Review Summary: Newcomers to the gothic rock genre have something to say and Dommin’s message is that “Love Is Gone”
Incorporating features of blues, small amounts of jazz and more heavily the gothic rock influence Dommin create an interesting and valuable listen. Hailing from Los Angeles and reaching the worlds stage in 2010 after releasing their debut full length album ‘Love Is Gone’ Dommin display a high sense of creative talent over the length of their album.
Whilst remaining relatively unnoticed until the release of this album Dommin bring elements from rock, the gothic, and add a touch of jazz to create an effect that is both interesting and tasteful as they combine these elements almost perfectly. Dommin utilize dark themes, melodic passages, rhythmic vocal lines that most on a first listen would miss making Dommin’s first release a mix of catchiness and originality.
On a first listen Dommin’s sound may appear to have many similar characteristics and traits of many other rock groups, however with Dommin there appears to be something bubbling under the surface, adding features heavily influenced by the gothic genre overall creates an interesting sound for the listener and after a few repeat listeners will find amounts of contrast breaking the sound up and creating a higher level of playability. Production on Love Is Gone shows the bands own potential. The production sound itself is clean and crisp with all recorded parts sounding clear and mixed well.
Instrumentally the band at first glance does not appear to be anything overly special. The instrumentation itself contains male vocals, guitars, bass, piano, and drum kit thus being an ordinary line up for most conventional groups. The vocals are smooth and tasteful with lyrical content strongly supporting the overall theme of the album. The flow is pushed by the vocal force and gothic nature of Dommin, however the only problem may appear to be the context as it occasionally will come off as cheesy and cliché. The drum work of the album adds small greatness using small amounts of jazz styled beats to lift the level of interest and technicality to the drums and the rest of the album. The bass guitar while not strongly noticeable emphasises the guitar rhythm lines and works well with the drum section. The guitars show varying amounts creativity and smartly shows this when it is needed ensuring that ‘Love Is Gone’ does not become a tedious listen and from time to time the piano is used branching out the sound and creating a tasteful level of contrast for the rest of the album. This shows Dommin’s more mature melodic approach to their music.
While mixing dark tones with light and dark song themes Dommin show the world on their debut album that they are a force to be reckoned with, they also show an excellent mix of melody and technicality that suits the music without lowering its overall standard. Showing promise and something a little out of the ordinary for the rock genre Dommin show in their own on their debut album that ‘Love Is Gone’.
Highlights Include: My Hearts, Your Hands, Love Is Gone, Dark Holiday
