When DWAAL released their debut full-length album “Gospel of the Vile” in July of 2020, things were definitely looking up for the band. Reviews were excellent, shows had been booked throughout Europe, and a booking deal, which as everyone knows, is not an easy thing to get, was there for the taking. But then disaster struck in the form of the Pandemic, and the hopes and dreams of DWAAL, along with those of every other band on the planet, rapidly evaporated.
What followed for DWAAL was a nightmare beyond their worst imaginings. With the world completely shut down, and all live performances cancelled for an unspecified amount of time, their much anticipated tour fell by the wayside, along with the booking deal. Eviction from their rehearsal space was compounded by flooding in their new space, whilst Covid itself caused two layoffs, three breakups, five mental breakdowns, five hospitalisations and one near-death experience.
All the rage and frustration that the band felt over those three miserable years had to be channelled into something, and it indeed it was, because, DWAAL harnessed the negative and used it to created their upcoming sophomore album “Never Enough”.
Whilst “Never Enough” itself will not be out until the 29th September, Dark Essence Records have chosen today, the 1st of August, to release a single from the album, and to celebrate that release with a live performance at the Dark Essence Records Warm Up Show for Bergen’s Beyond the Gate Festival. Label-mates BLODHEMN will also be along to make it a night to remember.
The single, titled “Repentance of a Bastard” can be downloaded or streamed from a number of services at THIS location.
About the single, DWAAL had this to say:
“Repentance of a Bastard” is a sorrowful primal scream about hurting the ones you love – sometimes beyond repair. It talks about a broken spirit, and about how sometimes ceasing contact may be the only way out of the black hole, for everyone involved. Because everyone is the villain in someone else’s story.
Formed in Oslo, Norway, in 2014 DWAAL’s lineup of Bjørnar Kristiansen on Vocals, Eigil Dragvik on Guitar & Backing vocals, Rikke Karlsen on Guitar, Stian Hammer on Bass, Siri Vestby on Synth, and Anders Johnsen on drums, plays their own version of what some call doom, some call sludge and some call post-metal.
Whatever you prefer to call it, it’s heavy, with a capital H. A dense, suffocating wall of sound that fluctuates between being aggressive, melancholic and downright hypnotizing. On stage, the band are best described as captivating.
The album “Never Enough” is a hard reboot of all that is DWAAL. It is a work that, given the circumstances under which it was written, is angrier, hungrier, more ruthless, and more personal, than ever before.
Tracklisting for “Never Enough” is as follows:
- All Masters, All Servants
- Pseudanthium Aionios
- Leichenhalle
- Repentance of a Bastard
- You Will Never Be Enough
“Never Enough” will be available in CD, LP and Digital formats, and can now be pre-ordered from the following:
Webshop: https://darkessencerecords.no/shop/
BandCamp: https://dwaaldoom.bandcamp.com
US Webshop: https://darkessence.indiemerch.com
More information about DWAAL can be found on the band’s Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/dwaaldoom/ or on their website at https://dwaal.no
A video of DWAAL performing live at the Oslo Streamfest at Blå on the 26 June 2020 can be seen below.
Click image to watch the video
Metal Shock Finland (World Assault ) 