#15: Dordeduh - Dar De DuhThis album... is a behemoth of an album, pretty obviously. A packed-to-bursting single disc combining a ton of different influences to make a unique but really, really difficult album to get into. Seriously, I still don't feel quite ready to review this one even after some dozen or so spins over the course of 4 months.
Maybe its main problem is that this album isn't very interested in hooks, though there are a few. So it never really sticks in your head, but when you put it on, you tend to notice... that it's really quite good. Great, even. There's a ton of variety on display, a strong balance between the lighter and heavier parts of the album, many interesting uses of the folky elements throughout the album, some subtle reprising and continuity nods, and a really cohesive sound. And then... you forget 75% of it the moment the album ends, but remember it fondly.
At least, that's my experience. The weird part is, I'm not sure there's even a lot of filler here? It feels like too much, but at the same time there's not a lot that feels like it could be cut to make a more succint whole. The album has a really strong flow to it, especially when the songs outright bleed into each other so seamlessly that you barely notice it; for the longest time I thought the start of Cumpăt was the outro of Zuh, and the only way to tell when E-an-na ends and Calea Roţilor de Foc begins is because the former has no metal in it at all, but the transition is otherwise pretty seamless.
And the songs themselves all flow well too. Jind de Tronuri starts out with a slow build, exploding into life a few minutes in before settling into a locked groove for the next few minutes, reaching a more driving middle before returning to the triplet groove and ending with a lot folky outro build. Flăcărarii builds back up and then stays at a pretty satifyingly heavy level throughout, with enough dynamic shifts to not end up monotonous. Ea-an-na is a long, quiet build, starting off rather free-flowing, continually getting denser and faster until it ends by exploding into Calea Roţilor de Foc. The first two minutes of this track are an exercise in outdoing each previous moment's intensity, followed up by a middling heaviness that gradually builds up more intensity before a long softer outro. Pândarul starts off heavy, strips back for a quieter middle that builds back up to an intense outro. Zuh kicks off with another long build, exploding into life about 3 minutes in for a brief moment before returning to another quieter build, back into a heavy build towards an intense climax, dropping out for a quiet break before a final kick of energy to close out the track. Cumpăt alternates between medium softness and crushing heaviness for its first few minutes, staying louder for its middle and ending with a slow death of somber atmosphere. Dojană closes as a driving folk piece that escalates throughout its runtime, closing out on a somber note. There's very few awkward transitions along the entire ride and more than enough smooth ones to make up for it.
Obviously, one of the most notable features on this album is its folk elements, and they're here in spades, they see far more use than on OM and the album's all the better for it. Jind de Tronuri kicks off with xylophone and percussion driving the atmosphere, ominous vocals providing backing. There's a flute that comes in near the middle of the track, as well, and the last 5 minutes are a long build off wooden percussion, folky guitar, off-kilter flute and playful vocals. Pândarul runs the full spectrum of the album's more flavorful elements; some really folky vocal lines, a good helping of flute, and some xylophone accentuating a particularly groovy guitar line. And of course Dojană is nothing but the folk elements of the album. The other songs have scatterings of it too; a lot of flute, a few other moments of ominous or playful vocals, some wooden percussion. The only track really lacking any folky touches at all is Flăcărarii, probably to its deficit.
This is a pretty interesting album in that it's right in that slot between "good atmospheric music" and "good active listening music" in that it has a good helping of both parts spliced together well enough to not really be either at the same time, but also both simultaneously. A lot of the quieter moments lean more towards atmosphere, but there's always a sense of progression, the songs never sit still for too long. The long build of Jind de Tronuri, the entirety of E-an-na, Calea Roţilor de Foc's slow burn during its outro, the escalating groove in the middle of Pândarul, the subtle build at the start of Zuh, the somber deescalation of Cumpăt, all particularly long quiet moments for the album yet all manage to stay interesting throughout. As far as the heavier moments go, you have a lot of moments of crushing intensity; moments throughout Flăcărarii, the manic build at the start of Calea Roţilor de Foc, the crushing outro of Pândarul, the climax of Zuh, the frantic, desperate middle build of Cumpăt; all of which are not lingered on to the point of getting tiresome and often carry through two or three different musical passages as long as they last. Even more than this though, you just have a ton of great riffs; the awesome 70's groove about a quarter into Jind de Tronuri as well as driving riff in its middle, the fuzzy guitar line and great groove in the middle of Flăcărarii, the addictive chorus riff of Pândarul as well as a strong groove near its end, the first heavy groove of Zuh later reprised during its outro. There's a ton of more relaxed heavy atmospheres, too, more than even worth mentioning.
The variety in vocals is also talking about; there's a lot of cleans here, a lot more than on OM, and a good chunk of them are pretty playful in nature, as well as often harmonized. The harsh vocals are still prevalent through a lot of the heavier moments as well, and there's some interesting moments of the clean and harsh vocals playing off each other quite well, either alternating or synchronizing. Another pretty prevalent aspect is the huge walls of synths and synthstrings throughout a good chunk of the album, providing a backing for some of the quieter atmospheric moments and driving the intensity of a lot of the heavier ones over the top. And then even on top of that, you have the bass throughout that gets just a ton of awesome grooves. The bass accompanying the 70's groove section of Jind de Tronuri, a driving groove in the middle of Flăcărarii and a really brief but awesome moment at 4:40, a tense bassline driving the later build of E-an-na, a thick bass backing the outro of Calea Roţilor de Foc, another heavy bassline at the start of Pândarul, a playful line accompanying that awesome groovy riff, and a killer bass groove going throughout the entire middle of the track. Zuh has a solid bassline driving its triplet groove, and Cumpăt a driving bassline closing off the track. And I can't go without mentioning the callback to the alternating 4/4 and 3/4 passages of Calea Roţilor de Foc that happen in Pândarul, such a subtle touch that works so well.
This review has gone on plenty long enough, I feel, but that's because there's both a lot to talk about with this album on top of all the really cool and interesting things it does. There's 78 minutes of music here and at least 70+ feel absolutely essential, great listening. I still have to hold the album's lack of staying power against it a little, but that's about all I can hold against it, since beyond that it's an enjoyable, cohesive, and unique ride that leaves me pleased every time I listen to it.
Favorite Tracks: Jind de Tronuri, Pândarul, Dojană, Zuh, E-an-na
Least Favorite Track: Flăcărarii
8.5/10DTF Addendum: This is the kind of album where even some 10-15 spins later I feel like I haven't yet given it enough listens. There's just... a lot to find here, the listen I did while reviewing had me noticing some things I didn't before and really enjoying the entire thing while doing so. It's definitely... rather overwhelming at first though, for sure.