Depressive Suicidal Black Metal/Shoegaze:
Various Artists - The World Comes to an End in the End of a Journey
Label : Pest Productions
Release : September 2009
DBSM? Shoegaze? I can't say how confused I was when I saw these 2 tags together for the first time. It was the Amesoeurs album and I admit, the main reason I got it was for the album artwork. I hadn't even listened to any of the songs. Once I had finished it I was a mix between angry, sad, and unbelievably happy that I found such an incredible album on pure accident. I was angry that I'd only found out about them AFTER they broke up and I was sad because, well, it's hard not to be effected by a music that's dedicated to Depression and Suicide.
I had thought that they started all, and they very well could have. After I found them I started to find more and more bands like them and eventually, this compilation. It's a six way split between artists who combine the 2 genres, some more on the DBSM side of things (like Shyy) and some more on the Shoegaze side of things (like Ethereal Beauty). When the genres are combined you usually get Shoegaze-esque melodies with DBSM vocals and sometimes those Black Metal blast beats that are so common in the genre. Is it a bizarre mix? Absolutely. Is it effective? You have no idea.
When I first listened to the album I was in awe and was rather confused that it doesn't have it's own genre. It sounds so seamless and so well mixed that it really passes itself off as something that's been around forever. It's really such a gorgeous and yet upsetting juxtaposition of slow and beautiful melodies with those howling and wailing DBSM vocals. The track that really blows me away from this comp (though all are amazing) is Heretoir's "Trümmerwelten". It's a purely acoustic song laden with distant screaming. It's very hard to explain two opposites as being one but that's really exactly what it's like. I've always thought sad songs to be rather beautiful and that's what this compilation does. The great thing about it is that the sadness isn't theatrical or contrived, it sounds real and isn't dumbed down. They don't have to worry about appealing to a wide demographic. The production sounds like real people made it and that they really enjoy music. It's not "showy" at all. I can't tell you how much this genre is increasingly becoming one of my favorite genres right up there with Trance and Ambient. If you're a fan of either DBSM or Shoegaze, this album is worth checking out 9+/10