Dolorian / Shining
Split

Two years after the amazing eponymous album, Dolorian release a split with Shining, a Swedish black metal band. Only two tracks, which I believe are worth commenting on. Indeed, despite the limited musical material, the split is truly excellent. I certainly prefer LPs, but for those who follow this type of music, I think it's quite important to listen to these two pieces.

The first, "Ekstasis," is entrusted to Dolorian, who continue in their emotional style. An ambient start, keyboards with very long notes. A lethargy that seems like awakening from a troubled sleep. A sense gradually starts working again, until the horrible discovery that, in reality, the nightmare wasn't while sleeping but upon realizing you're awake. The nightmare is the reality. A whisper that transforms into a scream. An arpeggio that becomes an aggressive riff of the best doom inspiration. It might not fill two years of silence, but at least we are sure Dolorian still exist and play. The second and last track of the split is "Through Corridors Of Oppression," by Shining. It must be said that their works aren't bad, but this time it's not their usual pure black metal track.

The vein is much more inspired by depressive black metal, a branch far removed from classic black metal, which allows a perfect pairing with Dolorian's atmospheres. Indeed, there are no violent guitar riffs and machine-gun drums like Hellhammer, but a slow repeated riff accompanied by long tempos. The track is short, a little over 4 minutes, yet it goes through various moments of tension, apprehension, and despair. After all, it's always about themes such as suicide, depression, death. The voice goes through stages of nervousness, anger, and finally pain shouted from the heart ("To search, the light, to search, salvation."). However, the peculiarity is that anyone who hears "Through Corridors Of Oppression" can't help but think they've heard the insistent motif from the guitar and keyboard before. Indeed, the inspiration for the song comes from none other than Chopin's "Funeral March," which is repeated for most of the track in its essential parts. Not a masterpiece, in short, but a couple of songs to have for those who follow these bands...