DWAAL – Never Enough

Ever since the outstanding Gospel of the Vile opus saw the light of day in 2020, I have been eagerly awaiting a follow-up to that crushing piece of work. The arrival of Never Enough is imminent and you might as well start preparing for it now, because this is one devastatingly heavy yet perfectly varied doom-laden sludge metal epic from one of Norway’s finest. Every pulverizing riff and harsh syllable practically ooze venom and spite, but there is a profound sense of yearning and agonizing sadness to be found within its big, distorted walls of sound too. As stated before, this is musically diverse in the sense that things ebb and flow splendidly with respect to the pace, tone, and feel throughout. Calm and meditative passages segue into claustrophobic and ear-shattering parts that are every bit as absorbing as anything on the previous record, and I am simply overwhelmed by how adept this ensemble is at churning out such intensely raw and emotionally unfiltered compositions that harbor so much darkness and depth. A well-written and disquieting work with power and ingenuity to it that obviously needs to be listened to in one sitting.