I’ve encountered a fair amount of death doom bands over my years of reviewing albums, unfortunately the promos tend to be misleading and the bands end up sounding like sloppy death metal bands that could not comprehend how to compose tolerable piece of music due to the amount of cheap beer that they drank while recording. In the case of Denali, I must say that I was extremely impressed by how this up and coming death doom band went about recording their debut EP.
This group of musicians from the UK hammer out some monolith sized sounding arrangements, while also taking the extra effort to incorporate some very dynamic sounding concepts. Even though this is their first release, the band features members from established acts such as Countless Skies and Everest Queen. I personally really enjoyed the most recent Countless Skies album, so when I saw that this band featured members from Countless Skies, I definitely wanted to give the EP a listen. I feel as though these musicians are able to effectively apply their talents by composing instrumental arrangements that do not settle for the basic extreme metal sound by experimenting with a variety of tones and tempos.
I think that the first track, “Catafalque,” is a great introduction, yet gives only a glimpse of what this band is able to create. At first the song begins with a very solemn sounding tone, but then becomes consumed by this aggressive death doom onslaught. One of my favorite parts during the song was when the guitarist came up with this solo where the notes rang out majestically over the calming atmosphere. I have always been a fan of artists that incorporate atmospheric elements into their music, so I really liked how the band incorporated some tranquil sounding guitar concepts to contrast with the heavier distorted guitar riffs.
As I stated earlier, the first track was really just the beginning of what was to come on the rest of this three song EP. On the second track, “Beneath the Waves,” the band dives further into their creative mindset by constructing a very long and thunderous sounding piece of music. The drumming during the song really caught my attention as well as the mesmerizing chord arrangements. This song was truly astonishing in terms of the amount of raw emotion that seemed to emanate from my speakers. If this band was to release a full-length album after this EP, this style of songwriting is what I would love to hear more of, especially the dynamic guitar arrangements.
The final song, “Deathless,” is another powerful sounding track and I thought that the song served as a solid conclusion. After listening to these three tracks, I noticed that the lyrics and instrumental concepts are all delivered with such precise and professional sounding execution. As much as I do enjoy this EP, I feel as though this band is just getting started. When they eventually make a full-length album, I hope to hear more of this confident creativity that places such emphasis on making powerful and triumphant sounding recordings.
In the end, Denali is an act that I would definitely recommend checking out if you are looking for an heavy, yet also very calming sounding release. These artists are not looking to write another generic death doom album, which was refreshing to hear for once and I thought the musicianship allowed them to push the musical boundaries at times. Sometimes I find it rather unfortunate that we live in a world where bands that can inspire and write such captivating music do not get the recognition they deserve. Hopefully though a band like Denali will catch the ears of people within the global metal community and if they continue to write music like this, I predict that they will gain a strong and loyal following.
Check out the song "Beneath the Waves" below:
Denali Bandcamp:
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