Reviewed by Peter John Willoughby

Dagon is an American band that formed in 2005 out of the ashes of the brutal metal band, Bestiary. The guys combined their love of thrash, death and '80s metal with an infatuation with all things oceanic. They issued a five-track EP 'Secrets Of The Deep' which gained the interest of Bombworks Records. This led to the release of the full length recordings 'Paranormal Ichthyology' in 2007 and 'Terraphobic' in 2009. Their influences are Dark Tranquility, Iron Maiden, Hypocrisy and Amon Amarth. This means that you can expect harsh metal with dark lyrics sung in dual death metal growls and shrieking vocals. Lyrically, they write mainly about themes related to the oceans; from a darkly dramatic and horrific point of view. The opener is about a ship's crew preparing for battle, then we have a group of Vikings attacking a coastal village at night. "Terraphobic" is about a young woman who has an irrational fear of dry land after spending her entire life at sea. After being stranded on solid ground she tore out her own eyes due to her madness. The tale of a lost ship where the crew have descended into cannibalism is told in "Wave Of Perdition", where they prey on other ships to satisfy their warped appetites. "The Last" is a story about a creature that crawls out of the sea, which is the last of its species, looking for companionship but unable to mix with humans. The final track "Ocean Metal" is about a ship crewed by ghosts who come ashore to punish people for playing false metal. Not exactly original as Manowar were beating their chests and proclaiming themselves the saviours of true metal back in 1982. So whilst I enjoyed Dagon's brutal thrash metal, I should warn faint hearts that the lyrical content is not for the squeamish.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.