Dismal Euphony – “Autumn Leaves”

Napalm Records

Rating= 7/10

Never before a band’s name meant so much. “Dismal Euphony” announces a quality CD of sad sounds, and that’s exactly what we find on “Autumn Leaves”. Though they are Norwegian, do not expect a dose of cold Black Metal but a brilliant mixture of avantgarde, gothic, doom, metal and classical music styles. The songs are not easy to describe as they are so rich in instrumental differencies (guitars, organs, pianos, keyboards, acoustic guitars…) and changes of style (even industrial as in the beginning of “Splendid Horror” and on the last track) that labelling their music would be as hard as trying to capture a twisting snake. On the lyrics we find main singer Ole’s voice combining with Elin’s female vox. All very talentfully, as they definetely are not cacophonous but really euphonous!!! As an anechdotic point there is the last song, which is supposed to last 4:40 but, when this time is gone, after 3 minutes of complete silence, an acoustic guitar firstly and a piano secondly appear to give finally way to a distortion that makes the song last over a quarter of an hour. Bizarre, huh? Just like “Autumn Leaves” itself…