On December 1st internationally, Dominance Of Darkness Records will release the second album from Germany's Dethroned - A Bridge To Eternal Darkness, on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats.
Dethroned is one of the most cult entities in the rich (yet often overlooked) history of German black metal. The band's roots stretch back to 1991, with the band Mysticism, who released but one demo. From Mysticism's ashes came Dethroned in 1993, founded by the trio of Barkayal, BSoD, and Morgoth. Over the course of the next three years, the band would release a half-dozen demos, faithfully exuding the spirit of the mid '90s black metal scene. In 1998, Dethroned would release a live tape, Christentod, which would include a couple bonus tracks that were from an aborted 7" EP. They would retreat to the shadows for a full decade before emerging with Promo 2008, soon followed by the Dominance Of Darkness-released In The Sign Of The Pentagram, a retrospective compilation covering their '90s works. Another hiatus ensued until 2016, which saw Dethroned release a split album joined by fellow German hordes Sacrilegious Rite and Goatblood. At long last, in 2017 did they release their first full-length, Bluotrunst, thankfully sounding very much like the '90s never ended.
And so it goes (and, as expected, after some years of silence) with Dethroned's second album, A Bridge To Eternal Darkness. Something of a 30th anniversary release for the Germans, A Bridge To Eternal Darkness is truly titled: 47 minutes of trend-free olde-worlde black metal, serving as a portal to mysteries and mysticism beyond the mien of mortals. Like the mythical era from which they sprang, Dethroned here maintain a curious contrast between stark monochromatism and borderless songwriting - a throwback to the days when you immediately knew you were experiencing black metal, but each band offered unique twists in its make-no-mistake presentation. As such, A Bridge To Eternal Darkness is a deceptively dynamic listen. Aggression is certainly accounted for, but so is melancholia, and often within the same song; songwriting largely sticks to mid-tempos at once triumphant and sashaying, martial and reposed. Guitars are sharp and cold, of course, but actual bass guitar pushes those dynamics forward; foggy synths linger where they may, intermittent but always with powerful purpose. The production is superlative in its balance between effervescent rawness and crystalline clarity, altogether highlighting the very real (and very impassioned) playing across the album. Concluding in a manner most fitting is a cover of the scene-legendary Grausamkeit, honoring both tradition as well as BSoD and Barkayal's years in Dethroned.
Keeping matters DIY, guitarist John Never handled all artwork (exterior and interior) for A Bridge To Eternal Darkness. To celebrate this anniversary, Dominance Of Darkness will concurrently reissue Bluotrunst as a six-panel digipack CD with alternate cover art.
Tracklisting:
"Come To Me"
"Vinum Creaturae"
"Disciple Of The Elders"
"Colour Out Of Space"
"Void"
"Ewig Fäulnis"
"Ruf Der Tiefe"
"Descent"
"A Bridge To Eternal Darkness"
"Im Zeichen Des Bösen" (Grausamkeit cover)
"Come To Me":
