Dolch
Feuer
Black/Doom, wavy post-rock. Black vinyl. 2019.

The mysterious band's first real long player, Feuer, was released in 2019. Black/Doom, Shoegaze, Postpunk and a little wavy dark rock. The style is difficult to grasp. The whole thing is carried by the female vocals. M - vocals, T - vocals and guitar, N bass, P - drums, A - guitar. There is only rudimentary information about the band. Do I like that? Nope. It doesn't have to. The album Feuer is the first part of a trilogy. "Feuer", "Nacht“ and “Tod”. The latter has not yet been published. But first things first.

With “Burn” and “Halo (Afraid of Sunlight)”, Dolch presents two areas of their work. From the wave rock of “Burn” to the doom of “Halo”. With its samples and the deliberately angry vocals, “Halo” is my first highlight. Highlight two is “A Funeral Song”, which I would have played at my funeral. Almost pastoral. Very dark, atmospheric. I find “A Love Song” at the end of side A to be a pure 4:25 minute long annoyance. “I’m glad we’re not what you want us to be” is repeated over and over like a mantra, only this sentence in the whole song and it is extremely annoying. That’s why I prefer to listen to the CD, because I can easily skip this song. Which is a shame, because the record is cleanly pressed and has an outer sleeve with fire cut out. The record also sounds clean.

“Psalm 7” on side B catches me again and is my third doomy highlight. And the voice fits. The music and her voice form a wonderful symbiosis. “Mahnmal” doesn’t make it easy for me with German singing. Even if I’m reminded a little of Theatre Of Tragedy. “Mahnmal” works for me now with its solemn “German” style. It did take a few turns though. “Feuer” doesn’t work for me as a throw-off. Here the German singing, even if it’s now two-part, doesn’t work for me like it did in “Mahnmal”. Not even after several listens. Even if the last minute brings me back a little.

My conclusion about Feuer is very positive and that is due to the progressive atmosphere. Because here a band says our record doesn't have to be compatible with the masses, you don't have to listen to us and I like that. Only dark music can convey moods so beautifully. The singing, the doomy guitars, the always appropriate presentation of voice and music, the mixture of wave, doom, black, ambient, post-rock/punk and gothic, all of that makes this album something special. Only "A Love Song" could be deleted without replacement.

The photos are all from my LP. The rights to all motifs, logos, texts and fonts that can be seen in the photos are of course owned by the copyright holder.