DUN RINGILL
DUN RINGILL “Where the Old Gods Play, Act 1”
By Octopi Mills
To avoid a lengthy explanation I will go straight to the horse's mouth here to describe the concept :
“Where the Old Gods Play” (Act 1 and 2) are based on a movie script written by Patrik Andersson Winberg (bassist and main songwriter in DUN RINGILL) and Jonas Granath (teacher in religion and literature). Contact has been made with movie producers who have shown great interest in the script thus far. The story, based in Scotland in early 1900, centers around the manipulation of the church with a priest whose secret agenda only reveals itself at the end. The beginning of Act 1 starts with the emotive track "Awakening". The unmistakable drive and passion of the opener signals the start of a powerful inner-journey, complete with twists and turns for the band but also the now introduced main character, Lucia. Act 1 concludes with "The Last Supper" which will leave the listener on a cliff-edge, almost anxious to discover how the story will unfold by the end of Act 2, which shall be released in 2024.
"Awakening" opens the album, seemingly a mixture of what we know as doom, melodic metal in the vein of Northern folkish things. There has also been an official video made for this song, to those who are interested in such. "The Parrish" has the doom metal feeling of old tradition, and now I notice that craft beers can even have this sort of feeling and emotion in terms of intent, designs and things. "The Devil Wears a Papal Tiara" begins with the same brief, cinematic flair before going back to the flow. The vocals are mixture of growling and gravelly delivery and often tend to melody while the music engines in hammering strikes of chords or the weeping of string bending prevalent in the trade. They work well together, these men, in the hammering sense they convey when playing together. The members have been in too many bands to mention all of them here at this time so check into it if you like it and there's a tour with Pentagram in the works ahead, it seems.
There are some good sounding riffs about here and there, and the singer manages to keep an interest and tries many different voicings within his range and area. "Nathaniel’s Hymn" opens with another brief theatrical flair and the sound turns to a middle eastern sort of British Israeli feel much like CANDLEMASS have been noted to do or not unlike some things on BLACK SABBATH's “Tyr” album, without sounding too much like the former at all. "Blood of the Lord" does the same and airs for more time in the epic modes. It is here that they develop this sort of sort of theatrical thing turns to near parody, making not only of a mockery of this God but also themselves. It becomes an involved and hammy affair that is too salty for mine own tastes, and becomes like a heavy sack cloth and wet cloak that belongs to another man and parish far removed from the meager airs of this writer.