Band:	Dodecahedron
Album:	Dodecahedron
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	January 2012

01. Allfather
02. I, Chronocrator
03. Vanitas
04. Descending Jacob's Ladder
05. View from Hverfell I: Head Above The Heavens
06. View from Hverfell II: Inside Omnipotent Chaos
07. View from Hverfell III: A Traveller Of The Seed Of The Earth

Dissonance for the sake of dissonance. I can think of many bands that have been tarred with such a brush. In many cases those distinctions aren't warranted; said bands repudiate such claims by exploiting variety, restraint and poise and make an art form out of cacophony. However I find giving Dodecahedron, Netherlands' newest bright sparks in the boundary pushing world of avant-garde black metal, such benefits of the doubt somewhat difficult at times. A common comparison you'll find laid next to this entity amongst reviews and descriptions is that of Deathspell Omega and, in a sense, that comparison is accurate and justified: Dodecahedron do exude the style of riff that have defined and made the French legends so revered (though not before the likes of Ved Buens Ende did the same) but it's done here in such a predictable and obvious manner that the majority of the moments seem unfathomably forced, consisting of every imaginable anti-riff lined up for sake of being the band that so desperately wants to be more "anti" than all the others. So much so it misses the point entirely. The avant-garde riff, bastardised beyond all recognition.

To be fair Dodecahedron do occasionally feel like they're doing something right and moments meld together quite nicely, such as the flow of "View from Hverfell II: Inside Omnipotent Chaos" (unsurprising considering its relatively conventional approach) but ultimately substance alludes them as a unified body of sound and ideas and the band fall back on garish blasting noise as a constant. Quite often the music is punctuated by absurdist, monstrous, electronically amplified vocals whose purpose of terrifying the listener is so flagrantly obvious that it's instantly rendered into caricature and parody. "Descending Jacob's Ladder" is the prime example: a childlike attempt at dark ambient horror that is more laughable than horrific.

From a visual and aesthetic perspective it's not hard to see why the internet populace has cottoned on so readily to Season of Mist's new Dadaist's. The name and form given to the band speaks volumes to the modernity within black metal and there's nothing wrong with that, music should always be pushed forward. What's more this kind of blasting horror has a nice, tasty market waiting for it in avant-post-industrial black metal circles which is most certainly en vogue in the current climate. But is it worthy? I would say no. Just because something has a semblance to Deathspell Omega it doesn't necessitate an instant free pass to greatness and Dodecahedron too often veer short of what makes a truly great and deep weaver of disturbing aural tapestries.

The result, in the end, then is little more than a one dimensional and hollow afterthought of the dissonant, modern masters that are Deathspell Omega, Blut Aus Nord and The Axis Of Perdition, the occasional highlight tears Dodecahedron briefly from mediocrity. Technical mastery of extremely well played nothing. Like a zombie this is cold and unquestionably "evil" but it is also a rather lifeless and soulless shell of what it should be.