(Here is Todd Manning‘s review of the latest album by Minnesota-based Canis Dirus, which will be unleashed December 21st on LP by Bindrune Recordings and on CD by Alte Seelen.)
Bindrune Recordings have long been one of the most trusted yet still thoroughly underground labels of the 21st century, specializing in all things atmospheric metal. Their latest release from Canis Dirus, By the Grace of Death, keeps the label’s excellent standard of quality alive with their folk-infused take on black metal.
Album opener, “Once Cursed Path Glistens in the Sun”, is an epic black metal piece constructed from a minimal number of parts. The primary riff is mid-paced and heavy, yet also meditative and melancholy. They eventually find a blast beat and display their ability to conjure violence as well. Yet a synth line underneath the maelstrom keeps the atmosphere intact.
“Tongues That Speak Ill” is a more frantic composition. Despite the desolate opening, the tempo is cranked up and the attack is visceral. Once again, synth washes flow in the background, providing cohesion. In the back half of the song the band drops out and strings and samples enter. The serenity is shattered by more blast beats and a melodic guitar solo that reeks of classic metal in the best way.
The album then takes a turn to the more ambitious and expansive. “A Forlorn Hymn to Absolution” feels like an instrumental despite a wordless vocal sketching out the melody. It walks a fine line between neo-folk and Americana, certainly invoking black metal’s long standing relationship with nature. Clocking in at over five minutes in length, this is no interlude but a vital component of the album.
“Vultures Whisper” follows and feels intimately linked to the previous song, but now the distortion is on and the vocals are screeching. A guitar solos in style reminiscent of Pink Floyd and spars with a female vocal over the top of blackened doom. The volume drops again and the strings return for another wilderness-inspired section.
“Cast My Heart in Stone” is a shorter interlude, once again clean and meditative. It offers one last respite before the final song.
“The Mind Sees What The Eyes Cannot” brings back blasting black metal, at least for the first half of the composition. Eventually the chaos gives way to an ambient break. This leads to a calmer section where a guitar solos over organ. Yet, harmonically, something is off. The clash of tonality between the instruments gives the closing to the album an avant-garde feel, an excellent touch to a powerful record.
Canis Dirus represents all that is enchanting with this type of black metal. Violence and power intermingle with cinematic moods, the combination coming across as intensely spiritual, no matter what your personal predilections might be. Fans of Bindrune already know what to expect. Everyone else should go find out.
https://bindrunerecordings.bandcamp.com/album/by-the-grace-of-death
https://www.facebook.com/canis.dirus.5/