Renamed in 2002, Dimentianon is an atmospheric Black and Death Metal act that hails from Commack, New York. Originally, the group was founded under the name The Forgotten, which adorns two demos and their debut full-length album, Seven Suicides. This original name also saw the release of three demos and a Split release. With plenty of demo material made available, the band has stuck with Paragon Records since Seven Suicides back in 2003, and Collapse the Void finds it's home with that label once again, and is the third full-length effort from the band, and it's definitely one of their finest.
Collapse the Void is a little different then many other bands out there that combine Black and Death Metal. The music is hard to distinguish between the two, and varies throughout each track. Sometimes the material will hammer away at the listener, whether through a chugging musical progression, or just standard Death Metal compositions. These seem to typically branch off into a Black Metal approach through atmosphere enducing guitar chords that set a desolate tone to the song, taking away the hard hitting feel of the material for a mind-altering ambient feel through the guitars, as well as the randomly placed, but very suiting, keyboard effects that enhance the already established ambience. Of course, this doesn't mean that all the bite is removed once the Black Metal aspects come into play, as it's not, but it just shifts direction almost entirely, but through the use of very subtle segways between the styles at points that feel necessary.
While Collapse the void is only five tracks long, typical of an EP, the album spans just over twenty five minutes, which classifies it more as a full-length album. It's rough to justify it, but at least this release is full of quality material that utilizes plenty of musical changes to keep things from becoming stale, especially during the longer tracks. However, this isn't necessarily the case for the shorter tracks. "Breathe Deep" seems to focus more on being a mixture between these styles, and has more of an Avante-Garde Blackened Groove feel to the chords, though they clearly are Black Metal riffs being played with emphasis from atmospheric acts like Burzum, as well as some of today's Symphonic acts, just without the Symphonic aspect to increase the epic feeling of the album. While "Breathe Deep" is not a bad song, it just feels out of place, especially coming right off "Return...", which bleeds into the song, and is much heavier and seems to have a varied, more Progressive consistency to it then anything. Sadly, "Breathe Deep" just doesn't seem to work out that well at times, though the guitar solos that accompany the track are fantastic, and the heavy Death Metal chugging moments acts like Behemoth would be pleased with, such as two thirds into the song, really steal the spotlight on the track, leading to a fantastic closer that feels like it takes some appeal from Strapping Young Lad's SYL album, just in the pick up of intensity and keyboard sound effects utilized to build up to a climactic ending that, unfortunately, doesn't necessarily happen, especially with the atmospheric instrumental "Fragmented Nostalgia" that features some synths and operatic-like background vocals that give off a very Space Rock vibe right in the middle of the album.
Clearly, the only fault with the release is the jerking directions that some of the material on here has, though much of it has subtle segways that work in it's favor. Each track seems to be composed differently, taking on varying attributes of other styles to either create atmosphere, or build on the intensity, and while this is a great idea, it just sometimes feels like it could be enough to give a case of whiplash. Luckily those moments are few and far between, though the more Space Rock instrumental "Fragmented Nostalgia" is one of those, and while it gives off a nice atmosphere to the recording, it simply sounds of place and ruins the already established atmosphere that is present with the recording, taking away the haunting and dismal sound that adorns the tracks of this release. Of course, this excludes the not-so-atmospheric "Breathe Deep". Of course, "The Forgotten" and "All Good Things End" make for decent closing tracks, and while "The Forgotten" does seem to change things up a bit musically throughout the song, it still stays pretty consistent throughout, as does "All Good Things End".
If you're looking for something a little out of the norm in the Black or Death Metal world, then give Dimentianon's album Collapse the Void a shot. Musically, it's a fantastic release, it's just that there is a lot going on, and seems to take plenty of influence from music outside these two styles, weaving an almost Avant-Garde sound to the recording, but in a more straightforward Progressive manner of compositions and fluidity. It's pretty clear "Fragmented Nostalgia" was essentially tacked on to bridge the gap between EP and Full-Length, which is sad since that song really does hurt the flow of the material, but other then that, this is a release that shows promise from Dimentianon.
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