When I read the title to the second track off of
Dwellers In Twilight, a sixteen minute planetary collision called “Pillars Of Geph”, I knew that American sludge/doom metal band Aldebaran were all about business. Heavy, crushing, devastating business. The simple chord progressions are the tried and true formula of this sort of music, and here Aldebaran do just that, but manage to keep things intensely interesting with moments that break away from this motif. The small moments of simple melodies are hugely overshadowed by the plodding pace, backing powerful screams and synchronized cymbal crashes, but still manage to linger in your mind until they slowly return to the surface for air.
An immensely oppressing atmosphere which packs the heaviness of funeral doom but incorporates a lot of sludge into the sound, with higher-pitched screams which add loads of variety as well as a slight hardcore influence to the music when they slide their way in. The bass manages to work its way above the massively down-tuned and distorted guitars to add a new sound to the palate, especially noticeable during the brilliant riff which opens “Sightless And Silent Into Blackened Gulphs”. The aforementioned focus on atmosphere is really the driving force of the album, and helps make it the shortest forty-three minutes of doom I’ve come across. See, when I listen to doom I typically am aware that I am in the middle of a twenty minute song, but with
Dwellers In Twilight the album has an uncanny ability to just melt away, due in part to its cunning use of faster-riffs (in comparison to the chords of songs like “Pillars Of Geph”) and also due to its sheer songwriting. Sure, it sounds easy to go out and write a three-track album which contains very little change in sound, but to do so and make the finished product not an insomnia medication takes a little something.
If you’re looking to get your face smashed in (slowly, mind you), but not looking for the heaviest thing in the world, then
Dwellers In Twilight is sure to please. If you want a shockingly entrancing album, one which you’ll find yourself wanting to listen to time and again, then same to you. Aldebaran have crafted something really special here, a fine mix of sludge and doom which is both appealing and layered. The unique vocal experience and fixating guitar entourage make for excellent fodder for this kind of music, and
Dwellers In Twilight is the perfect piece to take advantage of all of the elements which Aldebaran had collected.
