Contagiion / Benighted in Sodom - To See the Stars Again

by Cosmo Lee

Black/ambient/folk metal label Dungeons Deep has moved from classy, pro-printed CD-R's to classy actual CD's. The first such release, featuring gorgeous artwork by label head Tetrarch, is a split between Contagiion and Benighted in Sodom. I reviewed Contagiion's Monolith demo here; now his sound is less skeletal. Guitars and drums enrich the mix, though they're often reverbed way in the back, and the feeling is still ghostly. (Angelo Badalamenti's incidental music for David Lynch comes to mind.) Never mind the groan-inducing title - "She Was Attired in Deep Mourning" is a haunting drift of riff fragments that cry out for use in a film.

Contagiion - She Was Attired in Deep Mourning (excerpt)
Benighted in Sodom - Paradigm Inumbrate (excerpt)

Benighted in Sodom turns in a single 17-minute epic glowing with inspiration. The keyboard intro is a thing of beauty - futuristic soul chords that virtually mirror the vibe of Metalheadz - the drum 'n' bass label - back in the day. If BiS hasn't listened to Goldie's Timeless, then the coincidence is stunning. But instead of a breakbeat explosion, the pads drop into a lush funeral march, as buzzing guitars and aggrieved vocals do battle with a very metallic drum machine. No attempts to simulate humanity - this is emotion turned up to 10, bleeding red, purple, and black. After some time, the tune drops back into a jaw-droppingly dreamy trudge. Again, the resemblance to old Metalheadz is incredible. BiS' live lineup shares members with the similarly minded Chaos Moon, whom I reviewed here. Both bands display an amazingly forward-thinking aesthetic that seems undiscovered yet. The sound fills me with the greatest of hope.

Buy:
Dungeons Deep