AN NCS INTERVIEW: DUSK

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Feb 072024
 

(December 2023 brought us a new album by Dusk, one of the true cult doom bands from the ’90s, and it proved to be a tremendous full-length return to form, 28 years after their debut album. We proudly premiered a video for one of the new songs last year, and now follow that with Comrade Aleks‘ interview of Dusk co-founder Steve Crane – with apologies to the two of them for how long it took us to publish this.)

Back in the early ’90s, the North American death-doom scene was neither diverse nor rich. The bands that made this music in this period can be counted on one hand, but the first among them would be Avernus, Evoken, Morgion, Winter, and Dusk. Each band has its own history, and as for Dusk, they lasted only five years from their formation in 1995, leaving behind the now cult full-length …Majestic Thou in Ruin and a couple of smaller releases.

Somehow the band managed to reunite in 2015 with an almost entirely original lineup, only changing the drummer: Tim Beyer (guitars, keyboards), Steve Gross (keyboards, guitars), Steve Crane (vocals, bass) and Sean Smith (drums). Dusk recorded a mini-album Withdraw in 2018 and laid low for a while. It was a question of time, and now the second full-length album, Dissolve into Ash, was released in December 2023. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: DUSK — “BEACON OBSCURED”

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Nov 172023
 

You can tell from the name Dusk that this Wisconsin band got their start a very long time ago. Especially in the doomier sectors of the metal-verse, a name like that would have been seized early. Of course, as Metal-Archives shows us, 10 other bands from around the world also seized it, but none earlier than this group from Green Bay.

Metal-Archives also documents for us that many of the other early Dusk‘s no longer exist, some of them barely surviving past their first releases. And so it seemed with the Wisconsin band: They released a self-titled EP in 1994 and a debut album (…Majestic Thou in Ruin) in 1995, and then nothing new for 10 years after.

The silence was broken by a 2005 split with Aphotic (another Green Bay band), and then another long silence descended until the band re-formed in 2015 and the Dark Symphonies label then released Dusk‘s 2018 EP, Withdraw.

Twenty-eight years is a damned long time between albums, but at last we have a new one on the way from Dusk, a second full-length named Dissolve Into Ash that will be collaboratively released on December 8th by Dark Symphonies/The Crypt Vinyl and Dread Records, and as a sign of what Dusk has now accomplished we’re premiering an official video for the new album’s opening song, “Beacon Obscured“. Continue reading »

DUSK: “THE RELIC”

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Aug 222022
 

Amidst a time when industrial black metal regains considerable ground in the urban surroundings of COVID isolation, Costa Rica’s DUSK attempt to offer a peculiar recipe of their long-lost youth. An in-depth review by Axel Stormbreaker.

I always enjoy a good scavenger hunt. It’s tricky, spicy and refreshing in ways that contradict the mundanity of a busy city life. Same reason why I tend to avoid people who don’t like, or even appreciate, the first three chapters of the Indiana Jones film series. They lead lives of stolid mediocrity, yet shall revolt hastily when real change is imminent. They desire excitement, yet feel complacent in the safety of the norm. They don’t quite get it’s not the destination, but the journey itself, that broadens one’s horizon. Especially since everything could become the same bland fare, when provided to one a bit too freely.

All in all, Costa Rica’s Dusk do meet the said criteria of an exciting discovery waiting to be made. Especially when the vast majority of listeners either prefer to stick to the classics, or follow the bands others seem to enjoy. Certain metal labels also do pay attention to trends, or even a band’s country of origin, as their investment requires some ground fertile enough to cultivate a growing fanbase. Add to that how Costa Rica is known to mainstream metal for… basically nothing, and you can’t help but appreciate a (hypothetical) dose of well-concealed sarcasm. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: DUSK — “ANCIENT SHATTERED MOON”

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Jan 032022
 

 

The Pakistani band Dusk has deep roots in the dark earth of heavy metal. It was born in Karachi in 1994 under the name Carcinogenic as the brainchild of Babar Sheikh and released a first demo the following year. By 1999 Babar had formed a partnership with guitarist Faraz Anwar, and along with drummer Irfan Ahmed they released their debut album My Infinite Nature Alone in 1999.

After that Dusk released two more albums and a handful of shorter releases. There were line-up changes, and the band’s stylistic directions changed as well. As Metal-Archives sums it up, Dusk began as a death metal band, moved into doom, further evolved into makers of progressive music, and then turned to death/thrash. But as you are about to discover, Dusk have returned to their death/doom roots.

This year Dusk will release their fourth full-length in a career that now spans a quarter-century. Babar Sheik is still at the helm, but has been joined on the new album by drummer Halim (Tremor ov Kaos of Impiety), long-time comrade Mike Bloodcurse (Illemauzar) on bass, and guest appearances by both metal and non-metal artists. The album is entitled The Imaginary Dead, and today we’re premiering a stunning song from the album in advance of its release early this year by Cyclopean Eye Productions. Continue reading »