CD review DUN RINGILL ‘Library of Death’

Sweden and Doom Metal, that’s a combination that works very well, thinking of genre legends like Candlemass, Count Raven and others. Another Doom Metal powerhouse hailing from the North is Dun Ringill. Although the name refers to an Iron Age hill fort, the band has Swedish roots, with some of the musicians being also part of The Order Of Israfel. When the latter announced a break in 2017, Patrik Andersson Winberg and Hans Lilja took the opportunity for starting something new, and Dun Ringill was born.

Having premiered last year with the friendly title ‘Welcome’, the sextet unleashes a bit more than a year later their sophomore album.

‘Library of Death’ is a slowly rolling monster of doom. Songs like the snail-paced ‘My Funeral Song’ are intense and dark. There is no ray of sunlight in sight while listening to this slo-mo riff grinder. Compared to ‘My Funeral Song’ the album features an almost light-hearted badass rock’n’roller too, called ‘NBK’, a tune that was revealed as single already a while ago.

Regardless if Dun Ringill laser in on the slower tracks or shift gears, the entire album sounds homogenous. That goes as well for ‘Dance of the Necromancer’, a song that’s slightly deviate from the usual pattern. The heavy-pounding track surprises with a brass section and includes a flute, reminding of Jethro Tull, who by the way, has a song called ‘Dun Ringill’ in their musical repertoire.

To sum up: It’s no waste of time to browse through the ‘Library of Death’ since there is a lot of exciting stuff to discover, an album that pushes dark clouds in front of the summerly sun.