MP3: Diabolique - Rain
I've been talking about (and listening to) a lot of goth/darkwave recently, so I'm gonna keep on going with it. Diabolique formed in the mid-90s out of the ashes of Liers in Wait, one of the many New Wave of Swedish Death Metal bands that helped establish Göteborg as an international metal mecca. And if you go back even further, you'll find that frontman/guitarist Kristian Wåhlin (aka Necrolord) was also a founding member of the band Grotesque with vocalist Tomas Lindberg, pre-At the Gates. Kristian is also renown for his many cover paintings that graced oh-so-many of the 90's best metal releases (see a list at Kristian's official website). Anyhow, Diabolique released their first album "Wedding the grotesque" in 1997, and while it's a fairly decent example of doom metal with goth-leanings, it wasn't until their next release, 1999's "The black flower" that they really hit their stride. Heavy, shoegazer guitars mixed with deep vocals and a steady, pounding rhythm section. What I enjoy most about it is that heaviness - even though the music is most definitely not metal at this point, they still have a thick and beefy guitar tone that evokes the same sort of feeling. The bass is especially huge and driving. While I rank "The black flower" as one of my favorite Swedish CDs, the song I've posted today actually comes from the "Butterflies" EP that followed a year later. The music is a bit cleaner and lighter, but it's the vocals that really progressed the most. Kristian extends his range and instead of his usual baritone drone, he actually sings. I understand that many folks were turned off by that, but I think it works. Most of the time. The band's final album "The green goddess" (which I don't think was ever officially released, though somehow I did manage to find a copy in the used bin many years ago) goes even further by doing away with the deep vocals altogether and adding more electronic beats and synths. I absolutely hated it when I first heard it and I still can't say it's really worth tracking down. Regardless, eventually dissolved (probably at least partially due to label issues) and Kristian, along with drummer Hans Nilsson, eventually reunited with Lindberg in the band The Great Deceiver. But that's a post for another Friday...
Diabolique - Rain