Phonebook Eater 7/10

Among the Geometry, the Chaos, and the Complexity all mixed together, a frozen heart still beats loudly.

Dodecahdron are a young Dutch Black Metal band from Tillburg. They don’t have much background, and seem to be just taking off now. This self-titled debut album isn’t one of the most original albums out there, but the fierceness, energy, and promise these guys deliver already freezes the veins.

Their take on Black Metal has been compared many times to the one Deathspell Omega chose: extremely chaotic, fast, with infinite time changes and a lot of tremolo picking. Dodecahedron however insert in their lengthy pieces a little variation: there are a bunch of slower, ambient driven pieces within a song, in almost all of them. But still they manage to maintain a high level of intensity almost all the time. The musicianship and musical preparation of the band members is impressive, and really give another twist to the compositions here. The songwriting is also excellent, especially in the second part of the album, where it bursts like only a few Black Metal bands today can.

The album is constructed in a quite thought-provoking and intelligent way: the first part, chaotic, messy, frankly not quite as original and unique as the second part. “Allfather”, the opener of the album, has some variations but nevertheless remains a big ball of chaos. “I, Chronocrator” is much more progressive in structure, with a bit more developed song-writing and with a slow, ambient driven part in the middle of it. “Vanitas” is a long, an frankly boring ten minute song that doesn’t go at fast, mathematically challenging beats, but still maintains a strong level of complexity. Its much less appealing than the first songs, because it really feels like nothing is going on. The second part of the album however, is something else: starting with a creepy five minute interlude, “Descending Jacob’s Ladder”, we have the masterful trilogy of songs that closes the album, all of them having in the title “View From Hverfell”. Most definitely the most memorable, well-done, and complex piece of work this band has done so far: the repetitive, but very accessible hook of the first part is likely to stick with the listener for a while: the second part adds some ambient passages, more memorable hooks, and amazing musicianship. The third part is an amplified, wider ten minute version of part 2’s sort of structure.

Dodecahedron craft their debut album in a masterful way, and show great promise. I personally will look forward to great things from this band. Among the Geometry, the Chaos, and the Complexity all mixed together, a frozen heart still beats loudly.