Convocation – No Dawn For The Caliginous Night
Convocation – No Dawn For The Caliginous Night
Everlasting Spew
Release Date: 24/11/23
Running Time: 48:28
Review by Oli Gonzalez
7.5/10
Normally I head in blind when checking out a band, having never come across them before. However, in this case, Convocation are a band I’m somewhat familiar with. I stumbled across the band sometime in late 2022 when I was seeking to find some of the most filthy and horrid Funeral Doom Metal I could get my hands on. Their track ‘Scars Across’ satisfied that need and sits on my Doom and Sludge Spotify playlist. Honestly, that was beautifully dark and gloriously heavy. So I was excited to get my hands on their upcoming release, “No Dawn For The Caliginous Night”.
How to sum up this release? Well, it was certainly what I was expecting! Convocation have forged a sound that is truly an unholy marriage of Funeral Doom and Old School Death Metal, and this is on full display in “No Dawn For The Caliginous Night”. The guitars are hypnotic, comprised of simple yet brutally effective riffs designed to capture your attention and ensure there’s not going to be an easy escape from its firm vice like grip on your senses. There’s an undertone of cathedral, orchestral strings, and vocal choirs designed to instil feelings of doom and nihilism. This is a clinic in creating a sinister and unsettling atmosphere. Likened to that of a horror movie soundtrack.
Atychiphobia may be the term for an intense fear of failure. In the land of Convocation, this is another Funeral Doom clinic, equally as dark as the previous, but with the introduction of skull crushing and neck snapping riffs towards the latter stages. Just the kind we like to see! Things slow down considerably during ‘Between Aether and Land’, taking a much more melancholy and cleaner approach. Still, that haunting horror movie-esque vibe is an ever present, continuing to conjure up some of the darker and rarely visited emotions. Nneuman delivers a consistently ferocious and thunderous performance vocally throughout, unleashing demonic growl after demonic growl. A fantastic compliment to the music.
So far, so good for this album. However, I sadly feel that this had so much promise as an album and was gathering some serious momentum. It’s almost as though that momentum was lost due to the pacing of the songs. It’s one thing to build suspense and to heighten anticipation for the upcoming hooks and crescendos within the songs. However, there’s a fine between doing this and just simply dragging things out for the sake of it. Sadly, I think Convocation are drifting far too close to the latter, and it was becoming difficult to sustain my attention. The introduction of more ethereal style clean vocals towards the latter stages of the album, however, did provide fresh stimulus and a separate melodic focal point, which was much needed and valued at this stage.
Overall, this is certainly a brave effort for the Scandinavian duo. A rather specialist listen however, and a Doom Metal fans Doom Metal album, rather than casual or mainstream fans of heavy music. Some solid tracks in isolation, either of which would earn it’s place on any specialist radio or Spotify playlist. As an album however, a more varied approach to composition would be invaluable in future releases.
TRACKLISTING:
01. Graveless Yet Dead
02. Atychiphobia
03. Between Aether and Land
04. Lepers and Derelicts
05. Procession
LINE-UP:
LLaaksonen – Instruments
MNeuman – Vocals
LINKS:
Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Oli Gonzalez and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of said party. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.