Dark Buddha Rising - Dakhmandal

Artist: Dark Buddha Rising

Album: Dakhmandal

Label: Svart Records

Genre: Occult Psychedelic Drone Doom Metal

Released: June 7th, 2013

Dark Buddha Rising are a living enigma, drenched in mystery, with no biographic information available. Dakhmandal is their fourth album, and within the underground scene, Dark Buddha Rising, have gained respect and following – their appearance at Roadburn Festival is a witness to their success.

Dakhmandal consists of 6 tracks, with titles “D”, “K”, “H”, “M”, “N” and “L” - the titles give us no clue as to where Dark Buddha Rising want to takes us. Described by Svart Records as “oppressive and circular”, the music on Dakhmandal needs to be listened to as a whole – the tracks seem to be merely added to chop the organic entity into smaller parts.

Rather than describing their music, I first would like to share this quote with you, which was part of their press release:

"To walk the ethereal soil on the banks leading unto the stone tower as last breath view we would collapse as humanly tissue, overwhelmed by the final light that seizes us at the end of the world to transform all living that was unliving the torments as timesands cascaded, unknowing of the now unveiled source that flow to overcome confines of flesh particles as seen through the eyes to witness them worldly.

The obsessive trait became at an early age from what would seem like truthfabrics bleeding through the cracks between cellwalls, alive in vast nothingnesses surrounding scarce specifics of illusional matter that would float in brightness excesses, ascending to unflinching gaze-in as quest that became to level the endless plains in sight as unified with the fluid surfaces of the endoplasmic waves."

This quote sets the tone for the music of Dark Buddha Rising better than anything else. Dakhmandal is a soundscape, in a depressing, Nordic plain, sometimes meeting villages, lost monks and lonesome hermits. Going from drone, doom, over post-rock and ethereal, the music on Dakhmandal is not only deeply layered but also multi-faceted.

Even though Dakhmandal itself should be listened to as a whole, some tracks (here, the term “passages” better describe how these tracks relate to the entire form of music that is the album) have more interesting contrast.

“K” brings doom metal riffs that here and there refer to Black Sabbath, yet the overall atmosphere is very unsettling, with its cries and growls that seem to come from a horror movie, after which riffs that could be borrowed from Radiohead roll around. The contrast between the heavy and calm parts, the outrage and the confined despair, makes this track/passage lively, as if it tells a story.

A track/passage that grabbed my attention since the first session of listening is “M”, which throws an incredibly versatile palette of colors, emotions and sounds to us. Going from spacey and atmospheric, via post-rock over passages of hypnotic monk-like chanting towards the unsettling cries form the dead – this track/passage is an experience in itself. Moreover, this track/passage seems to be a self-contained summary of Dakhmandal, featuring almost all elements and emotions one can find on the album.

To sum it all up: Dakhmandal by Dark Buddha Rising is an experience in itself that takes you from deep, confined despair through the raging madness towards the calm of outer space or the after life.

Buy Dark Buddha Rising - Dakhmandal