Wedding the Grotesque

I have a lot of time for Diabolique. This band consisted of four guys who lived and breathed Swedish death metal. Each member was associated with legendary bands like Grotesque, Liers in Wait and Seance. Diabolique is the sound of death metal guys 'gothing out'. This concept might offend death metal purists but it works surprisingly well. The reason it works is because Kristian 'Necrolord' Wåhlin and his compatriots (Johan Österberg, Bino Carlsson and Hans Nilsson) were astute, talented and creative musicians. They must have known that the golden era of death metal was over when they formed Diabolique (from the ashes of Liers in Wait). Who could forgive them for trying something different?

The great thing about “Wedding the Grotesque” is how often the band’s death metal roots shine through. This is a dense, sinuous, technical album (and is named after an old Dr. Shrinker demo). It may be awash with gothic crooning, slower tempos and Castlevania-style keyboards, but death metal is never far beneath the surface. The band was able to retain the progressive essence of death metal without retaining any surface-level features. The resulting 'technical goth/doom' is unusual. It bears superficial similarities to Type O Negative and Moonspell, but Confessor might be a better comparison. This album is packed with busy riffs and powerhouse drumming (paced at doom metal speed). There aren’t too many records that sound like this one.

Unfortunately, the album suffers in comparison to the EP from the previous year (“The Diabolique"). Three songs from that record ("Blood of Summer", "Sorrows Piercing Art", "Beggar Whipped in Wine") were re-done for this album. The band managed to get a crisp, high-quality Studio Berno sound on this album. This is palatable, perhaps even desirable, but there is less of an ethereal atmosphere and overall heaviness. “Wedding the Grotesque” is an impressive album that showcases exemplary musicianship (listen to the solo in "The Smiling Black" for example), but it lacks the natural, sinister vibe of "The Diabolique". My appreciation of this album lessened once I heard the EP.

Kristian Wåhlin is a man who has long deserved more respect than you’re giving him. Yes he’s Necrolord, son, the one plastering some of the best album covers for tons of bands in the past and today. For Diabolique he also supplies cover art, but he only did a damn fine job with the sophomore one, in my eyes. The mesh of dark colors (primarily purple and blue) for this cover can’t be anymore obvious as to how deep this album will be, and I’m talking bass / guitar deep. Substance wise, it’s pretty haunting and dwells in the caverns of ill-wishing, but that’s the kind of sick, dark love you’d be expecting.

Off the bat, this goes right into a frenzy of melodic but drudging riffs; that tone is rusty and menacing, stabbing back toward the old days where the filthier you were the more intimidating people saw you as. This debut is the most evil of the three the band has put out thus far not only because of this sinister tone, but also the vocal style Wåhlin employs. Wåhlin himself sounds so possessed, haunting, and very, very vast; he does near-chants with such a low voice that it was monotonous at first, but the beauty of it will seep at once when it clicks. No growling, no screaming, no nothing related to death / black metal vocal styles goes on here – just these baroque, gloomy bellows. As for the guitars once again, the riffs will be toiling forward with everlasting hate while the lead swindles between cordial solos and congruous, memorable tunes; it’s a just mix between mysterious and stunning, with which the band has based this entire album around.

“The Unchaste Bittersweet” I’ve always considered the pinnacle of the album, showcasing the unity the band capture not between themselves, but the complicated control of a sound that can easily run amok. The flow is fantastic, the songs morbidly catchy, keys held to a minimum (gothic, not symphonic), and a bass submerged. I claim it as submerged not in a disrespectful way, but one that swims through the rhythm with grace and brooding, sinful tendencies. Next to the guitars, this bass is the lurker in the shadows that beckons you further and further as the album goes on, which is rightfully so since it gets harder and harder to remove oneself from the album’s trance.

Drumming isn’t surprising when it comes to generally slow music such as this, with most of the patterns comprising of stomping crashes and rolling double bass. There isn’t meant to be any sort of technicality to them, but one with extreme consistency and frothing power. It provides the energy from which the trance powers itself, crashing and crashing as you get sucked in more and more.

For something this malevolent, it’s a sweet offering that you can’t help but enjoy. The only problem I could see with this is not appealing to the melodic death fans who’ve all witnessed Wåhlin’s artwork, which is ludicrous since this album holds the same force as many of the albums he provided covers for. There is too much here to discard or forget, so I’m telling the rest of you to check this band out and never forget. You’ll be doing yourselves a big favor, and probably owing me one up on it, too.