Bloodstained Ground – Horrors of a Withered Dimension Review

by

In order to stand out from the crowd bands have to do some bets. This means sometimes to add some out of Metal features and textures. Or, maybe, add other Metal styles features as many bands are doing these days. Bloodstained Ground with “Horrors of a withered Dimension” chose the first. First fo all, the band adds some slight and subtle vaudeville elements – I call them vaudeville because I really don’t know how other reviewers call these elements found in the tittle track “Horrors of a withered Dimension” where there is a violin performing some kind of ancioent popularesque song. The contrast is unique. Second, as some bands are also doing, Bloodstained Ground added some oriental touches in their music as in the album opener “The City of Pilars” which is preceded by a “Prologue” with violins and other classical elements. Well, after all this, my opnion is that we have here a unique experience within Extreme Metal.

It would be so easy to label Bloodstained Ground with “Horrors of a withered Dimension” as Melodic Death Metal but my guess is that the band is beyond it. What I hear goes farther. The music here is some kind of mix and combination that really goes way above my paycheck. So, I can’t really explain or label it. Maybe for the better. “Alkhalas Bialhikma” showcases the fan with some oriental influence that is so organically connected to the band’s music that the fan has to pay attention to notice it. Funny to notice that the band has no oriental origin or roots. So, the elements they are adding here were they own choice. Great to know that. Not only these elements, but in “Valley of Despair” there is, I guess, a subtle nickelharp that gives some kind of Folk feeling to the song. Ah, now I see it’s a sitar. The folk feeling comes again with “Manger of Time” now for sure with a subtle violin. Wisely, or not, Bloodstained Ground opted for adding all those out-of-Metal elements in a sutle way in a way not to overwhelm their desperate and full of energy Death Metal.

It’s always a pleasant surprise to get a band like Bloodstained Ground with “Horrors of a Withered Dimension.” Bands like them prove that Metal music is evolving.

Track Listing:

  1. Prologue
  2. The City of Pillars
  3. Pastorial Grief
  4. The Mind’s Abyss
  5. Horrors of a Withered Dimension
  6. Alkhalas Bialhikma
  7. Valley of Despair
  8. Manger of Time
  9. The Funeral Pyre
  10. Possession
  11. From the Depths

Watch “Manger of Time” official video here: