Dystopia sows chaos once again.
After two demos in 2006 and 2007, the band switches from Thrash to Black Metal in 2011, the year of their rebirth. In 2024, Cees de Wit (drums, Pulverised), Dennis Onsia (vocals/guitar, Pulverised), Rick Jongman (guitar/vocals) and Thomas Cochrane (guitar/bass/trumpet/trombone, Vetrar Draugurinn, ex-Ancient Rites) announce their signing to Immortal Frost Productions, and the release of their fourth album, De Verboden Diepte I: Veldslag op de Rand van de Wereld.
The new album kicks off with Dood Van De Wachters and its frantic opening moments, a testament both to the riffs’ strength and to the leads’ unpredictable madness, and above all, the horns. Growls are added to the sharp mix while fading away to let the wind instruments give the track a strange atmosphere, which comes to life again thanks to powerful almost clean vocals that plunge us deeper into the intriguing atmosphere, then it’s with the final eruption that we join Giftige Woorden. Initially very raw, the composition will not fail to make room for those dissonant airy harmonics as well as the unpredictable but aggressive parts that give it a unique identity, such as the majestic choruses or the Prog-rooted breaks. The sound ignites again to drown in Black/Doom with surprising vocals, then fades away to allow Eerst Enkelen, Toen Honderden, Toen Duizenden to bewitch us with its soaring but ominous introduction that grows heavier without warning. The vocalists take turns answering each other to bring the anguish to life, creating a veritable vortex of terror that sucks us in before the drums speed up the mix to make it more accessible and catchy while accentuating the jerky side, then it’s with cold tones that the musicians launch into De Val, the final track, which skilfully combines aggression and slower parts. The pace changes dramatically over the course of the eight minutes, shifting from blistering Old School riffs to much more avant-garde and unexpected parts, which the band develop in a relatively natural way, confirming their incomparable touch right up to the final moments.
Don’t expect Dystopia to play the kind of framed standardized Black Metal that so many bands already do. While De Verboden Diepte I: Veldslag op de Rand van de Wereld can conforms to this style, the album stands out for its inimitable ambience and unexpected touches that definitively forge the band’s identity.
85/100
