DÖ – UNIVERSUM

(Andy Synn drinks deep from the cosmic cauldron with the new album from Finnish doom-lords DÖ)

Have you ever seen the movie Mandy?

It’s a Prog Rock Stoner Doom Death Metal revenge story that seems to exist on an alternate plane of reality just widdershins to this one… and is easily one of my favourite films of all time.

And something tells me that Finnish audio-freaks DÖ would definitely love it (in fact, I am willing to bet they’ve seen it, and loved it, already) because their new album, Unversum, possesses that same sort of psychoactive, synaesthetic, widescreen intensity… albeit with significantly less Nicolas Cage.

Mixing brooding, bad acid vibes and brutish, bass-heavy riffage – all drenched in freaky fuzz and laced with strains of psychedelic, subtly Pink Floyd-ian melody – opener “Call of the Supervoid” immediately sets the tone for the album (which is easily the darkest, heaviest and, most importantly, best record of the band’s career) as its gargantuan guitars and groaning, low-end grooves quickly hook themselves up to the dopamine receptors in your brain and hijack control of your autonomic nervous system.

The trip only gets heavier from then on, with the disgustingly doomy riffs and colossally catchy chorus of “Nuclear Emperor” epitomising how smartly streamlined and stunningly intense the group’s songwriting has become, after which “Sulfur Incense” – with its bellowing cries of “Inhale!” – doubles down on the sinister Stoner side of their sound, mixing the muscular metallic weight of High On Fire with the eerie proggy energy of King Crimson (especially during the song’s smouldering second half).

Introspective instrumental “At the Melting Gaze of the Origin” then offers a relatively short (but not unwelcome) reprieve, letting you dwell for a little while on a slightly mellower high that focusses more on mood and melody, before the humongous heaviness, hypnotic hookiness, and haunting weirdness of “Ode to the Dark Matter” comes surging back to hit that strange sweet-spot, right between all three of your eyes, that usually only gets stimulated when you’re either listening to Yob or having your pineal gland massaged (or both).

It’s worth noting, however, that while all the above comparisons should definitely help put you in the right headspace to properly enjoy Unversum – although maybe you’d just prefer to just go in blind and see where the ride takes you – DÖ definitely bring their own twist on the recipe to the table, especially when it comes to the biting, almost blackened, vocals, which add an altogether gnarlier, nastier edge (reminiscent of Phantom Winter‘s visceral, venomous delivery) to songs such as the dream-like “Faster Than Light” (which builds to a brilliantly bombastic, balls-to-the-wall crescendo) and crushing Psych-Doom closer “Wasted Life Form”.

Sure, not every dose packs quite the same eye-popping punch (“Moldy Moon” sinks a little too far into Trad Doom tropes for my tastes, it must be said) but there’s no question that this is one album you could, and should, get addicted to with ease.

Just make sure to drink enough water, and remember the guiding mantra… “the psychotic drowns where the mystic swims“… and you’ll probably be ok!