Dommin Album Review
Dommin – Love Is Gone
Album review by Rant Chick
Ten years after conception Dommin has finally released its first full length album. And it kicks some serious ass. Love is Gone is significantly doomy and gloomy to raise the heads of goths and emo kids alike, sufficiently metalesque to feature in Metal Hammer, and suggestively 80s-ish to warrant a new romantic reminiscence. The album’s seventeen tracks are richly diverse and Dommin will undoubtedly attract an assortment of fans as the band becomes a familiar name on the touring circuit.
Hailing from the City of Angels, the LA band boasts a goth-rock sound with a whisper of emo drama. Imagine a dangerous liaison between HIM and Type O Negative on the set of The Adams Family – that’s Dommin. Front man Kristofer Dommin harbours a deeply soulful voice, aptly showcased in the likes of Closure – with its haunting instrumentals, and Awake – an ode to hope, signified by the lyrics “Persist, Carry on and exist”. Dark Holiday proves that even the melancholic can have a sense of humour: the track’s ironic title is advanced by a pop horror, carnivalesque tone that seems to have tongue firmly planted in cheek. While Dark Holiday provides a schism in the overall sombre attitude of the album, the heart wrenching lyrics of I Still Lost and title track Love is Gone (which has a Peter Steele feel to it) remind the listener what Dommin is all about. Dommin’s affection for the whole tragic-romance-Romeo-and-Juliet sentiment is accentuated by the love-metal rendition of 80s power ballad Died in Your Arms, which compliments modern ballad Remember. Without End will get goth arms swaying and metal heads banging in a bid to become club favourite and Tonight is sure to congregate a mass vocal assault in a bid to become best gig sing-along track.
Kristofer Dommin has placed his heart in our hands: “How can I trust you with My Heart, in Your Hands closing your grip!/ I’m so afraid that you’ll leave me cold with my heart in your hands closing”, but years of hard work mixed with some quality production and a load of passion suggest that fans can be trusted to love Love Is Gone.
March 23rd, 2010
I saw these guys support HIM in Bournemouth and they were dreadful, it was as though each band member had said which was their favourite band and then tried to re-create that sound in a few songs. So it ended up being a miss match of sounds that was trying to please all members.
No distinctive sound at all, just a medley of cliches that failed to get the crowd going.
Maybe they sound better on the cd?
June 6th, 2010
Love them!!! I’ve seen them more than once. I think we will be seeing more of Dommin in the future. Also…I meet them a few times..what a great group of guys.