Daidalos – The Expedition
Release Date: 29th July 2022
Label: Extreme Metal Music
Pre-Order
Genre: Symphonic Dark/Black Metal.
FFO: Dimmu Borgir, Wintersun, and Fleshgod Apocalypse.
Review By: Jason James
In 2020, Tobias Püschner, the former drummer of the technical thrash band Revolt, hit upon an idea after reading a book about a doomed Arctic expedition that set off in 1845. He wondered if he could convey the feeling the book gave him into a musical experience that he could share with the world. And thus, the idea for an album was born. On July 22, that idea will come to fruition as The Expedition is released on Extreme Metal Music records.
The Expedition takes the listener on a journey to the heart of darkness. Even sitting in July heat, you can almost feel the Arctic blasts coming out of the speakers as you listen. Daidalos perfectly captures the misery and desperation these 129 imperilled souls must have felt as they became icebound for a year and then made a desperate bid for freedom by deciding to set off on foot for the Canadian mainland and were never seen again. The relentless torment and torture can be felt on all 8 tracks for the entire 47-minute runtime of this album.
Tobias Püschner is also an accomplished pianist, and as such, the tracks are laden with piano. Any lulls in the brutal onslaught of the music are met with doom-laden low-register accompaniment and adds another element to the frenetic nature of the main body of the music. It is as if an extreme metal band made an album with an orchestra in the same space. As well as piano, there are symphonic strings underneath the carnage, as well as complimentary choral work, interweaving a grandiose feeling to the proceedings.
There is one thing that took me out of this album, though, and that is the drumming. Now, don’t get me wrong, the drumming is technically brilliant. Tobias Püschner is obviously a top-class drummer. My problem (and this is probably just a personal thing) is that I felt it didn’t quite fit in with the concept. The arctic is silent. So silent that it could quite easily send a person crazy. Silent to the point of almost being deafening. To this end, I felt that having blast beats for most of each track doesn’t really convey the message that these men are stranded in a place where there is absolutely nothing for miles in any direction. A place where they were so stir-crazy after a year that they abandoned their safety, picked a direction and headed out on foot into the frozen tundra, knowing it could mean certain death.
Despite that, this is a good album and well worth a listen and would make a great addition to any collection.
(3 / 5)
