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DEAD SUN
Soil’s Kingdom

Iron, Blood And Death Corporation (2018)
Rating: 7/10

For those of you not familiar with Dead Sun, this is the project of one Rogga Johansson, a mighty Swede known for his work with Paul Speckmann (Master), The Grotesquery, and a veritable feast of other bands.

Dead Sun emerged in the 90s and released two demos – As Night Conquers Day and The Untold – in the latter part of the decade, but it wasn’t until 2013 that a full-length release appeared under the title of The Clockwise Charade.

This latest opus, Soil’s Kingdom, is a clever, doom-laden death metal record steeped in melody, majesty and weight, which combines the structural intelligence of, say, Amon Amarth, with, maybe, Entombed at their most groove-obsessed. And one cannot ignore the Nordic aspect of this colossal record as songs such as opener ‘The Sufferer’, and especially ‘Everfading Suns Never Die’, pride themselves of gleaming melody, whereby Rogga Johansson’s steely, guttural bellows seem to ride in effortless tandem with the deep, carving walls of guitar, bass and drum. So in a sense this is catchy, melodious deathly metal hinting at progressive, yet earthy styles in the vein also of Edge Of Sanity with doomier trudges.

The marrying of doom, death and traditional metal makes for a rather intriguing listen, as one minute there’s a galloping break and the next a more sombre, reflect dirge of deathliness coming to the fore with the catchy ‘The Wasted Ones’, which chugs nicely at mid-pace to the nodding drum plod and steady bass drive

Elsewhere, ‘The Lure Of Sunken Citites’ is mournfully contagious bringing with it a contemporary My Dying Bride sombreness. But if, like me, you crave something spicier then delve into the murky gruffness of a track such as ‘Dead End Route’ with its sinister riffage and Johansson’s darker, deeper bellowing.

Equally moving is the initial thud and chord fusing of ‘66Sick’ (a remixed version of the track that appeared on the 1997 As Night Conquers Day demo), which suddenly takes on an intriguing, seemingly upbeat catchiness until Johansson’s burps of “Yeah!” which brings with it a melodic fizz. “No-one hears my cries,” he grimaces, but his chesty groans most certainly shake the mountains and the fjords on what is arguably the niftiest track on offer.

It’s still only slightly left of field for what is essentially a direct and often unmovable death-doom-groove opus, which culminates in the steady, dense chug of ‘Martyr’ (another remixed offering from the As Night Conquers Day cassette). This basic, yet polished stomper brings to a close a rewarding, if somewhat lighter than expected juggernaut very much rooted in the late 90s and onwards. In a sense, Soil’s Kingdom lacks any real earthy quality, but is still an album packing a punch.

Neil Arnold

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