Dagonite

Despite the unusual name (that gets bandied about so often that it's utterly redundant for me to mention it, really) Brown Jenkins seem to be garnering some interest in the black metal scene, having signed to Moribund Cult records. As my colleague Zadok has already reviewed this year's Angel Eyes, I thought I'd conduct my own personal investigation into the band with last year's Dagonite. Even though it's billed as an EP, it still weighs in at 35 minutes, making it only three minutes shorter than Angel Eyes. Although I haven't yet heard that album, I've been informed it's more of the same. As you may have guessed from Dagonite's oddly compelling cover, Brown Jenkins are all about guitars. Drums and bass are pushed right to the back of the mix, and Umesh Amtey's vocals are sparingly used at best. This of course leaves plenty of room for Amtey's groaning riffs, bridging doom and black metal in the same manner as A Gate Through Bloodstained Mirrors-era Xasthur. Unlike that record though, keyboards are absent from the music of Brown Jenkins, meaning there's less of the odd, carnival-y atmosphere that record had. It's still utterly dark and disgusting, however. As Zadok mentioned in his Angel Eyes review, there's little variation between songs in Brown Jenkins' work, giving the deathly guitar grind plenty of time to get under your skin. The production is unusually thick for this sort of thing, the guitars being loud and heavy enough to push you against the wall, while being as lo-fi and noisy as you'd expect from this sort of thing. It all adds to the oppressive atmosphere, creating the feeling that you're being buried under layer upon layer of foul, black sludge. Amtey's vocals sound like ghastly roars from the abyss, utilizing the kind of growls more common in death metal. Dagonite is haunting stuff indeed, and achieves the authentically unpleasant vibe almost every black metal band strives for. It's not without its faults of course. The sonic claustrophobia can seem overbearing at times, and even at 35 minutes Dagonite feels much longer than it should. It's not exactly adrenaline-charged, so those who don't go in for the more depressive end of the black metal spectrum may want to look elsewhere. However, for those who like their black metal to be repetitive, crushing, and oppressively bleak, Brown Jenkins may just prove to be your favorite band.