AN NCS PREMIERE: DAUÞUZ — “ZAUBERWERK / BERGSCHMIED IV”

Oct 152021

The German black metal band Dauþuz, whose musical tales have largely focused on mining in the Old World, have readied an hour-long fourth album for release by Amor Fati Productions on November 12th. The name of this new one is Vom schwarzen Schmied (“Of the Blacksmith” in English). All-consuming darkness and lyrical despair, which ultimately leads to fatal realization, characterize this fourth full-length from Dauþuz. And yet the music is very much a fantastic and even mythical experience.

Take for example, the song we’re premiering today. “Zauberwerk / Bergschmied IV” is a grand blaze of sound, all-consuming in its heart-pounding power and dazzling melodic extravagance.

Except at the beginning, when a piercing tremolo’d riff sets a very memorable hook, and a later time when that solo riff reappears, the drumming provides a hurtling, high-octane momentum that’s relentless (yet nevertheless incorporates vibrant variations). The surround-sound riffing and synths come in stupendous waves, accented by brilliantly flickering leads that fly high. The vocals range from insane screams and hostile howls to soaring choral voices, pushing the music’s emotional intensity to even greater heights.

In its mood, the music is ravishing and majestic, explosive in its electrifying exultation, but there’s also a sense of threatening danger and madness in this fierce sonic spectacle. And be forewarned: this one gets stuck in the head and isn’t easily dislodged.

We also urge you to set aside 11 1/2 minutes and listen to a previously released song named “Der Eid / Bergschmied II”. It will be time well-spent. As you might guess from its length, “Der Eid” is a ranging trip, one that presents sweeping firestorms and mad gallops, swaggering romps and swirling dances, and vast vistas of sonic grandeur. It’s gloriously pulse-pounding, channeling fierce ecstasy and heroic defiance, but also presents moods of melancholy in equally sweeping and heart-felt passages. The word “epic” easily comes to mind. The video is gorgeous (and mysterious) too.