Dumno - Cen Atebertas

DUMNO - Cen Atebertas (ATAVISM Productions - MC 2013)

Right, I was having a hard time with this demo cassette, which I have been sent to by Atavism Productions, but not because I didn’t like the music or something, but just because it took me hell of a lot of time to finally listen to it. Every time I was putting this tape into my deck, something was interrupting me and it was almost like a fuckin curse, like some force tried to stop me from listening to Dumno. But fuck, finally this morning I managed to give it few spins and I must say that I quite liked “Cen Atebertas” for its pure underground black metal sound and general feeling.

This French project is totally unknown and also quite mysterious, being kind of anonymous – well, probably just like most of the bands, which Atavism Records gathers under their wings. I know absolutely fucking nothing about Dumno, expect what I could find on the press notes. But I guess one just doesn’t need to know more, than it is necessary. And the most necessary things are that Dumno is a black metal project from Bourgogne and that it is pure underground stuff, no fireworks / posh / Hollywood black metal, but harsh, raw and relentless, kind of atmospheric, traditional take on this music. The first song called simply “Dumno” will set certain folky mood, being kind of ambient track with some folk instruments and very ritualistic chanting and drumming. Then “Ils ne passeront pas le gué” will break through with harsh, primeval black metal riffing… Well, the production is quite noisy and raw, with buzzy guitar sound and the whole thing sounding almost like kind of rehearsal recording, but I must say that just like in case of many classic albums and demos, also here on “Cen Atebertas” it works damn well and fits the music and its atmosphere perfectly. So, the production may be poor, but you don’t care, because these are the standards of the pure black metal! And “Ils ne passeront pas le gué” is just awesome song. It is mostly quite slow, majestic and epic with some really ghoulish vocals. Really cool. Yeah, definitely fans of Burzum, Graveland, Dub Buk, even Drudkh and many such bands will love it. Then “Nemeton” is faster and even more like the good old Burzum and again I really like this song a lot. About Hate Forest cover I would probably prefer not to say much, as I have never been a fan of this band, but somehow this cover is also not bad at all, it’s utter fast, but fits the entire “Cen Atebertas” perfectly. The final song “Autumno” is yet another ambient track, so it again sets that very dark mood.

So, this is what “Cen Atebertas” is all about. 25 minutes of harsh, dark, cold, inhuman, kind of orthodox black metal… Dumno did good job here, I must say, I did enjoy this demo… OK, it maybe isn’t the most thrilling of all black metal demos ever, but it is solid and good enough for my taste. There are several truly awesome riffs, song structures are also not bad at all and the vocals are just great, with cool expression and feeling, so “Cen Atebertas” provides everything what the black metal maniacs would probably like in this style of music. Being limited to 150 copies only, this cassette may be sold out by now, but if it isn’t then give it a go and order yourself a copy of it. I am sure that you’ll like it as well.

Final rate: 70/100