Dirge - And the Sky Shall Descend

  by Aaron Brown

published: 9 / 7 / 2007

Label: Equilibre
Format: CD

intro

Demanding, but appealing combination of heavy guitars and hell fire atmospherics on reissue of apocalyptic debut album from Dirge

If the shitty weather has got you down. The black clouds, flooding and the endless wait to get your summer glad rags on, while kicking back and getting hopelessly drunk at festivals, then Dirge’s 'And Shall the Sky Descend' is probably not for you. While this album is just four songs coming in at just under 74 minutes, I’m not sure if it can be classed as an EP, but I don’t think it could be classed as an album either. This is one of the bleakest pieces I have been fortunate to listen to, with its heavy guitars, hell fire atmospherics and panic inducing vocals and the slow build of each finely crafted song to an almost never ending crescendo. The title track and opener comes in at a mind boggling 24 minutes and reminded me of an early Neurosis at their best, while stand out track, 'The Endless', is really just the soundtrack to Armageddon. As this is just a re-issue, I look forward to what Dirge has in store next. Be warned though, this is not for the frustrated short attention spanned metalhead.

Track Listing:-