Dark Metal

Isn’t it ironic how music plays with one’s emotions so conflictingly? At first, Dark Metal is a relatively standard affair for the blackened doom metal genre, despite it being a pioneer, but on repeated listens, the cracks eventually set. Andreas Classen’s - the vocalist for Dark Metal - uses three distinct vocal styles here. A primal growl, seething with contempt, a wailing screech, and the occasional spoken word. Like magic, each style flows wonderfully together. Every line is tight, impactful, and delivered with unforgiving efficiency which oozes with malice. Most people prefer Rainer’s vocals from Bethlehem’s sophomore LP, but I personally prefer the more grounded approach. While Rainer is a magnificent vocalist, I can’t help but view him stealing the spotlight from the rest of the instruments. This problem is not found within Dark Metal.

Due to its almost ballad-like style, the vocals add a particularly satisfying dynamic through each song as they switch between high and low effortlessly, all while being surprisingly memorable for an extreme metal album. Each vocal line delivered is completely devoid void of any emotion, only heightening the dread Dark Metal aims to capture; a dread all so addicting. Yet despite this, the effect they produce on the listener is strongly imbued with emotion. Unlike dsbm, a genre Bethlehem helped influence, where the vocals typically aim to be as depressing as possible, this is hollow, empty. There is no color to be found, only blackness. Even so, such a performance is even more depressing than the styles that were inspired by it. A performance that can only be described as timeless.

And the vocals wouldn’t be as potent as they are without the guitars. First things first, that godly tone. These guitars might just be the best sounding guitars I ever heard. While the guitars themselves are quite simplistic from a music theory standpoint, it only helps bring focus on the tone and clarity they produce. The guitars are not too raw and not too clear; perfectly balanced. It’s almost startling hearing how far this record is ahead of its time. As a black metal record, you’d expect the guitars to soar at speeds that give the listener no time to breathe yet quite the opposite is true. They play at a sluggish, brooding pace, yet somehow, it feels far more devastating and sinister than any black metal record to come before it (In The Nightside Eclipse being the exception). Instead of forcing its essence onto you, it invites you to join it, to succumb to it as each string ebbs and flows in a melancholic dance with the listener. That in itself is far more powerful than the former.

The tone also has a strangely retro, almost video gamey feel to it. This sounds awful on paper but it fits with the music surprisingly well. With how strongly textured each guitar is, the atmosphere becomes all the more visceral and consuming. But it isn’t one note too. There are faster sections in the album where the tone shines just as well, albeit in a different manner. The bass also sounds fantastic, mostly following along with the lead guitars but adding a much needed dimension and contrast between the leads piercing sound with a warmer, more welcoming sound, almost to an off putting extent (in a good way). In addition to its more atmospheric elements, Dark Metal also provides some killer riffs, all being memorable and unique from one another while never overstaying their welcome. Even though this is the band’s first album, the songwriting manages to be more mature and engaging than that of most bands’ entire discographies. The album additionally offers violin, piano, and keyboard on occasion, contributing to each song being more distinct and memorable from one another while not sounding out of place. The outro to apocalyptic dance being perhaps the greatest outro I’ve ever heard; the piano only certifying its rank. This is how every extreme metal album should sound production wise.

Some may argue that Dark Metal can be too slow and drawn out at times, and I believe that’s the point. With how well the atmosphere is built from each song - like a stake burrowing deeper and deeper inside one’s heart - the more barren sections invoke a more foul touch to it. This music was not created to be enjoyed, but to be felt. The drums are also quite exceptional. While not as attention grabbing as the guitars or vocals, the foundation they present are essential in providing the template needed for the rest of the instruments to shine as brilliantly as they do here. No other style would work as well with the guitars as the drums do here, and that’s one of the main draws of Dark Metal; just how natural each instrument syncs and flows together. With just how convincing the instruments are performed, it almost feels as if the darkness this record produces is actually there, waiting to be touched. You can feel a glimpse of such a darkness by listening to Dark Metal, but you can’t embrace it, as it was never truly there. For such perfection isn’t suited for a world which is anything but. Yet even so, it proves frustrating, because it sounds oh so good.

Dark Metal is like a dream - a distant memory one can recall with sentimental nostalgia, yet it cannot be reached with sheer effort alone. But once the weight of reality consumes one’s soul, a faint light can be heard through the impenetrable darkness of the world - light one can go back to, finding solace in knowing they aren’t alone.

Everyone has its own definition of darkness. Or of a phrase "dark music". Anyway, this definition has some conventional borders and some music is universally recognized as dark. A lot of metal music is dark and disturbing for middlebrows, even when it isn't considered special by metal enthusiasts. So, it's not easy to become convincing with this feature for those, who listen to extreme metal. Bethlehem can do it. The title "Dark Metal" is 100% fitting for this album, the debut full-length of Bethlehem. It's descriptive not in a single way.

"Dark Metal" is a truly diverse work. It's eclectic. The music of the record derives from several styles, while it passes through a prism of oppressive darkness. It creates verily sorrowful moods. There are influences of several genres on "Dark Metal". There's black metal. Of both the first and the second waves, as sometimes there's quite thrashy riffing, while there're a lot of tremolo riffs, which are examples of characteristic Norwegian black metal sound. There's death doom metal, as influences of Paradise Lost are well-noticed on "Dark Metal". Also, there are similarities with "Dance of December Souls" of Katatonia, which was a mix of blackened doom and death doom metal as well. By the way, the earliest Bethlehem was rooted more in death doom metal, as it could be heard on "Supplementary Exegesis" and "Wintermute", which had been written before other material of "Dark Metal" and later appeared on the album as bonus tracks. All black metal influences emerged right here, on "Dark Metal".

So, Bethlehem started as death doom metal band, but then it inherited black metal influences. The one of the most important things was in inheriting the manner of performing lead guitars from the likes of already mentioned Paradise Lost, Katatonia and so on. Bethlehem elevated this feature to another level. Eventually Bethlehem developed its characteristic way to perform lead guitars. Nothing can be confused with this manner. Those melodies are so cold and bitter. Yet, despite the fact of such melodicism, it's fair to say, that on "Dark Metal" Bethlehem appears to be more rooted in blackened doom metal, than in any other genre. In future Bethlehem will spread its own influences more in black metal niche for a reason. Nevertheless, "Dark Metal" even has some gothic influences, which are majorly presented with the keyboard performance. All in all, that's why this album is a diverse work. And that's why "dark metal" eventually came from being the album title to being a term for a separate genre, which combines the elements of mentioned before musical styles.

Anyway, it's more important not what exactly the band mixed up, but how it did that. The songwriting is elaborate to an impressive extent. The changes of themes and tempo are assorted wisely as well as the variation of stylistic influences. There can be painful lead guitars, which can be followed by rough death doom riffs or freezing black metal tremolo picking. There can be fast and rampant riffing, which can be followed by slow and desolating one, and vice versa. The mysterious keyboards can be sprinkled over guitar melodies and underline some particular qualities of those. The bass performance of Jürgen Bartsch is creative, his lines appear on the first plane from time to time. The vocals are performed very skillfully. Andreas Classen can both scream and growl, while masterfully changing the timbre of his voice on the respective episodes. He can add clean declamations, a whisper, a laugher. And everything has the same goal to create an impenetrable darkness.

The depressive mood of the album is so convincing, that "Dark Metal" sounds more depressive, than the majority of depressive black metal, the genre, which, by the way, will be highly influenced by the early works of Bethlehem. That actually can be added to the description of the stylistic depth of the album. And the depressive nature of the album can be explained. Both guitarist and bassist, Klaus Matton and Jürgen Bartsch respectively, suffered a loss of relatives and/or just close people in the past. Suicide also appeared among the causes of death for some of those cases. The main composers of the band had this bitter experience in their own lives, that's why all the pain and the grief of "Dark Metal" is extremely convincing. The album is a sincere reflection of negative emotions.

Thus, the songwriting of "Dark Metal" is ingenious. Every composition of the album is diverse, distinctive and memorable. There's no point in trying to find standout moments or compositions, the work is filled with highlights. This record is dark indeed. Dark and tragic. It's an embodiment of darkness, a one of the most successful examples of it. The apocalyptic atmosphere of "Dark Metal" is obsessive. Listening to this album is like going through lightless corridors of an ancient isolated castle. The further you go, the darker it becomes, but you won't stop, because you feel something captivating in this darkness.

Dark Metal is the first and greatest album by the German black/doom band Bethlehem. Some people might say their second album Dictius te Necare is the best release from this band, and its difficult to understand how anyone could prefer that album to this masterpiece of black art.

Depressing is the word that describes this album best. This is an album that truly invokes feelings of sadness and misery, more so than any other album I've heard. The only band that can come close to being this negative sounding is Thergothon, though they go about it in a different way.

Overall this album is a very doomy affair. Most of the songs are slow, but the pace picks up sometimes, and when it does the impact is immense due to the contrast of the faster riffs to the slower, more depressive parts. The riffs are simple, but a great deal of emotion is expressed through them, and usually that emotion is sadness. Sometimes the guitars can be pretty melodic such as in "Second Coming" and "Funereal Owlblood". As for the production, it isn't as raw as one might expect from a black metal release around this time. But this isn't an average black metal album, and the production fits perfectly. The guitar tone is a bit heavier than what is heard on the next album Dictius te Necare, and I personally prefer the thicker tone.

The dismal experience of Dark Metal starts off with the song "The 11th Commandment". This starts out in a faster way compared to the rest of the album, though around 2 minutes in the upbeat riffs stop and crushing doom takes over for the rest of the song. This song, like all the others, is perfect and prepares you for what comes next.

Every song on this album is top notch, so its difficult to choose a standout track, but if I had to pick, it would be "Funereal Owlblood". This is one of the most depressing songs I've ever heard. Some blast beats are used in the mid-section of this song, though even this upbeat moment is ridden with gloom and despair. Somehow the riffs take on an even more miserable tone for this song, and it starts to feel almost unbearably depressing. The ending riffs sound like the soundtrack to your death, and do a good job ending off this song in the darkest way possible. Unlike other bands which may feature little glimmers of hope in their music, there is nothing here to lighten the mood, and the darkness is allowed to build up as the song progresses.

The only song that has a different feel from the others is "Veiled Irreligion". Unlike the rest of the album, the music here is much more hateful than sad. The fast part is one of the few breaks you get from the overwhelming despair that dominates this album, though it quickly fades back into the darkness and slow riffs return to torment your soul. The cd I have comes with a few bonus tracks which are pretty good, but can't compare to the rest of the album.

This is one of the greatest black/doom albums ever recorded. If you are a fan of doom or black metal and haven't heard this, do yourself a favor and pick this up. Though be aware that you may kill yourself after experiencing it.

Bethlehem's Dark Metal was my first taste of black/doom metal and here I was exposed to a style of music that was like nothing I ever heard. Back then I was familiar with a few depressing songs from random bands, but Dark Metal is far more than that. It's a very powerful album, and the music found within can easily change your mood and outlook regardless of how well you're listening to it.

The best way to describe Dark Metal would be slower, simpler songs that are filled with feelings of desperation, melancholy, and madness. The Eleventh Commandment is probably the fastest song along with parts of Veiled Irreligion, but they still can be considered to have very moderate tempos. Most of the songs are simple, but goddamn, they can be incredibly depressing. Even the guitars are very simple - but they are melodic and vary frequently, showing a lot of progression in even the slower songs. Despite being simple, the songs are extremely rich. A good example would be in Second Coming, where the song starts off in a regretful spirit, but after the first verse is done, the guitars become even more melodic, making this song even sadder sounding. The progression is phenomenal and when the music slightly changes, so does your mood.

The lineup on Dark Metal is impeccable - all four band members exhibit a lot of chemistry and it shows within the music. As far as I know, this is the only Bethlehem album with Classen as the vocalist. The best way to describe him would be "solid" - even perfect. Most of his vocals are your standard growls varying in pitch every once in a while, but the thing that makes him stand out is that he sounds so lifeless. His vocals fit perfectly to the mood of the music and I could not hear it any other way. Matton's guitar work provides an incredibly melancholic and draining touch to the songs. Somehow the guitars are always at the right pitch and in that sweet spot. His efforts really help Dark Metal become something much more. Then we have Steinhoff on drums, who does not try to do anything complex, but rather does a great job keeping it simple with the nature of the music. On the really slow parts of certain songs, his drumming really matches the depressing nature of the music. It's so lifeless and decaying, but it works perfectly. Lastly, there's Juergen Bartsch on bass, providing all the missing pieces of the music with his strong foundation and presence. What separates Dark Metal from so many albums is that the bass does make a known presence and doesn't just copy the rhythmic guitars. Every member fits their niche and does their job well in relation to everyone else to make a higher quality product at the end. I couldn't think of a more fitting combination for this style of music.

Dark Metal is no joke - if you decide to listen to it, be aware of the effects it may have on you! Take the track Funereal Owlblood, for instance. This may be the most complex song on the album because of how often the guitars vary, but every riff has a heavy mood associated with it. It's by far one of the most depressing songs I've heard and the more you listen to it, the more your attitude is influenced by the music. I'd imagine some people having trouble getting through the whole song. Another example of how powerful the mood of Dark Metal is is from the track Apocalyptic Dance. Towards the end, there is somewhat faster drumming where the vocalist seems to have an angrier, but controlled. Then all of a sudden, the music takes a 180 degree turn - there's now a major conveyance of regret and loss in the music. The guitars and the bass complement each other while the drumming sets the stage for this atmosphere in the first place. Classen's harsh vocals are reduced to a melancholic spoken voice. As I said, don't be surprised if your mood changes that fast to the music! Some songs are a bit less depressing, but rather spiteful, namely Veiled Irreligion. It has the same general formula of most songs on the album, but I'll remember this track for its awesome introduction.

Bethlehem has done incredibly well to create such a solid album that can affect the listener's mood at any time. Beware! If you're feeling good and play Dark Metal, there's a good chance you'll start to feel down. Similarly, if you're already depressed, Dark Metal will make things much, much worse. Now here's the kicker - if you listen to this album and aren't feeling so good, sometimes your mood will even elevate after hearing only a few tracks. What will happen when you listen to Dark Metal? Nothing is 100% guaranteed and that's the beauty of it. Dark Metal is a tremendous example of depressing metal that has no doubt influenced so many other bands, but I don't think any will ever take the throne of Dark Metal. Buy this immediately if you want a dose of incredibly potent music that won't take too much time to see its effects! See if the digipack is available too, because then you'll get to hear what they sound like live for a few tracks.

Highlights: Second Coming, Funereal Owlblood, and Veiled Irreligion.

Because of its perceived length and evolving time span, it should be made clear that the feeling here on Bethlehem's 'Dark Metal' isn't mythical with epic fire-breathing sounds and proportions. Gallantly riding a horse to battle hymns or away into the sunset with pride or nationality. This isn't brutal or ravenous, or even twisted or crude. Belching from the charred corpse that was sauteed on the ol' human barbeque pit. Though on its own it sustains the solemn, dark moods musically from black metal with some characteristic pacing from the genre of doom, along with a certain oppressive feel from the calculated combination. Coming out as a thinking-man's-experiencing-man's riddle wrapped in a massive dose of pro-depressants.

Bethlehem had their own niche going for them back at the time of their debut release. Where some releases in extreme metal would be more blunt in purpose, delivering those notes with full-frontal regard. Letting it be known where they came from with loud shouts and informal acknowledgments. Though 'Dark Metal's atmosphere is like seeing a tumbleweed move by, slowly rolling, twisting and turning, yet with that building anticipation of the coming ominous wind and weather. Like black and grey clouds are perpetually hovering over your head with near dark shade. Creating music that umbrellas surrounding light into something that dims the room, roughens objects' visibility with long and hard shadows, and makes this varying grey ambiance out of the entire experience. And in turn, an experience that is hard to shake free of.

This has black, death and doom elements. Spilled out, textured and let loose throughout the album. Like a mad paint brush who's possessed purpose is to paint surreal pictures in dismal charcoaled tones. The music on 'Dark Metal' is pretty temperamental, switching up its pacing between mid-paced trotting, down to drifting slower sections, and climbing up to some very rare faster heights. The guitars and bass arguably carry the music with the vocals coming in and out to rightfully take back the stage depending on the particular moment of a song, and a drummer who keeps things together without showing off or distracting you from the gradual, flowing music. The collective here is suspended in something that could be called their own domain, creating unrest from an elevating presence; an idyllic setting where the immaterial drift in and out of coexisting realities. Bethlehem has a forlorn side in this regard: playing guitar lines that should have been reserved for somber violinists; resigned bass lines that a composer for a serious drama wishes he could have grabbed up; and alternating vocal changes that pass as phantoms would through fogged wrought-iron cemetery gates.

The production is loud and decently separated from a studio recording. This isn't raw, hissy or rusty-saw blade inducing, which you might expect out of material as such. Though there are a decent amount of necessary effects applied here to the instruments giving it that extra ounce of hopelessness. Applying it to the guitars with a vast and surrounding quality as he plucks faster melodies or floats with the carrying singly strummed hits. The song writing bottles hours and minutes in an enclosed jar, pulling you away with its dives and dips. Not fashioning it after some strict formula, like the typical intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, solo, verse, chorus structure. Longer songs seem fundamental to their power and purpose. This uses peaking moments to add a melodic side, using tremolo picked guitar lines overtop of a trotting medium beat by the drummer. There are some non-continuous palm mutes as well that might resemble death metal in a way, but without the brutal or hammering it to you part of it. During some of the slower parts, the guitar might hit a continuous note till it fades into another strum. Along with some layered guitar tracks overtop of a repeated section that might resemble a lead because of their highness, and also because they might be played on just a single string with some bending. This also uses some kind of underwater effect on his guitars during some sections, and is as much a coined feature I have to say for Bethlehem as the loose genre characterization of dark metal is to their overall projection. The drummer has some equally enhanced effects applied to his kit. It doesn't have a weighted quality though, even with a snare drum that is sort of a medium, on-the-verge of higher sound.

'Dark Metal' has some uniquely placed bass lines, that might either stand out on their own or are heard clean with the guitar's construction. They are simplistic in execution, but carry as much to the larger scheme of things as the guitars do. There are also select areas with some subtly played keyboards. Generally when a section has repeated itself the keys might join in or during a few peaking moments, and they might be even hardly heard in the background as well. They can be abstract in nature, or traveling over with some more concrete variations even with a track with a short piano segment at the end of their longest track, and another with an organ spread overtop of slowly subduing instruments. The vocals can be a deeper presentation with an extended growl, or filled with more disheartening emotion as a nasally higher tone. The last song has some clean spoken German from a perceived lost radio transmission, with spacy feedback from the guitars, and a section with some basic, prominent sounding bass and slower paced drums with the return of the coined watery guitar effect. In turn being a fitting, penetrative song to wind down and conclude the album. Made to be your last salute and farewell greeting.

Like a solitary ghost, Bethlehem have created something unique and I can imagine will last for many more years as result. 'Dark Metal' is like reading a cheerless epitaph inscribed on a weather beaten headstone. Enclosed in a certain unbreaking thought abandoning everything else and causing a fixation. Having a few genres fused together, but not having one war for control. Because their odyssey travels one moment at a time, one escalating thought to the next using certain musical styles to convey a point. It carries a grave ball and chain, lurching through with a joyless martyr's resonance of conviction. It contains all the essential elements of a building process, mood, and fully accomplished creativity. It is brilliant in capturing precise and shifting emotions through something as tried-and-true as a vocalist and three musicians I feel could have done. It is also an album that can be turned back to and turned back to without losing its enigma, knowing when you put it on it is going to electrocute your nerve endings and jolt your ears as well. I highly recommend you take the esoteric plunge into Bethlehem's 'Dark Metal,' shuffle off this mortal-skinsuit, and extend your immortal-coil from an album's demeanor that can quite possibly send a spine up its shiver.

Ahhh... Bethlehem's Dark Metal.
I actually haven't heard too much about Bethlehem (it may just be my ignorance or that Bethlehem actually isn't a very well-known band) but I was browsing files and I found this album. I downloaded it, expecting a typical mono-rhythmic drumming sequence with piercing vocals, as any other black metal band... I was pleasantly surprised.

This album is what the name suggests, Dark Metal. It's of its own genre, I can never classify it as black metal; maybe doom metal. The vocals are extremely melancholic and desperate; the guitars and music in the background also offer a very droning, and sluggish environment. This album continues throughout in each track with this sort of environment, never letting up on the rather awkward and bleak aura.

The vocals, in my opinion, deserve their own little paragraph in this review. Bethlehem's vocalist (at the time of "Dark Metal), Andreas Classen, offers a very unique style of guttural grunts, shrieks, and growls. He is very different then the other black metal vocalists, in that his vocals are emotionally-charged, and not all shrieking with no purpose (as can be seen in a variety of black metal bands).

While the vocals are great, the music wouldn't be complete without the other components. The guitars incorporate an impressive blend of abrasiveness and melody. The down-tuned guitars seem to drone the listener out into a different world. And while all this is occurring the bass is playing it's own exclusive riff on top of the droning guitars. The reverb and delay on the instruments is what creates this sort of confusing, disorderly, musical environment that immerses the listener... This is truly art in an abrasive form.

I think Dark Metal was the beginning of Bethlehem's peak, along with Dictius Te Necare. Dark Metal has made Bethlehem one of my favorite bands, and has prompted to make Bethlehem more noticeable in the dark/doom metal genres. Bethlehem has also pushed itself to be an intrinsic part of any true metalhead's collection.
"Dark Metal" is a melancholic masterpiece.

Every single time I put this on I am captured by the devastation, dismay, yearning melancholy... it is absolutely impossible for me to ignore the fucking amazing melody lines of every single song on this, the ultimate crown jewel of the doom metal genre. I realized it had been quite a long time since I listened to this, so I put it on and once again, I realized that there is no topping DARK METAL in terms of crushing, overpowering, DARK METAL!
Despite the number of people who like this album but consider the follow-up album "Dictius te Necare" to be the epitome of Bethlehem's career, I have no doubt that this is surely the better of the two, and of course their best work ever. They will never top it, and no so-called "doom metal" band probably ever will. The reason for this might be that the style is really so simple, slow, and droning (with only a few faster bits), but at the same time SO incredibly effective that the result is a lot more complex than its simple structure. I can't stress enough just how monumental the atmosphere on this album is.
Obviously the vocals are way less "standout-ish" than Landfermann's on the next album. The key thing is, though, that these vocals are better precisely *because* they don't steal the show, and they are in fact more enjoyable to listen in the end after the novelty of the crazy vocals on Dictius te Necare wear off. Though I really like the second album as well, for some reason Landfermann's vocals just seem so "extreme" that it's like he's trying too hard to sound depressed and suicidal at times. Chassen's vocals on Dark Metal are just as varied, but just less "extreme", that's all, and to me at least, he conveys more of a devastating feeling.
Which songs could I possibly point out as highlights? There isn't a song, or even a moment for that matter, on this album that isn't supreme. Let's see... the first song, The Eleventh Commandment, kicks off the album with some faster but still simple riffing. It takes a minute or two before you start to realize how simple the songwriting is, after the opening riff is just played over and over again, but constantly built on with layered guitars and great vocal work. This kind of strategy is present in basically all of the songs. The next song, Apocalyptic Dance, is perhaps one of the best ones, especially for its emotionally charged bass-only breaks (courtesy of one of my favourite bassists and only current original member, Jurgen Bartsch) leading into great melodies, and the piano section at the end to cap it off.
I won't discuss every song, because for those who haven't heard this you just have to listen for yourself, but I'll make a special mention of what I think is the best song of all. Funereal Owlblood is, I think, the most absorbing of them all, right from the very first killing note. Something that anyone with a good sense of imagination should try is listening to this song (after hearing all those before it, of course) and imagining as lucidly as one can that this will be the last song ever heard before one's death... OK, humour me here, it's about a 7 minute song, so try to convince yourself that you've got 7 excruciating minutes to live, and that this song will play for those last minutes of life... if you're good at focussing on this idea while still hearing the music, just wait and see how you feel when that fast part comes in near the end of the song, with the one and only "blast beat" on the album!! I know the feeling, because I've tried this, and let me tell you, the human mind is capable of incredible fantasies and delusions if you use it right (and if you have the right soundtrack of course!)... anyway, this is a long review, but I'm feeling particularly close to this album right now, so it's the best time to do this. You have to hear this, even if you have before. Hopefully if you didn't like it at first you can see beyond the surface and maybe my conviction will even help that along!