Review Summary: A solid debut by potential future mainstays of the stoner music scene
Hailing from Catalonia, Spain, the band Dolmenn released their first album in early 2014, appropriately titled I. The album comprises six songs clocking in at a combined run time of around 39 minutes. Dolmenn plays doomy stoner metal and rock, and I provides an excellent glimpse at the band’s talents.
Heaviness is necessity for any band in Dolmenn’s chosen realm, and they do not disappoint here. Crushing riffs, dark atmosphere, and powerfully rough vocals are all convincingly present. Stylistically, the album is more varied, ranging from the subdued doom metal sound of “Lost” to the more upbeat stoner rock of “Life Strike”. The excellent, and immensely heavy, closing track “F For Fake” adds greatly to the album’s charm.
At the same time, I is far from a perfect album. Some tracks may well overstay their welcome, even if none are exceptionally long by the standards of Dolmenn’s chosen genre. In addition, the band’s formula is far from particularly innovative, with the sound presented here likely to be quite familiar to any serious fan of the heavier forms of psychedelic music.
Nonetheless, this album is a quite enjoyable listen, a worthwhile investment of time for anyone who enjoys doom and/or stoner metal. While not perfect, I is a worthy debut which hopefully should provide this nearly-unknown band with a foundation for future success.
