Answer Convocation’s call.
To celebrate their tenth anniversary, Finnish duo LL (all instruments, Desolate Shrine, Ordinance, Pestilent Hex) and MN (vocals, Waste of Space Orchestra, ex-Candy Cane, ex-Dark Buddha Rising) release No Dawn For The Caliginous Night, their third album, on Everlasting Spew Records.
The band is supported by vocals from Natalie Koskinen (Shape of Despair, The Abbey), Niko Matilainen (Corpsessed), Jason Netherton (Misery Index, ex-Dying Fetus), Samantha Schuldiner (Ferum, ex-God Disease) as well as Antti Poutanen (Church of the Dead, Devenial Verdict, ex-Hooded Menace) on cello.
Graveless Yet Dead begins by unveiling its impressive riffs, completed by majestic orchestrations that immediately create an addictive contrast with the cavernous howls. The sound’s slowness allows the band to place haunting melodies or airy backing vocals that further underline the darkness of this ocean of melancholy, which mingles with the most abysmal tones, transporting us to Atychiphobia, a slightly livelier composition, but also more disturbing thanks to persistent leads. We also have some terrifying vocals in the background, such as the blood-curdling scream before growl dominates the rest of the track, as it plunges back into darkness until the softer final, followed by Between Aether and Land, which gives space to soothing, luminous keyboards. Saturation eventually joins them, but the « short » track remains relatively calm and heady, though the intensity slowly builds before plunging back into the darkness of Lepers and Derelicts, which begins with an unhealthy quietness before flaring up again. The impenetrable rhythm progresses at a moderate pace between roars and bleak guitars, warm choruses and icy dissonance, but it’s with terror that the track ends, leading us to Procession where the narrator takes a more prominent place at first, then lets the vocalist lead this haunting dance between desperate harmonics that he strengthens with the power of his intense screams, before the final releases us from its embrace.
Convocation‘s dark, melancholy approach is as effective as ever. Whether the duo perfectly knows how to handle the darkest and most impressive elements, No Dawn For The Caliginous Night also knows how to impose itself through the presence of its guests.
85/100
