DYNFARI - The Four Doors Of The Mind Review

Dynfari - The Four Doors Of The Mind (Code666)

Release date : April 14th, 2017

With the huge success of Deafheaven with their ability to take the ugliest music genre in the popular’s mind perception into something as sensible and meditative as Shoegazing and hints of post-rock many hipster millennials jumped on the bandwagon to make Post-Black Metal/Blackgaze/Post-Rock-Black Metal into one of the biggest shitloads of trend and legions of lovers/haters. Sure it is a bastardization of the ‘’purest’’ and ‘’trvest’’ form of Black Metal,  almost no tongue in cheek here, but every music has the right to exist and even the worst genre can have hints of genius and produce once in a while a great album.

Since a year here at LMdM we are receiving the promo albums of the Code666 label that has been consistent with quality release in their production and variety of genres. The Icelandic quatuor of Dynfari is the closest to what we can call a Blackgaze release. Playing on the boundaries of Post-Rock and Shoegazing more than the Black Metal substance in their music, they are exploring the writings of Jóhann Sigurjónsson and Patrick Rothfuss. Added to that, lead man and vocalist/guitarist Jóhann Orn has been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that has been a lot of pain and is controlled by a quantity of drugs. Think about an immersive album that has many spoke passages and the insertion of acoustic guitar, flute, accordion, and bouzouki.

Just as the artwork suggest this is an album that wants so much to be sublime, beautiful in every way that it is sugar coated. This fourth album is my first encounter with the band and I believe that it reminds me that Ulver as already used acoustic guitars in its early Black Metal records without sounding corny or too artsy. Dynfari is a bit on the artsy side of Metal and it might not pleased the ‘’kvlt’’ Black Metallers but most of them won’t get past this artwork and the fact that Iceland is Scandinavian but not Norwegian.

Overall, this is a good record that wants to be great in every sense the word has been overused in music reviews generally. It is introspective and generous in the way that Orn is putting his tripes on the table but talks too much instead of singing. Thanks for the numerous instrumental progressions but this album left me with mixed feelings because I don’t know if I want to love it or to hate it. One thing is sure, it did not left me cold and for me this is a sign that the album works.

7.5

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