A band from Zurich releases music about Zoroastrianism and Zurvanism and enrobes it in highly rhythmically Black Metal with so much punch and groove that it is sometimes hard to take in – that is Dakhma!
This record is just mindblowing in all its diversity and all the aspects connected to the lyrics and concept. Let’s start with the concept: The record talks about the fall of one of the two major Zoroastrian entities Ahura Mazda (here referred to in another variant Ohrmazd), about how the fight between good and evil was lost by Ohrmazd and how, finally after a long fight and the creation of an evil army of helpers by the evil twin Ahriman (mirroring Ohrmazd’s own fighters), mankind as we know, earth as we know it and the life we know it is lost as the eternal flame is extinguished and only Ahriman and his hordes remain. Each song talks about one of Ahriman’s fighters or about another aspect of the story and it all starts with Ohrmazd’s fall. Because of the latter, one can imagine that the lyrics do not contain too much light or hope: because if it starts with the fall of good, how shall we perceive anything good thereafter? Rest assured, with this description I am only scratching the very tip of the iceberg, and there is so much more to discover (which you can already do online as the lyrics are on display on Bandcamp).
Musically, this record should be seen as one of the highlights of the year – not only in Black Metal, but Metal in general. Every genre and every kind of the beloved chase for riffs and heaviness is displayed on Hamkar Atonement. The two guys behind Dakhma, Kerberos and H.A.T.T. (who are live accompanied by three HUC-fellows) really prove themselves to be masters of their craft. The music has got punch, groove, atmosphere, riffs galore and many many mindblowing ideas, for example the tribal drums accompanied by the calm chants in “Spendarmad (Holy Devotion)” or the magical rhythm section patterns at the beginning of “Akhoman (Spill the Blood)”.
As long as you don’t like your metal to be simple, straightforward and without too much to think about, Hamkar Atonement will instantly win you over and will take up a lot of your time discovering all the miraculously interwoven details on a record filled to the brim.
