Dancers Before the Threshold of the Great Worlds - You Seek Transcendence at the Summit of Kangchenjunga but the Gods Only Show You Pain
The Great Siege of Deep Heaven Against the Oyarsa of Earth was a remarkable EP released last year by Dancers Before the Threshold of the Great Worlds. Their latest EP, You Seek Transcendence at the Summit of Kangchenjunga but the Gods Only Show You Pain, released July 26, 2021, is a worthy follow-up, and a sign of good things to come.
The band channel Storm and Stress with a heavy focus on the prog-metal elements. Eremitical Hesychasm opens the album in a messy, yet enjoyable free-jazz/metal hybrid. Respectfully, the song comes across as both improvisational and well-composed in nature; it’s very confusing whether it’s one or the other, though the precision and franticness of it eludes one to the former. While Hanhagoth is similarly as tight, Kaya Klesha is much looser in structure, but still commendable to the attentive listener as it constantly rummages from one idea to the next without a moment to breathe. Lastly, the gigantic closer Sokushinbutsu takes up more than the EP’s length, and consistently nails its brattling, frantic atmosphere successfully without sounding too much like a retread. Moreover, it exhibits a sense of humour with its inclusion of the cowbell and juxtaposed yodels. The result is both classy and avant-garde, and consistently engaging.
Like their debut, You Seek Transcendence at the Summit of Kangchenjunga but the Gods Only Show You Pain is a rare circumstance where the lack of proper mixing greatly hinders the experience. It sounds almost as if it were recorded raw and not produced at all. Proper mixing could have bumped the same material up to the next level; that, and a greater length. Hurry up and release a full-release, Dancers, because I can’t wait to see what you do next.
Really Good
Listen to it here:
Dancers Before the Threshold of the Great Worlds - You Seek Transcendence at the Summit of Kangchenjunga but the Gods Only Show You Pain
