With their second full-length release the duo behind instrumental band Dimwind explores the emotions raised by grief, sorrow, and loss even further. The textured music, albeit heavy and distorted, floats and hovers in between its twists and turns. The seasoned musicians have made yet another deeply emotional album with a strong reverberance.

Just reading the titles on this album will put you on track with the concept behind the tracks. It tells the story of the light that did not stay until just a distant memory is the only thing left lingering. It might sound a bit bleak, but stay on: The music, although moving and reflective, is inspiring in the way it lets you explore the evoked emotions and inspires you to look beyond grief and hopelessness. It is an album filled with hard riffing, repetitive parts and, most of all, melodies that flow effortlessly in and out of the musical texture.

Here we are at the core of Dimwind´s music. They revealed it on their previous album and on their split with Breaths: The melodic themes they build are of such a quality that they immediately capture your attention and hold it because you think you must have heard them before. But you have not, it’s just that they are masters in weaving melodic patterns that are catchy while at the same time they are being intertwined into their heavy riffing upon diverse drumming and the occasional low-end grooving bass.

In the first song ”First Light Never Stays” you will meet their knack for mixing the melody into the textures. The track opens gently with rising synths and the guitars begin to search for a start before finding their footing. The snare drum hits steadfastly while the guitar in the background chugs a bit before gliding toward the coming uprising in search of a melody. They find it while the drums play very shiftily keeping both the rhythm and marking the subtle changes in the floating melody. The guitars glissade forward showing different aspects of the melody. There is a shift in the song and the drums and bass drive the track faster forward as the guitars follow in a faster mode surging towards high-pitched playing. Suddenly there’s a massive change and the track becomes very fast with the snare drum striving for a higher tempo. The guitars follow with riffing and soloing, holding the melody intact even with the turbulent drive of the song before it ends with one distorted riff.

Each song has a different sonic mode and the second one comes out a bit more mellow than the first one. “Days Subside Ablaze” has a sedate opening with a slow riff and also a low-end slow solo contrasted with rolling sharp drums and tom toms to keep the rhythm with the bass. The sonic gets darker as the melodic theme comes in short bursts. In the middle of the song the musicians halter and hold a riffing grip until the bottom falls out and the sonics widen up. Then the music is sucked back into the void and the drums play fast as the guitars are holding a bit back with the melody until it all loosens up and the music glides forward picking up on the melodic theme again until the music swirls around itself and comes to a hard-hitting end.

The reflective inner journey continues with “Once A Lushful Green” where the guitars take over from sound effects with steady drumming slowly developing the music. There are lights seeping in through the music as a high-pitched Post-Rock guitar glimmers in the dense fog. There are long elongated riffs between chugging and meeting an indistinct sampled male voice. As an afterthought, the music lingers before it picks up the tempo, and high-pitched guitars soar above a dark and chugging soundscape. The drums and riffs turn the song once more into a fast pace while the guitar is still with us until it drowns in the heavy sounds, barely audible, buried deep down in it towards the end.

”Withering Unseen” might be the heaviest as the guitars intertwine with each other accompanied by diverse drumming. High-pitched guitar sounds hover melodically over heavy riffing as the music tightens and surges faster. Toward the end the music sweeps into a crescendo as the always present melodic theme appears just to be overtaken by a fast repetitive solo guitar to finish the song.

The following song “The Growing Shadow Gains” has the sound of a piano that churns out droplets during the song and we are once more treated with a beautifully crafted melodic theme that runs through it. It has a wide soundscape and guitars morphing into glissando mode and distorted guitars gliding lazily forward holding the melody as a low-end bass accompanies. There is also a wonderful confusing swirling and repetitive part that makes you hold your breath until you can breathe out as it loosens up with long takes on heavy riffs. It has its nice twists and turns until it swirls towards the end where a tremolo guitar eases the music before it becomes very heavy towards the end.

The album closes with “A Feeble Frame Remains” - an equally emotive track, just as the previous ones. It is a reflective song where the pensiveness is strengthened by a sampled soft-spoken and reflective female voice the music revolves around just in the same way it did with the male voice earlier. Before the voice appears, there is a dark part as the music first surges and seems to disappear into a void of darkness. After the words are spoken the music prolongs the mood, building on the words and surging once more towards an engaging melody to keep you enrapt in this beautiful music. The end of the track and the album comes as one long surging crescendo where the instruments come together until they turn into a fading dim ending.

There is a tragic backdrop to this release as they write on their Bandcamp site and in their press release. While exploring musically the different aspects of grief, guitarist Andreas’ wife died suddenly. Even in his grief, they finished the album, stating the following: ”So with this release, it is Dimwind’s sincere intention that the songs serve as a conversation partner for those who have ever experienced - The Futility Of Breathing.”