Doom metal that is really progressive tends to be rare, and music bearing this tag will usually refer to a single outside influence that doesn’t make much of a mark on the whole. But Dionysiaque‘s Diogonos is something different, without a doubt. Opener “By the Styx” makes this clear in just over a minute, with the belts of Nathaniel Colas (credited as N.C.) sounding like he’s a graduate of the school of booming Saruman-voice. The vocal performance of Diogonos is easily one of its highlights and it adds a charm to Dionysiaque that makes them instantly stand out. But that is far from the opener’s only noteworthy trait. The song starts out with some classic doom before launching into a bass-led groove and guitar attack like it’s an Opeth-song, jumps into a heavy metal solo and then lunges into blackened thrash metal. This song goes on for over nine minutes, yet despite the occasional doom-crawl it manages to keep a good flowing because of all of its moving parts hooking you in. And the best songs on Diogonos all have this ability to hook into a groove, weird vocal line or all out thrash assault. At times it even grows uncomfortably intense with discordant riffs, like at the end of the building Masters of Reality-like riffs in “Violet Venom”. The production is bass-heavy and the slightly trebly guitars sit further back, making for an album that has a lot of ideas and can jump genres with ease, but that is also pleasant on the ears most of the time.
A flaw I heard early on when listening to Diogonos is that the doom metal is fairly standard a lot of the time. In some of its low points, these moments feel unnecessarily drawn out and as the album’s greatest strength lies in its odd ideas, things can occasionally feel uneventful. Yet I am of two minds on this, as I can also see that these moments build tension that is then released with some off-the-wall idea or burst of energy. The vocals, while fun and silly, also felt like a crutch but are at the same time done with conviction. I can’t help but feel that if Dionysiaque had spent just a bit more time editing this album it would have been a different conversation as when it hits, it hits hard. The complaint here is not only the length of the songs themselves, but rather that the concerned sections lack what makes great doom bands like The Ruins of Beverast tick, the hypnotic rhythms that sustain the length. In short, Dionysiaque is not quite dionysian enough! While this major flaw has me hesitant to score Diogonos higher, it’s likely an album I will be revisiting for its weird energy and charm. Time will tell how much of a grower it is.
