us in the middle of of this folklore with a raw but groovy and catchy sound, while the rhythmic slowly bursts into fire before a complete break, with airy keyboards. The final is marked by the comeback of this explosive rage, then De neam vergur leads us into those more joyful and melodic sonorities. The rhythmic still sometimes wears a weighing blackness as well as howlings, but stays catchy. Epic leads finally leave us with Vaznesit, a soaring and very quiet composition that ends this long ritual the band invited us.
Nine years of waiting were finally rewarded by Dordeduh. With Har, the band does not play music, they live it, and they make us live it through one hour of very rich sonorities inspired by traditional romanian music. A full-blown experience that you should in my opinion live at least once.
95/100