Drowning the Light: Drowned (2004)

Over the last couple of years, my interest in black metal has skyrocketed.  I do not really have an explanation for it, it has just really been catching my attention so much more recently, particularly when it comes to raw black metal and pagan black metal (Drudkh, among others).  Those are two areas that I had very little interest in previously.  Drowning the Light falls into the former category.

I discovered Drowning the Light after seeing several people on Youtube raving about them.  I had not heard of them before.  Part of my interest in the band stems from my fascination with groups that have massive discographies.  Seeing people on Youtube talking about Drowning the Light's massive number of releases spoke to me, though I may not be trying to focus to a large degree on this band.  Fetid Zombie is my primary interest.  Still though, this is now the fifth release by Drowning the Light to find its way into my collection.

Drowned is Drowning the Light's debut album, and it honestly sounds like a debut.  There are a lot of ideas that do not seem quite fully formed and the production quality is absolutely atrocious.  It sounds like the album was recorded in a cave.  While the musicians were on the other side of the cave.  Underwater.  That is a big shame because the music that is here is actually quite good and shows what the band would eventually be capable of producing.  The band is primarily the product of just one man, Azgorh, and the occasional session musician.  On this release, Azgorh performs all of the instruments and the vocals.   

Musically, Drowning the Light sounds like a cross between Transilvanian Hunger-era Darkthrone, Det Som Engang Var-era Burzum, Les Legions Noires, and Xasthur thrown into a blender.  It is ultra lo-fi black metal with frequently repeating, simplistic riffs and a ton of dark atmosphere.  At times the music comes very close to depressive suicidal black metal, slowing things way down.  There's the Xasthur sound.  Vocals have never been a primary part of the Drowning the Light sound, and I am not even sure Azgorh is speaking words here.  Most of the time his vocals just sound like "Bleurgh" or "Rargh".  At times, the music sounds positively beautiful, in a dark and depressing kind of way.  This is most obvious in closing instrumental track "Suffering".

Ultimately, I probably would not recommend this album to people just diving into the dark world of Drowning the Light.  The production is a very difficult thing to get used to.  But the music is definitely up there with some of the band's best.  So at some point, going back to it would be worth it.  Just don't start here.