Some flowers take a very long time to blossom.
Such is the case with Heimweh, the full length debut from London’s Crom Dubh, which comes over a decade into the band’s existence. This is not an entirely unheard of scenario. A band will form, go through varying periods of activity, and finally solidify with a core membership years later. In Crom Dubh’s case, they released a pair of demos ages ago and a very solid EP in 2010’s deifr (all available for a name-your-price on the band’s Bandcamp page), finally coming to the release of Heimweh now 12 years after forming.
In this case, the long wait was worth it, as Heimweh is an enchanting, vibrant bit of black metal foliage that touches on several of the genre’s best without ever finding its way into direct plagiarism. Drudkh is the most obvious starting point, but some alternate universe version of the Ukrainian greats that originated from the British Isles, as shades of Wodensthrone, Saor, and even Primordial can be heard throughout. The most important thing: this music holds up greatly to such lofty comparisons, offering a varied, emotionally complex, and constantly gripping listen.
At the center of the album’s success is Crom Dubh’s insane melodic talent. Every song contains at least a few lines that will move into your brain instantly with enough unique character to become permanent residents. In “Sedition,” for example, some of these passages are dark and more mysterious, while others take on a brighter and almost “Celtic frolic” quality. The band’s varying delivery is also a huge upside, as songs range from Drudkh’s “sea shanty” black metal to full blasting bombardment, complete with thundering drums and exhausted, rage-filled vocals. Not that it’s ever really varied, mind you, but more a sign that Crom Dubh approaches songwriting as more than just the assembly of scattered pieces and parts.
Another of the band’s little charms is a keen sense for album pacing. At only 45 minutes, Heimweh could easily have afforded an imperfect construction, but it excels in this department as well. From the way the cheery-by-black-metal-standards “Cutting Teeth II” is followed by the darker “The Invulnerable Tide” to the interludes that show up just when a breathe needs to be caught, there is never a sense that anything is in the wrong place. And at the end of it all is “Sailing to Byzantium,” a track so rife with intensity and purpose that it could be placed nowhere else than as The Big Finish.
For all of Heimweh’s achievements, Crom Dubh’s path to even greater heights is easy to envision. Mostly, this band could go big. It’s not hard to imagine certain songs being stretched to longer lengths, allowing the dynamics to spread out and enhance the ultimate impact. But really, this will be up to the personal tastes of each listener, as some certainly prefer a more concise album packing a passive emotional wallop to one that takes 70 minutes to deliver the same. Preferences are not always clear. What is clear is that with Heimweh, Crom Dubh suddenly joins the elite of a rich and vibrant UK black metal scene, making this a no-brainer for anyone that got all a-tingle from any of the above mentions.
