Artist: Diachronia
Title: Absolute Time
Type: Album
Label: Self-released
Now for some symphonic Black/Death Metal from Poland. The spirit of this album is captured on the first two inter-joining tracks “No Common Sense” and “Acceleration of Personal Influence”. Initially I thought I was going to be listening to some pure Death Metal, and impressive it is too, before the all-embracing air of darkness kicks in. The eerie tone of the keys conjures up the feel of cold winds, gothic churches and graveyards here. Diachronia have been playing Black and Death metal since their first full album release in 2001, “Absolute Time” being the second, so they have had the time to develop their own sound. For the sake of identification, I could sense in there the sound of a number of bands, notably Graveworm, Stormlord, Vesperian Sorrow, Ravendusk and inevitably the occasional moment of Dimmu Borgir. These opening tracks indicate clearly that Diachronia know how to create their own sinister path paved with deathly twists and turns.
The third and fourth track “Elements” and “Writing for your Marble Mouth” are remarkable affairs. Starting in the tone of sweeping sadness, “Elements” goes off into turbulent if standard symphonic Metal with a death/black vocal combination, but then it explodes into what I can only describe as a Black Metal soundtrack, tinged strongly with an Eastern flavour. A break, and then the vocalist takes us through a section which Polish bands manage so well – whistling winds and despairing Eastern European sadness – before hiking up again into raging guitars and the main riff. It’s utterly heavy, atmospheric, dark and fluid in spite of all the developing scenarios. “Writing for Your Marble Mouth” features another fusion and Death and symphonic Black Metal, a bit less original than before but still furious and driven by the sounds of evil. Compared to the previous tracks, the next two “Forbidden Knowledge” and “Searching the Quintessence” don’t have the same edge. Both have intensity but it’s familiar symphonic Black Metal with Death Metal insertions. Somehow the ideas are channelled better on the earlier ones. The guitar solos are sublime but can be too short to make an impact. The vocals range between Dani Filth, Death Metal and dark semi-spoken pieces. The keys play their part in providing the eerie atmospheric framework but I felt I’d heard it before, probably on a Graveworm album. Originality is restored on “Last Personal Pharse” (sic), a more lightweight track (in a Death Metal sense of course), but it’s still a trail of adventure with a main theme supported intermittently by three separate guitar excursions, including a Spanish guitar interlude, all fitting in neatly. With “Empire”, the album ends in another controlled but powerful maelstrom of symphony, blasting Black Metal” and vocalised Death Metal.
Diachronia are the find of the year so far for me. The sound quality of this album is a not razor sharp, which can go with not having the label or money for better production. Nevertheless this is a striking album from a band with some great ideas on how to develop a dark atmosphere. Not having the label also makes getting hold of this album difficult. If you find someone else with a copy, just tell them you’re going to steal it. If you can’t do that, the good news is that “Absolute Time” is a prelude to another album later this year. I can’t wait to hear it.
http://www.myspace.com/diachronia
Andrew Doherty
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