Dwaal – Never Enough

Dwall is a six-piece act from the Norewgian capital, Oslo. The band was founded in 2014, and the current line-up consists of Stian Hammer (bass), Anders Johnsen (drums), Eigil Dragvik (guitar), Rikke Karlsen (guitar), Siri Vestby (keyboards), Bjørnar Kristiansen (vocals). They have been playing around for more than a decade and it clearly shows.

For many years after its formation, the band was known as a captivating live act, playing at some legendary festivals. But it is first in 2020 that their name become known for a wider audinece and press around the world, after the release of their debut full-length Gospel of the Vile. Now their sophomore album is out, released via their fellow countrymen from Dark Essence Records.

This long-awaited second album entitled Never Enough is the culmination of all frustrations or illness of almost each of the band members felt during the last 3 years. It obviously resulted in a slightly different sound on this record when compared to its predecessor. I mean, the genre is still what I would call a slow, heavy, depressive, yet very atmospheric Sludge & Doom. The tracks are still lengthy, since the whole record contains only five tracks, but the overall sound is angrier, hungrier, more ruthless but first and foremost more personal- and emotional, than ever before.

The album opens with some dissonant and depressive tones of “All Masters, All Servants”. It features some eerie & majestic keys and above all a very guttural and equally depressive vocals. The whole sound is enriched by this captivating yet somehow suffocating atmosphere. The following one is called “Pseudanthium Aionios” being a slightly different track, with even lower sound and with some dissonant guitar chords and the attention-drawing key/synth tones. I feel as this particular track is the best representative of not just band’s sound, but also the cover artwork itself. Next one is called “Leichenhalle”, a track that begins with some smooth and very somber and clean tones, mainly created by the guitars. It’s esp. the guitars that has a lot of heavy lifting to do, because they sit behind the stirring wheel and dictates the direction of where the track go. The first half of this lengthy song is as depicted above, while the second half marks a return to more foggy atmosphere and depressing tones of ex. drums. Then follows album’s longiest track, “Repentance Of A Bastard”. Because of its length of over 12 minutes, this song got of naturally ‘divided’ into three parts, as it starts with this draining, slow and desolate tempo, before the mid-section kicks-in with some more approachable and life-giving sounds, before it all again ends in a typical Dwaal’s trademark depressive and atmospheric sound. The album’s closure “You Will Never Be Enough” starts off in a dreadfully depressing manner, full of hate, anger and frustrations that finally breaks free. It ends in a pure hatred and desperation that leaves no listener emotionally cold and careless.

Despite of its depressive and almost nihilistic nature, I like the feeling I get when listening to Never Enough. I like to have that sense of honesty, dedication and hard work put behind each of the tracks. Thus, I feel as a tramendous amount of hard work, patience, and persistence went into the creation of band’s second full-length Never Enough. It all paid off.

Never Enough is enjoyable, yet a quite multi-faceted and a complex album, recommended for fans of; Amenra, Marianas Rest, Neurosis, Cult of Luna, Yob and similar sludge/atmospheric doom acts. Additional info on this particular album can be found at https://dwaaldoom.bandcamp.com/album/never-enough