Sérpéné Héli Music : 2008
Format : CD
Pale Horse Recordings : 2009
Format : Cassette

Dictator hails from the not very frostbitten eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus. This one man band playing a Blackened Doom hybrid proves once again that cold resides in the heart. This release comes in two completely different versions, a slipcase CD version from Sérpéné Héli Music and the truly amazingly packaged cassette version from US based Pale Horse Recordings.

These are fairly simple and repetitive rhythm guitar lines with more melodic highs dubbed in and very distinct channel separations that give the tracks an amazingly huge sound, especially recommended for headphone listens. There’s also ample use of keyboards, but never overbearing and just enough to give it that oppressive, funeral cloak. For the most part the keys sound like straight ahead piano, but there’s the occasional strings or chimes as well. “Atmospheric” is such a clichéd term when describing this genre of metal, but it fits. The drums are very minimal and sparse, often long passages exist with out the use of percussion as is the case with a lot of Doom. The vocals can range from tortured screams to barely above a whisper spoken segments. While comparisons to Leviathan and Xasthur are almost a requirement, writing Dictator off as “just another bedroom Black Metal band” would be a huge disservice. There’s definitely a level of technical prowess and an understanding of dissonance that a lot of those are definitely lacking.

As mentioned above, there are two versions of this release. The CD includes the 16 page “Book Of Psalms”, but quite honestly I can’t comment on that because I opted for the tape version released through Pale Horse. It comes in a black velvet lined, hand-made wooden box with an Eucharist and inverted metal crucifix attached to the front. I was also one of the lucky ones whose copy included a fragment of human bone. Seriously, it has to be seen to be believed . I can’t imagine the kind of masochism it entails to take on this release. Whichever version you choose, it’s more than worth tracking down.

Websites: dictator.serpenehelimusic.com | myspace.com/thetruedictator