Black metal and doom collide in Stoic Dissention

Stoic Dissention appears to have found a way to fuse black metal and doom in a way that does justice to both, tapping into the dark and primal spirit that flows through the work of bands like Wolves in the Throne Room and Thorr's Hammer. Some retailers might file such...

By Tom Murphy

September 13, 2012

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Stoic Dissention appears to have found a way to fuse black metal and doom in a way that does justice to both, tapping into the dark and primal spirit that flows through the work of bands like Wolves in the Throne Room and Thorr's Hammer. Some retailers might file such music under the broad designation of "transcendental metal," and that fits the measured and inexorable force underlying Stoic Dissention's guitar progressions and rhythms, which surge and flow like lava. Zachary Salmans's voice has a feral-cat quality that seems far more unsettling than cartoonish, as is often the case with death-metal singers. With newer material like "Fastidium Vita," Stoic Dissention (due at Aqualung's Community Space at 4315 Delaware Street on Sunday, September 16) is weaving together its core sound with neo-folk in fascinating new ways.

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Tom Murphy is a writer, visual artist and musician from Aurora, Colorado. He was a prolific music writer for Westword and a documenter of the Denver music scene.

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