Dirge "Elysian Magnetic Fields"

Another review i was asked to do. This time for the French Atmospheric Sludge/Post Metal band, Dirge, and their latest effort, "Elysian Magnetic Fields". Born in Paris in 1994, Dirge is nothing less than the godfather of the European Neurotic Hardcore scene. I know Dirge since the very "boom" of the Post-Metal scene, sponsored by the great godfathers, Isis. From there on, many bands popped out like mushrooms from under every stone, but not all of them had the strength and creativity to grow stronger and make their way into the post metal/ambient sludge scene. I must confess I'm a little bit tired of this genre, but there are few things that still keep on amazing me, and this one, my friends, is one of them.

Being a veteran in the scene, Dirge knows exactly what he is doing and "Elysian Magnetic Fields" is no exception. He has made with "Elysian Magnetic Fields" his own "Panopticon". The man is a true architect of this craft. The album unfolds 8 carefully crafted and long (the shortest song has almost 6 minutes long) tracks all wrapped up in this clean and polished production. Although at some points the songs seem to want to burst that thin boundary between what's clean and tidy to what's heavy and dirty, it's like a controlled explosion where every detail of how is it going to blow, and when, is planned in detail. Every second of each song is planned just to work out perfectly. And they do. The riffs are slow and heavy, as expected, the voice knows his lessons from the Neurosis/Isis school and i must enhance that the use of those noise/industrial samplers, gives to the album that touch of genius. Really. Just listen to the third track "Cocoon", those string sounds... since i can remember i never heard something like that before, the heaviness of sludge with something so, so... fragile. It's this sort of details that make this album great, it's the core of it's greatness. Besides that, the sludge, post rock and industrial patches that form this tapestry that is "Elysian Magnetic Fields" is undoubtedly a must have for every fan of this genre. Some might say or think that this scene is dead right next to the graves where Isis and many other wannabe bands lie, but i can assure you that is alive and well, and Dirge carry it's banner high and proud, and they have all the reasons to do so. Recommended for fans of Neurosis, Isis, Cult Of Luna. You can get this here.

By request of the label i was asked not to share the link in order to respect their and the artists work. You can preview it here or in other place you might prefer... you know how to use Google right?

listen