Dhampyr – “White Fire Laudanum” – [Prison Tatt Records]

Dhampyr is the Ambient/’Depressive-Suicidal Black Metal’ (yes this is the name of a recognized genre) project of a jolly junkie from RI calling himself ‘Xosfur.’ He is joined on this 2011 release by his buddy Armand on drums but plays everything else (guitars and synthesizer) himself. ‘Dhampyr’ refers to the spawn of a vampire and mortal human, and true to its namesake, the band sounds like the work of a man unsure whether he belongs among the living or the dead. As its title implies, the specter of drug addiction haunts ‘White Fire Laudanum;’ Dhampyr were even nice enough to list on the back cover which pharmaceutical compounds were ‘ritually (ab)used’ during the sessions! Tracks 4 and 9 are minimal, dark-and-stormy-night black ambient nod-outs; otherwise, this is DSBM that is forward-thinking whilst giving credit where due (Xasthur, Krohm, Nyktalgia, even post-BMers like Velvet Cacoon or Gris): mid-tempo, morose, hypnotic and absolutely gorgeous. Hearing these paeans to the glacial beauty of self-destruction is like gazing out into the vault of a billion dead galaxies. Track 5 especially had me dreaming of a world empty of human life… Throughout, Xosfur’s high-pitched, night-terror vocals (unlike any I have ever heard) cut through the mix seemingly by sheer exertion, only to be swallowed again as we all shall be. Needles (sic) to say I loved this album! Sure, it owes a big debt to Xasthur, but the melodies here are more compelling than anything Scott Conner ever wrote. By its end I was trembling with despair and sorry it was over, leaving me alone with the pain of existence– good thing I can always press play again.