#Duindwaler In het Heemskerks duin

Band: Duindwaler
Title: In het Heemskerks duin
Labels: War Productions / Void Wanderer Productions / Zwaertgevegt
Release date:  25 March 2024
Country: Netherlands
Format reviewed: High-quality Digital Recording 

Hailing from the Netherlands, Duindwaler is a one-man Black Metal band, and the only person doing everything here is Daan Bleumink, who’s also in the band Hellevaerder. The journey into his particular universe that is “In Het Heemskerksduin” won’t leave you indifferent, I can assure you…

This is an album that goes straight into the raw side of Black Metal with no subtleties. There’s no slow down parts, all is like a firestorm emerging from the deepest and darkest place on Earth. And of course, you cannot imagine cheerful themes related to this music. 

From the first moment, drums blasting at full speed and cold tremolo riffs will blow your ears. And this is a constant in this album, the relentless pummeling of the drum kit, that seems it will explode at some point. Along with the icy and hypnotic guitar riffs, no way to find solace. Only cold, despair, a big inner loneliness… The darkest void you’ve ever dared to look at. Only the two first minutes of the album have passed and I’m totally crushed.

Vocals have some effect that turns them into pure obscurity, it seems to me that they are overdubbed, but the result is extremely sinister. It feels like a reverb of a wicked character, truly menacing… I don’t understand the Dutch language, but for what I know the lyrics talk about some historical battle between the Dutch and the Spaniards, the feelings of people who were fighting in that war, and other things related to that. The album title, “In het Heemskerks duin”, means “In the dunes of Heemskerk”; there’s a lot of history involving that town, Heemskerk, it seems that Daan enjoys history a lot… And I think these are great themes, not only demons and Hell related.

As I mentioned before, the most insane thing I find in this album is the overwhelming sound of drums. Damn, I was even wondering if it was possible that a sole drummer could play all the amount of beats, kicks and blasts that seem to sound at the same time! Sometimes it’s the bass pedal kicking at a constant pace while the toms and snare are on fire; and then, the pattern can change completely, starting the double bass madness while the snare hitting goes a bit “more slow”, but meanwhile there are cymbals smashed here and there… I can imagine an octopus playing this crazy percussion (ffs, listen to the song titled as the album and tell me I’m not that crazy…)

Another remarkable aspect is the sound of bass… it’s not only playing a few notes in the background, no, the bass lines are solid, and well… I’m a bit “too obsessed” with this instrument, nothing can bring a tear of emotion to my eye more than a massive, deep and vibrant bass work. 

Everything in this album is crafted with mastery in order to get a raw, hypnotic and obscure sound; “In het Heemskerks duin” wraps you like cold in winter, and you can’t do anything but let yourself be dragged by the desperation it brings around. For me it’s 9/10  Sílvia

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Void Wanderer Productions
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War Productions
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Zwaertgevegt
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9/10 Epic Storm
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