Hailing from Mumbai, India, post-metal outfit Dirge have spent the last near-decade honing their craft and building their legacy in the country’s underground, playing festivals and embarking on multiple tours. They released their first album, Ah Puch, in 2018 and will release the follow up, a self-titled record, this Friday.
Dirge sees the band lean further into the post-metal elements of their sound, creating towering songs that grow and fade in sonic intensity. Nine-minute opener “Condemned” is the shortest track on the four-song album but it sets the mood for what to expect: ominous, slow-building post-metal and sludge that is built as much on negativity and heaviness as it is anything melodic or hopeful.
“Malignant” and “Grief” are the album’s two longest songs, containing both the softest and heaviest moments that Dirge pull out on their second album, transitioning from sad, less-than-energetic melodies to thunderous doom. Closer “Hollow” is marginally brighter, channeling a more Isis-style sound than the previous two tracks.
On their second album, Dirge show growth without abandoning the things that made them cool in the first place. Post-metal and atmospheric sludge fans of all stripes (FFO: Amenra, Isis, Jupiterian, Pallbearer) can find plenty to enjoy on here, so dig in with the stream below. Dirge is out independently on Friday, March 10.
