I read someone say once that you could make anything seem believable on the news by adding the words “in America, they”.
The same thing works in music. Watch.
There’s a band that dresses as zombies for no reason.
Now, if we had the words: “Power Metal,” “There’s a power metal band that dresses as zombies for no reason.” You go, “OK, sounds good.”
That’s Dominum. The Germans are here with their second record. The first saw them open for the likes of Bruce Dickinson—and nothing on “The Dead Don’t Die” will dissuade people from thinking that they are a band to watch.
“We Are Forlorn” is that glorious type of power metal that knows it’s ludicrous and cares not one jot. It merely gets its horns up and prepares for Eurovision.
That’s the vibe on “One Of Us,” too. Harmonies stacked high, keyboards parping like “The Final Countdown,” and all the energy you can muster. Lord of the Lost are looking on enviously.
Wednesday 13 is doing likewise on the title track—if he ever went down this route, then he’s covering this, I’m telling you.
Dominium is led by Dr. Death—probably not his real name—and they are as insanely catchy as they are insane. “Killed By Death” is a beauty, part folk metal, part blood and guts, and wholly catchy.
That’s the stock in trade here. Put it this way: if the hooks are big, then the choruses are bigger.
And, while it might be obvious, they don’t take things too seriously. They realize how ludicrous it all is. Even the ballad “Don’t Get Bitten By the Wrong Ones” works on the “all ballads need to be power ballads” theory. The follow-up, “Happy Deadly Ending,” largely repeats the dose—as well as the trick that makes songs seem epic and be all over within four minutes.
But let’s be honest, no power metal fan (and I always feel like we should form a support group) is here for the ballads. We want to get our fists in the air and bang our heads. “Can’t Kill a Dead Man” gives the opportunity to do both.
“This Is Not a Game” (it really probably is) adds a touch of industrial to things, and “Guardians of the Night” has “film soundtrack” written all over it. And that’s before their cover of “Rock You Like a Hurricane” ends things.
The perfect cover for them—and guitarist Tommy Kemp evidently enjoyed himself—but they put their stamp on things. Not easy to do with a song like that—but a measure of their force-of-nature status that they can.
And that’s Dominum. You’ve heard it before, probably, but not quite like this. A band as ludicrous as any oddball that power metal has ever produced, yet, as “Dead Don’t Die” shows, as good as any, too.
Proof that this music will always live on. Even when it’s undead.
Rating: 8.5/10
REVIEW: DOMINUM – THE DEAD DON’T DIE (2024)
Published:
