Review: Demon Sluice – Dancers Beneath Shores of Fire
Deep Ocean Black Metal?
What is it about black metal that, despite being plagued with crimes, bigotry and general unpleasant elitism, we keep coming back to it and so many non-fascist musicians dip their toes into it? Personally, I think it’s how black metal is so paradoxically flexible and static; the subgenre has such a rigid and definitive sonic identity that people can get creative with the right hook or at least an interesting concept.
With that in mind, it is worth mentioning that US black metal is such a weird phenomenon; despite having a “scene” or at least a principal sound at the same time those pesky Norwegians were doing their deadly marketing shenanigans that’s attributed to Profanatica and Demoncy, for the most part US black metal has been whatever a given band wants it to be. This brings me to Demon Sluice; this fairly new band has been making the rounds recently, and have released their debut full-length, Dancers Beneath Shores of Fire after a really well received 2024 demo.
I bring up US black metal because Demon Sluice is very much indebted to its early sound, with the band mentioning Von, Profanatica and Demoncy in their promos, and indeed, this is very much blackened death metal where the focus is creating a brutal sound with an evil atmosphere. Demon Sluice’s hook is based around deep ocean horror and primordial evil, and the music perfectly compliments the lyrics by being so punishing and relentless. My main issue with this record is the programmed drums, especially when compared to the strings and vocals. I’m not one to harp on programmed drums, or fault musicians for relying on it in some fashion but while the overall execution is excellent and the actual percussion sound is good, having acoustic drums would greatly enhance the already great instrumentation. As it stands it does the work fine enough, but it feels lacking, especially during the blast beats.
Now for the good stuff. As stated before, Demon Sluice’s style is blackened death metal and the band take full advantage of both brutality and atmosphere to great effect. The instrument to highlight is of course the guitar; main instrumentalist Valefor is a masterclass shredder and delivers riffs for days that are intense and aggressive in equal measure while also managing to deliver some really evil sounding melodies in between so much brutality. They also don’t skim on the bass whatsoever which sounds very powerful. While I already mentioned my gripes with the programmed drums, I do have to praise the way Valefor arranged the percussion because it’s very clear they have a good ear for when the songs need speedy blast beats, fills or more steady rhythms and beats.
On top of that, the songwriting and arrangements as a whole are very well done; the songs do run long but are very engaging and dynamic from beginning to end. There’s a good balance between droning repetition and tempo changes for maximum impact, which is the best synthesis of black and death metal I’ve heard in a while, being brutal but also hypnotic. What’s best is how at 5 tracks, the album is a very substantial package that’s also compact. It doesn’t run for longer than it needs to and it also doesn’t rush to completion, and this is thanks to the excellent songwriting, which is also enhanced by the inclusion of its instrumental interlude, “Benthic Zone,” courtesy of dungeon synth artist Chipped Topaz. Despite the radical change from pure blackened death metal into dungeon synth, it’s actually well made and perfectly fits within the context of the record and serves as a nice break between all the brutality and enhances the sinister atmosphere quite well.
I also need to sing the praises of vocalist Galimgrim, as his roaring gutturals complete the abysmal (in a good way) sound the band guns for and it really makes the music as a whole sound deeper. Incidentally, the production is also a major factor in this; it sounds crisp but very, very engrossing. While I wouldn’t say the production is aquatic, it does have that cavernous quality of sounding gigantic without being overbearing as the mixing successfully keeps the intensity without the instruments sounding like they’re fighting for space.
Overall, this is an excellent debut record; even with the occasionally weird sounding drum machine it shows how far good execution and songwriting can elevate music despite limitations. It’s also one of the better displays of US black metal that isn’t beholden to the Scandinavian sound or just another Profanatica worship band.
4/5 Flaming Toilets ov Hell
Dancers Beneath Shores of Fire is available now on Bandcamp.
