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doomicus
Metalhead

Joined: Wed May 14, 2008 5:58 am
Posts: 1261
Location: United States
PostPosted: Thu Apr 11, 2019 7:41 pm 
 

Drowning the Light are a project that early on I outright dismissed due to hearing a few tracks that didn't do anything for me (most likely from the first full-length). The main man's often times dramatic and goofy sense of aesthetics presented during promotional pictures certainly didn't help much either as the more depressive strains of black metal have never really been my cup of tea. Anyway, after having found a lot to love in somewhat related projects (Eternum, Strigoii, Blood Stronghold, and Runespell) I've chosen to revisit Drowning the Light and have found myself really enjoying Catacombs of Blood in particular. The layering of sounds, and rough echo laden production coupled with antiquated folkloric imagery becomes quite delightful when in the correct mindset.

Since Drowning the Light have a rather large discography with stylistic variations between releases, and have released a new album not too long ago titled Cursed Below The Waves, I felt as if the project would be a good one to discuss here. Thoughts on the band? Favorite albums? Worst releases? Hate filled rants?
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Shadoeking
Metalhead

Joined: Wed Feb 21, 2007 10:34 am
Posts: 1254
Location: United States of America
PostPosted: Thu Apr 11, 2019 10:28 pm 
 

I have been getting into the band over the last year or so. I am a long, long way away from hearing everything by the band, and I honestly don't know that I ever will. There have been a few albums that I am still looking to hear, such as From the Abyss and Of Celtic Blood and Satanic Pride.

Of the ones that I have heard, my favorite has been Varcolaci Rising. I also really enjoyed Lost Kingdoms of a Dark Age, the EP from 2013. I did not care much for Drowned, not because the music is bad, but because the production is so terrible. I have been actively seeking out more from the band.
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Wilytank
Not a Flying Toy

Joined: Thu Jul 30, 2009 7:21 am
Posts: 5859
Location: 717
PostPosted: Thu Apr 11, 2019 11:12 pm 
 

From the Abyss is his high water mark. Nothing else really comes close. Varcolaci Rising was good for the most part except for the keyboard parts on the final track and the entirety of the album's intro.
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DungeonShade
Metal newbie

Joined: Sat Sep 30, 2017 3:18 pm
Posts: 43
Location: United States
PostPosted: Thu Apr 11, 2019 11:43 pm 
 

'The Land of the Dead Sun' and 'The Weeping Moon' were decent EP's, full length I'd pick 'Varcolaci Rising' mostly because of how much I love Forgotten Kingdoms (his dungeon synth project) which shares some keyboard/vocal sounds from being recorded around the same time.

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BeholdtheNicktopus
Metalhead

Joined: Fri Jun 13, 2008 6:26 pm
Posts: 492
Location: Chicago
PostPosted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 1:42 am 
 

I really dig "The Land of the Dead Sun" as an EP. Joyful triumphant vibes. As for LPs, yeah "From the Abyss" is excellent, though I also enjoy "A Land of Dead Stars" and "Oceans of Eternity". It is all pretty consistent, samey at its worst (i.e. if you aren't into it or in the mood).

I also like Black Funeral's stuff with Azgorh on guitars. "Ankou and the Death Fire" has some fantastic melodic guitar lines.
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Zephirus
Metalhead

Joined: Wed Aug 03, 2005 1:37 pm
Posts: 574
Location: United Kingdom
PostPosted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 10:43 am 
 

got into these guys many years ago, and although the recordings were terrible it added to the atmosphere
he has churned out a lot of material so it can get samey

first album i heard was through the noose..
the title track is one to behold
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6jxSetPMEQ

i love some individual tracks like

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG42b3SQilc

an alignment of dead stars is where things picked up on listenable quality and consistency through the album for me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk6m_KnLLN4

good band that have always stayed true to the old spirit of BM

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nuklearkrieg
Metal newbie

Joined: Sat Aug 28, 2004 11:05 pm
Posts: 81
PostPosted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 10:46 am 
 

Wilytank wrote:
From the Abyss is his high water mark. Nothing else really comes close.


This a million times. The newer stuff is fine but everything before From the Abyss is trash.

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Lord_Jotun
Veteran

Joined: Sat Sep 13, 2003 5:02 pm
Posts: 2747
Location: Italy
PostPosted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 11:56 am 
 

I vaguely remember the split cd with Evil being solid. Never bothered to keep a close eye on this project as there are way too many releases and much of what I sampled sounded very hit or miss to me.

Hearing a raw black metal band using I - vi - IV - V chord progressions is one of the weirdest things I've experienced.
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doomicus
Metalhead

Joined: Wed May 14, 2008 5:58 am
Posts: 1261
Location: United States
PostPosted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 7:47 pm 
 

It's interesting to me how varied the answers are here. Some things people dislike about some albums are loved by others and vice versa. It does seem however that most here favor From the Abyss. Which, coincidentally, I was unable to get into due to the cleaner production values used. And for whatever reason the songs themselves didn't quite click with me. Maybe I just need to spend more time with that one.

Hit and miss really sums up the band doesn't it? right down to the cover art. I think it's safe to say they've utilized some of the worst as well as the best covers in the game.
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pfk505
Metalhead

Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2015 1:04 am
Posts: 420
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 9:55 pm 
 

Full support for DTL, though I typically enjoy the full lengths a lot more than the various demos, EPs and splits he puts out. My favourite remains probably Oceans of Eternity, but there is a hell of a lot of great material in the discography. I think Azgorh deserves a lot of respect and recognition for everything he has accomplished in the Australian scene, he has and continues to bring so many great artists along (many of them mentioned here already).

+1 also for Forgotten Kingdoms - magnificent stuff.

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nuklearkrieg
Metal newbie

Joined: Sat Aug 28, 2004 11:05 pm
Posts: 81
PostPosted: Sat Apr 13, 2019 12:53 pm 
 

Yeah, respect... When he's not sticking his tongue out posing for sloppy, high contrast B/W pictures with branches, Azgorh does a lot of the leg work for much better bands who are too busy getting laid, I imagine. In between all that, he somehow makes time to rant on FB about SJW's or coming up with intricate "ciphers" for Nicholas Cage to crack.

I really like From the Abyss, but I don't idolize heroes, least of all Azgorh.

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pfk505
Metalhead

Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2015 1:04 am
Posts: 420
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Sat Apr 13, 2019 8:44 pm 
 

nuklearkrieg wrote:
Yeah, respect... When he's not sticking his tongue out posing for sloppy, high contrast B/W pictures with branches, Azgorh does a lot of the leg work for much better bands who are too busy getting laid, I imagine. In between all that, he somehow makes time to rant on FB about SJW's or coming up with intricate "ciphers" for Nicholas Cage to crack.

I really like From the Abyss, but I don't idolize heroes, least of all Azgorh.


Hardly the first black metal artist to do any of that.

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Leader_OCola
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Jan 06, 2010 3:58 pm
Posts: 325
PostPosted: Sun Apr 14, 2019 10:40 am 
 

amazing project.

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Nazzadan
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2018 11:19 pm
Posts: 7
Location: United States
PostPosted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 7:10 pm 
 

DtL has some pretty great albums from it, but his output through Harvest and Baal Gadrial is much better imo

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Sang Dalang Abu
Metalhead

Joined: Wed Jul 23, 2014 1:18 am
Posts: 422
Location: Switzerland
PostPosted: Sat Apr 20, 2019 7:31 am 
 

nuklearkrieg wrote:
Wilytank wrote:
From the Abyss is his high water mark. Nothing else really comes close.


This a million times. The newer stuff is fine but everything before From the Abyss is trash.

Bruuuhhh... What?

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theposega
Mezla

Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 9:42 pm
Posts: 5263
Location: Neo-Allegheny City
PostPosted: Sat Apr 20, 2019 9:42 am 
 

I really like most of the Drowning the Light stuff I've heard. From The Abyss is definitely a turning point for the project, yeah. An Alignment of Dead Stars is still probably my favorite, though Cursed Below the Waves could probably dethrone that over time. Even the stuff that I don't particularly like I can't really fault. Azgorh is clearly passionate about bm and it always shines through, elevating what would be lackluster material anywhere else.
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Gunslinger21
Metalhead

Joined: Tue Oct 03, 2017 4:11 am
Posts: 421
PostPosted: Sat Apr 20, 2019 1:12 pm 
 

I admire the hard work this guy puts into his work but its not for me. I'm not a fan of the gnome vocals, and i don't like those Xasthur-ish cover arts on the releases. I prefer black metal with a bit of fantasy or folklore, I'm not into the real morbid stuff so my taste is a bit different there. Definitely puts a lot of work into the project though and there is a song or two that I enjoy. Interesting band none the less.

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nuklearkrieg
Metal newbie

Joined: Sat Aug 28, 2004 11:05 pm
Posts: 81
PostPosted: Mon Apr 22, 2019 7:17 pm 
 

Ferneyhough wrote:
nuklearkrieg wrote:
Wilytank wrote:
From the Abyss is his high water mark. Nothing else really comes close.


This a million times. The newer stuff is fine but everything before From the Abyss is trash.

Bruuuhhh... What?


Yeah dude I tried, I really did. I listened to a lot of the stuff (I can't say I remember all of it) but I really remember just....not feeling the music that much. From the Abyss seemed much more coherent.

He seemed all over the road back in the day. The gross NS shit (which he totally backpedaled on - check the reissues. Back to the Gas Chambers is all of a sudden "Back to the G.C.") is just fucking doubly cowardly, considering how he rails against people who call him out on his bullshit so much. Dude seems to have settled down both musically and attitude-wise, which unsurprisingly has yielded better music than the painfully generic shit he was churning out.

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cweed
Metalhead

Joined: Mon Apr 12, 2004 7:48 pm
Posts: 541
Location: United States
PostPosted: Mon Apr 22, 2019 11:27 pm 
 

Ferneyhough wrote:
nuklearkrieg wrote:
Wilytank wrote:
From the Abyss is his high water mark. Nothing else really comes close.

He seemed all over the road back in the day. The gross NS shit (which he totally backpedaled on - check the reissues. Back to the Gas Chambers is all of a sudden "Back to the G.C.") is just fucking doubly cowardly, considering how he rails against people who call him out on his bullshit so much. Dude seems to have settled down both musically and attitude-wise, which unsurprisingly has yielded better music than the painfully generic shit he was churning out.


Haha yeah I was actually surprised that no one had brought this up yet.
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