Reviewed by:
krvolok, on november 03, 2009
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Sound: Very strange and mesmerizing album by Candlemass, almost to the point of disturbing. However very heavy, dense and melodic at points. Classic doom with little experimentation but with divergence from the 80/early 90 stuff. Material originally meant to be the second Abstrakt Algebra album ultimately finished as Dactylis Glomerata.
Moving away from the standard riff based arrangements to more chord and and semi-distorted sections this album gives a pleasant and interesting sound. The bass and the guitars are not as interesting but doe the job decently, if not dull the guitars are faceless and impersonal. // 8
Lyrics and Singing: Keeping in mind that this was an completely different band and style in creation lyrics move from dark-fantasy and doom-despair to more abstract vibe. Bjorn Flodkvist is no Messiah and no Lowe but is sufficiently talented to carry over the vocals.
Lyrics doe not impress at all when you think abut things like "Epistle no. 81" from Ancient Dreams or "Destroyer" and "of Stars And Smoke" from King of the Grey Islands. // 6
Impression: Dactylis Glomerata is heavy but brittle at the same time,and it does fail to wow the listener as ti should.But there are songs like "Dustflow" "Karthago" that make it time worth spending.
This album is eclipsed by it many flaws and a few blasphemous mid-tempo-ed sections, were it not for the vibe created by the synths and the the weirdly-distorted sounds Dactylis Glomerata would be wasted tape. // 7
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