Fourth Dominion comes from Rochester, New York and already has a rich musical heritage, keyword No-Wave legend Lydia Lunch, Jazz musicians from the swing era Taxi CallowayGarage rock revivalists The Chesterfield Kings, and especially interesting for Ghost Cult regulars, grind gods Brutal truth. The Fourth Dominion therefore seems to be in respected company.
Diana’s Day marks the quartet’s second, long-awaited release and the follow-up to their highly acclaimed 2017 album. Wings of a dying crow. According to the album’s promotional material, it tackles “topics not often explored in heavy metal: disability, gender, the divine feminine, anti-futurist queer politics, and sexual assault.” Now, onto the music…
“Bloodstains” opens the album in a way that is reminiscent The cult early work (Dreamtime) And Billy Duffy’s sounding dynamic guitar work as well as the horror punk of AFI. A refreshing start to the album. “Lilim” refers, according to Wikipedia, to hostile night spirits that attacked men in ancient Mesopotamian religion and Jewish folklore. This is certainly reflected in the track, which oscillates between pure deathrock melancholy (see the Killed By Deathrock compilations for reference) and exquisite Type O Negative Doomy Goth Metal. “Burn the Prisons!” is quite anthemic, with the intonation of NWOBHM being prominent in both the delivery and the approach. However, it should be stressed that the vocals and music here are presented in a much more subtle and tasteful way, unlike many other artists in this genre. “From Below” is simply wonderful and a number that fans of The healing previous works (especially Seventeen Seconds) are impressive, and in the final part of the piece the band surprises you with a furious hardcore punk attack that keeps you on your toes.
“Goetia” refers to a type of European sorcery or witchcraft and again alludes to the post-punk/gothic rock of the 1980s (the latter before it evolved into the more “theatrical” bombast of bands like The Mission, Sisters of Mercy, etc.). In the hands of Fourth Dominion, of course, it is given a more original, contemporary twist that prevents it from simply sounding like a mere homage to that era, quality. With a name like “Hill of Swords,” this track was always intended to have a predominantly metallic flavor, and that is the case, the two guitar solos from Dave Milburn And Aldi Priyanto reminds of Iron Maiden And Angel witch. “Death in Fall” is Bad Religion if they ever chose Goth, the vocals in particular reminded of Greg Graffins distinctive lilt. Rich melodies, sublime solos and excellent songwriting are clearly evident here.
“Tormenta Purgatoria” is Siouxsie and the Banshees classic “Playground Twist” if it included more folk elements, which would be a pretty brilliant ballad indeed, and “Her Wings” starts with a beautiful acoustic guitar before developing sonically in a similar way to Megadeth’s “In My Darkest Hour” is an ever-present feeling of despair and sadness that runs through the whole song. “Casca Dreaming” is a gentle, dreamy piece with references to the tinkling indie guitar pop of The Smiths as well as the poetic texts of the late, great Rozz Williams from Christian DeathShadow Project. A nice conclusion to the event.
Diana’s Day is an album that will appeal to both metalheads and goths/deathrockers, giving it great crossover appeal. The band wasn’t too visible for 6-7 years (probably because of COVID), but now they’ve made a triumphant comeback, highly recommended.
Buy the album here:
https://fourthdominion.bandcamp.com/album/dianas-day
8 / 10
REZA MILLS
