Album Review: Dream Unending – “Tide Turns Eternal” (Death Doom)

Written by Zax

  • Dream Unending“Tide Turns Eternal”
  • Death Doom from the United States/Canada
  • Released on November 19th, 2021 via 20 Buck Spin

I’ve always enjoyed going into projects completely blind, especially when the band/artist is brand new/unheard of. In that instance there are a lot of possibilities, and as someone who listens to so much music every week, that bit of unpredictability adds a certain spark to your listening.

https://listen.20buckspin.com/album/tide-turns-eternal

Though the Dream Unending name is new, the duo behind the project are both experienced musicians. On guitar and bass we have Derrick Vella of Outer Heaven and Tomb Mold, and on drums and vocals we have Justin DeTore. Justin has been in a plethora of bands, the only one of which I’m familiar with is his powerviolence band Mind Eraser.

The result of their combined power is like nothing I’ve ever heard before. Psychedelic death doom, that’s a new one huh? It certainly is for me. I think it’s an impressive feat in and of itself to pull that off, to take a genre that’s usually so bleak and nasty and forge it into something ethereal.

They’ve done just that here. It’s every bit as heavy as it should be, but there’s a very unique, spacey atmosphere throughout the release. There’s also a lot of strange twists and mind-bending turns in the song structures. The riffs are cavernous and they crash down like ocean waves. The music is so layered that I find myself lost in the distortion while listening, picking apart something new each time.

Artwork by Matthew Jaffe

Justin DeTore is a seriously talented vocalist. Those gutturals are something special man, they somehow manage to be just as deep and expansive as the riffs, keeping up with that cavernous feeling. The mix is also immaculate.

I figure this is one of the most unique death metal records of the year, and it’s a very intriguing listen. I’m very excited for where this project may go in the future, I’d love to see them expand on this sound.

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