#SingleReview: Dymna Lotva, feat. Aaron Stainthorpe – The Boat of Despair for #METALMOMENTUM
Artist: Dymna Lotva, feat. Aaron Stainthorpe
Title: The Boat of Despair
Label: Prophecy Productions
Release date: June 18th, 2026
Country: Belarus (early) / Poland (later)
Format reviewed: High quality digital recording
#SingleReview: Dymna Lotva, feat. Aaron Stainthorpe – The Boat of Despair for #METALMOMENTUM via Prophecy Productions by Ioana
A little over a month ago, Dymna Lotva released “Zory”, the first single off of their upcoming full length Vyraj. Now, they are back with yet another, and, dare I say, even more interesting piece of music, “The Boat of Despair”, which is the topic of today’s review (here I am stating the obvious). This time, they also brought along one of the most recognizable voices is doom metal, that being Aaron Stainthorpe, who is most notably known for his work in My Dying Bride and High Parasite. “The Boat of Despair” also appears to lean far more heavily into the band’s experimental approach, both musically and lyrically.
First off, in terms of themes and lyrical content, the song expands the band’s creative well, by incorporating symbolism and archetypes from Greek mythology, most importantly, the figure of Charon, the ferryman responsible for carrying the dead across the river Styx. This is made even more apparent by the visuals in the music video. It is also the first Dymna Lotva song that I know of to feature lyrics in both Belarusian and English, the latter, I assume, being employed both to facilitate Stainthorpe’s collaboration, as well as to mark that thematic expansion I mentioned earlier. I admit, I was initially taken aback by this choice, but then I came to realise that it makes perfect sense in the given context, and that it pairs extremely well with the contrasting vocal timbres of Nokt and Stainthorpe.
Musically, the song leans heavily on the doom metal side of the band’s music, the pacing and structure being reminiscent of one of my favourite tracks in their discography, that being “P.S. Пахаванне зямлі (P.S. Funeral of the Ground)”. The slow tempo allows the listener to immerse themselves in the atmosphere, as if they themselves were passengers on said “boat of despair”, the flow being occasionally interrupted by Nokt’s gut wrenching shrieks. The band also makes use of a rather interesting synth element, which also took me aback at first given how much it reminded me of dungeon synth, of all things. But after a few more listens, its presence in the tracks proved itself to be not only creative, but undoubtedly useful in the dynamics, especially the building of tension.
By now it is clear that any question marks regarding my excitement for Vyraj that may have arose in the aftermath of “Zory” are more or less gone by now. “The Boat of Despair” has brought me right on the proverbial shores of pure curiosity. 9.5/10
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