2022 has brought a lot of quality crust punk and crust punk infused albums with it, and Singapore based Doldrey is one of the latest to join the pack. Over a previous demo and EP Doldrey has offered up a fusion of roaring HM-2 death metal, noisier Scandinavian/Japanese influenced crust punk, and other metal sub-genres. Their full-length debut Celestial Deconstruction keeps the intensity of their previous material while making some tweaks to the production that suit their approach of fast and punchy riffs that don’t overstay their welcome. It may start to blur together by the end, but this band still manages to nail the metal meets punk sound in ways that proves to be infectious.
Where a lot of bands fall primarily into death metal or crust category and may cross over with a dip into D-beat or use of HM-2, Doldrey really feels like they fuse the two in equal capacity. Sometimes they come off sounding like Swedish death metal during some of its earliest days, while other moments channel the noisier crust of bands like Kromosom or Framtid. There are even dips into thrash as well when the tempo picks up, though the core of the metal side still reminds me a bit more of early death metal. Doldrey uses this noisy, distorted sound and uses it to string riff after riff together in ways that feel like they can steamroll the listener with raw intensity. Compared to their previous two releases, there’s slightly more clarity to the production but it mostly seems to have been used to make the sound louder and in your face rather than cleaning things up too much. Celestial Deconstruction is the kind of album that will likely have you banging your head from beginning to end, and the moves from D-beats to blast beats and then back to looser punk drumming proves infectious. Admittedly despite the fact that stylistically Doldrey really blurs the lines, the material does fall into some similar patterns, and it can be hard to distinguish some of the tracks from one another. But given the short half hour run time and how well everything flows, this is an album that’s easy to spin from beginning to end and enjoy the ride. I’m not fully sold on the static heavy intro though, as it feels a bit unnecessary and doesn’t fully add to the rest of Celestial Deconstruction.
The vocals fall a bit closer to the death metal side of the spectrum, as Doldrey’s singer has a growl that is drenched in just the right amount of reverb and seems to tower over the recording. I really like when bands hit that reverb spot on and each word seems to bounce off the noisy instrumentation, and it’s executed perfectly on Celestial Deconstruction. While the vocals stick to a fairly limited range, the band is able to space out each verse so that they don’t get too repetitive and this makes each appearance feel just as raw and intense as the last. Falling somewhere between Nihilist, Grave, and Framtid in the way the vocals smack you in the face, there’s plenty to like about this aspect of the band’s material.
Doldrey continues to blur the lines between death metal, punk, thrash, and everything in between on their debut full-length. While they do start to fall into some similar patterns, the fast and furious nature combined with the standout drumming and noisy riff after riff kept me coming back frequently. If anything Swedish death metal or crust appeals to you definitely check this one out, and I’m excited to see how this group continues to grow and expand in the coming years. Celestial Deconstruction is available from Iron Lung Records, Pulverised Records, and Pissed Off! Recs.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg