Dakhma’s take on cavernous, ritualistic death metal first came to my attention with the Astiwihad-Zohr EP in 2015, which merged all its layers together in as murky and noisy a way as possible. While there were a lot of other artists releasing similarly dense and impenetrable death metal around that time, Dakhma’s chanted passages and slow breaks that felt like they were dragging you straight into the afterlife left a strong impression. Since that time founder Kerberos has continued to hone his craft, with this year’s Hamkar Atonement showcasing the band’s most complex songs yet. At over an hour in length it may prove daunting to some, but listeners willing to dive right in and discover the nuances will find the group’s ritualistic approach and devotion to death truly enticing.
Where Astiwihad-Zohr was recorded in a way that allowed all of its elements to blur together into a noisy, hellish mixture, Hamkar Atonement provides a bit more clarity right from the get-go. That’s not to say that this material is any less dense or dread inducing, but the way that it achieves this feels different. The instrumentation is more balanced this time around, with the guitars and drums coming through in equal capacity to bludgeon the listener with brute force. Tonality wise there are quite a few sections that are reminiscent of Teitanblood’s Death, particularly with how immense and bottom heavy the riffs are. But while a considerable amount of the album channels this type of claustrophobic and noisy riffing, there are two areas that give Dakhma an edge over similar groups. The first is that there are a lot of rhythmic shifts and transitions across each song, as rather than blasting away at the listener in the same fashion for ten plus minutes there are subtle changes from one verse to the next. Admittedly the songs do build up similarly, but there’s substance behind each one to draw you back for more. The other element that works to the band’s advantage are the ritualistic breaks and softer passages that draw upon their study of Zoroastan rituals and concepts, which lends a distinctive style and breaks up the onslaught without taking away from the atmosphere.
Kerberos has not only spent the past few years writing riffs that are more complex than before, but he’s pushed his vocals further than before as well. He’s able to hit both guttural low-pitched growls and higher screams, transitioning between the ranges with ease. Where the vocal work was buried in the mix previously, here it’s just slightly above the instrumentation and with the added clarity you’re able to hear just how hellish the screams and growls truly are, coming through as though they’re the embodiment of the destruction of the world. As previously mentioned there are also quite a few chanted passages throughout Hamkar Atonement that add to the ritualistic nature, and it creates a tense and dreadful atmosphere even when the instrumentals have faded out.
Despite the lengthy run-time, after spending a solid week with this album I can’t think of any sections that would have made sense to reduce without taking away from the dense build-ups. Dakhma’s managed to write ritualistic death metal that holds your attention from beginning to end without dragging, and that’s a considerable achievement. It may not be drastically different from the types of dense black/death metal from years past, but the ritualistic interludes and overall approach stands out. Hamkar Atonement is available from Iron Bonehead Productions.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg
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