The Dimwind duo adds a vocalist, hence becoming a trio and releasing a massive, melodic, and emotional album.

I, for one is very sceptical when successful instrumental Post-Metal or Post-Rock bands add vocalists. More than once, this has not worked, but with Dimwind, it is quite the opposite: The Carrion Waltz> is proof for that as adding the vocalist has opened up a whole new avenue of creativity for the band, making a textured, melodic album with soaring music and a deeply emotional album. The vocals are added, not just as mere vocals, but are integrated as an instrument. The force of the distorted guitars is still there, the massive and resounding drumming too, but the extremely varied vocals have allowed the band to add a new dimension of soaring ambience. The music and the lyrics also reflect the gruelling times the band members have lived through, something we will delve into later on.

This is the third full-length since Dimwind´s debut album; the emotional charged Slow Wave Violence released in May 2021 (see our review). Back in 2022 the band released a split with Breaths. We also wrote about their massive second album (2023), The Futility Of Breathing. This shows a band on top of their creativity through the five years in existence and it is a reaL joy to be able to follow such an inventive band and see how they boldly develop their music and tap into different metal genres. Adding the new vocalist, their music becomes more expansive and progressive, while still based in atmospheric Post-Metal music.

After playing in different constellations, guitarist Andreas Hansen and drummer Jonas Eriksson decided to form Dimwind in 2019, releasing emotive instrumental Post-Metal. Searching new ways to further their music, they united with vocalist Misha Sedini for this new release. The range and quality Sedini brings to the table is clear throughout the album, but his vocal range might be best heard on the slower-paced sombre song ”Counterglow”. Although somber, the sonics are massive from the drums and guitars. Sedini´s vocals vary from soaring and clean to whispers, harmonies and swells. There is an elongated melodic undertone to the music as it flows forward with harmonizing vocals that surge into harsher ones and move into low-end growls. This is a good example of how the band exploits and expands their music based on the range of the vocals.

When the album resonates inside of you after a few listens, it is how it is driven by relentless and diverse drumming, how the guitars provide a distorted floor with riffs and higher-pitched solos, but also how they are used to induce Ambient sounds, sometimes darker and sometimes lighter, but always melodic. Because this is one of the significant trademarks of Dimwind: Their ability to make captive and emotive melodic themes that keep the listeners engrossed. It seeps through every level of this textured album whether it is ambience, riffs, or solos – yes, even in the drumming. Because, as with the other Dimwind albums, the drums are not there to just keep the pace, but to expand the guitar themes throughout and support the varied vocal performance.

On the ”The Chime there is a part where they display their knack of combining melodic sensivity with harshness after the music has tightened and a guitar slides down and begins to riff and chug as intense vocals emerge. It is melodious, harsh and strong at the same time. A lot of emotion goes into it as a guitar swirls around the vocals. On ”The Antagonist’s Speech”, the music pans out with harmonies before it tightens into a fast part with a higher pitched melodic solo before sliding into a layered part, immersing a kaleidoscope of vocals and fast, relentless drumming.

The album´s closer “Absorbing The Infinite Impermanence”, evolves into a soaring and wide atmosphere as the guitars begin to play in a higher-pitched mode, inducing a captivation and emotional part. It is extremely layered in its elongated take on the melodic themes that are constantly formed and taken over by higher-pitched guitars, with engaging ideas driving forward in the constant surging music and the drive from the drums. Then an avalanche of sounds rises towards a yearning crescendo, immersing harsh and emotive vocals. The drums are constructing said crescendo, pushing on and on until changing and panning out with wide, distorted ambient sounds to end the album.

As I mentioned earlier, it is a personal album. It is a Fuck Cancer album. Thus, it is very dark and at the same time uplifting. The drummer´s wife caught cancer, but has recovered again. And when they began to work with the vocalist, he had a tale to tell too: He himself had suffered from severe blood cancer, and when he was cleared, his wife got cancer, but is also cancer free now.

With this as a background, it is impossible not to be deeply touched by the music and, not least, by the lyrics. It is written from “inside” of the illness: ” I want you out of me / You thing. You, my poltergeist / As non-concensual as you were / I will entomb you remorselessly.”.
”Did I escape the talon’s grasp in this dance with my carrion crow / Only to have this gloom gently dodging all of my worn out defenses?”
”I do not fight this alone / I fight a future unknown / Will fight ‘til I am my own / I’ll have this sickness dethroned / I do not fight you alone / We’ll grind you down to the bone / We want a future unknown”

Having survived cancer and writing about it in such words is nothing but impressive. When we know this, it also gives a new dimension to the song titles and the sonics throughout the album. Not at least the album´s title.