Dominic

Dominic EP

Written by: TL on 14/10/2011 17:14:14

Norway is a country that's been buzzing with new and interesting bands recently, and one band that may just benefit of the added attention drawn to the country of late, is Trondheim-based screamo/skramz/post-hardcore band Dominic, who have actually been doing their part to keep the scene up there alive for the better part of ten years. With two EP's and two LP's already behind them, the band is currently gearing up for their next full length, and while we're waiting for that, they're serving an appetizer in the form of this self-titled 7" which features two new tracks from them.

The first one "Skin Deep" continues a trend established on 2009's "Nord", with the band starting off strong, mainly due to flirting with a melodic lead almost sounds a little proggy. The guitar hook gets the listeners attention, leading you into the song that later breaks down into the disturbing bleak atmosphere that has been the band's trademark, while angry howling constantly keeps you company. The descend from lofty (at least for this band) melody and into a dark pit of depressive sound makes for a nice movement and makes the song a good A side to the record. On the other hand, the B side "A New Dawn" moves in the opposite direction, starting out with a sound that's way down in the darkness of a deep sonic cellar, before making it up to some brighter (at least for this band) chords that make for rays of hope shining into the soundscape, before clouds again appear and the song ends back in the middle of a dark storm of guitars.

Along the way through the two tracks, one notices how Dominic consistently stands apart from the usual skramz bands, by taking on a less jagged and abrasive approach and instead let their bleak atmospheres flow more smoothly (at least for this genre) over the listener. The approach leans towards that of more progressive post-hardcore bands, yet never quite engages in nearly the same kind of complexity. Things are kept raw, simple and depressing as hell. The obvious benefit for Dominic is that this slightly different approach to being uncompromising means that you can indeed tell them apart from their contemporaries. The drawback is that even at only two songs, it quickly becomes hard to really appreciate such a suffocating down-trip as the one these guys create. Fans who are already into the niché will likely know how though, and hence they shouldn't hesitate to check this out. For listeners who are either more casual or conversely more picky, I make no such guarantees.

6

Download: Skin Deep
For The Fans Of: Kaospilot, Saetia, Daitro
Listen: facebook.com/dominicnord

Release Date 23.05.2012
Apocaplexy Records

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