Really convincing this split album involving two Asian bands: the Indian Dormant Inferno and the Pakistani Dionysus: two young realities with enormous potential, moreover quite different from each other despite the fact that they are both included in the death-doom family. Frankly, I was very impressed by Dormant Inferno, a band with an Ep (In Sanity) dating back to 2011; the Mumbai trio is the author of a magnificent performance, peaking in the second track Deliverance, where a dragging, melodic, excellently performed and enriched by a versatile vocal interpretation is displayed. Also noteworthy are the opening Veil of Lunacy and the perfect reworking of A Once Holy Throne, a cover of US masters Incantation. Pakistani band Dionysius, returning from their 2012 Ep A Hymn to the Dying, are partially penalised by a production that is not up to the standards of the one that rewarded the work of their split bandmates: their sound, however, would seem more reminiscent of a melodic black/death in the style of Children Of Bodom, both for the more sustained rhythms and for the screaming of the vocalist, which can be traced back to the style of Alexis Laihio. The two tracks on offer, Beneath the Skies of War and Rain, are nonetheless just the right amount of abrasive and showcase a well-prepared band with very clear ideas, with the addition of a natural predisposition for catchy and highly effective sound solutions. To sum up: Dormant Inferno have, in my opinion, all the numbers to explode thunderously at the next opportunity, while from Dionysus I expect that further leap in quality necessary to emerge in a much more crowded context such as the one related to the genre they propose. Moreover, the work is also available in a limited version with a bonus CD containing the previous works of both bands: an excellent opportunity to listen to a few more minutes of good music and to verify, data in hand, the degree of maturation shown by the two bands over the last few years.

2015 – Transcending Obscurity India