Ever since I was a child, J.R.R. Tolkien’s seminal Lord of the Rings trilogy has been wildly influential to me. It had a great part to play in the kind of movies I enjoyed, then the kind of books I read, and now it extends well into what kind of music I find myself enjoying. The world of metal has been far more than just accepting of Tolkien’s many different works with references to him and his world to be found all over the place from bands names to epic albums that offer a new point of view for some part of the masterpiece. The culture and doings of the Dwarves (Khazâd in their own tongue) have been all but fitting for any metal band to tackle, yet it’s for some reason it’s not as widely done. With their latest creation, the aptly named duo explores the carved caverns and dripping halls of Moria and its deepest secrets.

The very idea of blending together funeral doom metal and Tolkien is a novel idea that right away I know I could use more of for all that it can offer with all sorts of topics from the horrors of Ered Gorgoroth, the evil experiments within Thangorodrim, or any of the three Kinslayings just being three terrific concepts to tackle with such a vicious style. Keeping to their name, though, Khazad-dûm takes this idea into the mines of its namesake, commonly known as Moria, with the lyrical content based on a long epic poem from Myrddian Evans, a close friend of the band, that’s also based on the chapter from Fellowship of the Ring, “The Bridge of Khazad-dûm”. Fitting with that chapter and influence, one can really feel the depths that the Dwarves mined in search of riches further and further into the dark reaches of the earth with danger getting closer with every single of their pickaxes and death growing in the darkness without their knowledge. The very whole of “Hymns from the Deep” manages to reach even further than the insane heaviness of funeral doom to even include other aspects of extreme metal as well as even some ambient in calculated moments to make for a terrifically well-rounded experience that brings together all of the events that went down in every foot from the Dimrill Gate to the Doors of Durin with Khazad-dûm performing it all stupendously.

With every second evocative in its portrayal of what the unfortunate Dwarves surely felt as their greatest kingdom slowly succumbed to the wrath of Durin’s Bane with their decrepit corpses to remain unseen by light until the Fellowship stumbled upon their demise, it’s hard to not peer into the darkness of Khazad-dûm’s magnificence they brought forth and not feel absolutely moved by what they bring forward for a deeply layered and faithful creation to Tolkien’s vision. Hopefully, it won’t be too much longer before we’re able to witness more of what Khazad-dûm is capable of with truly wild potential to be had for them and their sound with all of Arda at their disposal, and I know damn well that many of us will flock to that creation given the chance.

“Hymns from the Deep” re-releases on vinyl via Avantgarde Music on March 18th!

LISTEN to “Hymns from the Deep” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Khazad-dûm on Facebook here.