Normally, when the word “unorthodox” is thrown around, it oftentimes doesn’t live up to expectations for one reason or another. As such, when a band comes around that actually does put the term to good use, it’s oftentimes an occasion that is to be celebrated and investigated in equal proportions. Those performances are incredibly few and far between, however, which makes the occasion of Dionysiaque something of an oddity I truly was not expecting in the slightest. Definitely using the word unorthodox to their advantage, it’s with their forthcoming effort that this act has hit the nail right on the head.

The glory and dread with being accurately tagged with a word like “unorthodox” simply comes down to the fact that it can be absolutely anything. It can mean a band will find themselves hurling into an experimental sound that pushes the very boundaries of the sound while simultaneously enabling a band to merely do some out-of-the-box thinking in regard to the songwriting while being able to meet that oftentimes arbitrary description. When penning its first full-length album, it’s clear that Dionysiaque was not content in taking things lightly in the process. Doom metal that is thrusted forth into existence by a set of vocals that feel like the gods themselves calling upon you to do their bidding, “Diogonos” accomplishes a good deal within its eight tracks. A hallucinatory trip that pulls from many different corners of extreme metal to make their particular brand of doom something of a fascinating cocktail that is as multi-dimensional as it is unexpected in every turn that it makes to ensure that “Diogonos” is far more than another example of simple riffs and an attitude that very few people can bring together in a meaningful form. Rather, Dionysiaque subverts expectations for a doom metal experience that cannot quite be likened to anything else in virtually every given way to ensure that both this band and its listeners are not retreading the same ground ad nauseum.

While there is clear room for expansion and improvement within this album, it needs to be made clear in every given instance that Dionysiaque has threw one hell of a curveball with the creation that I don’t think many of us could’ve properly expected. An eclectic blend that has far more flavor than many of us could have bargained for, “Diogonos” is spectacularly engaging from top to bottom.

“Diogonos” releases on March 15th via I, Voidhanger Records!

LISTEN to advanced tracks from “Diogonos” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Dionysiaque on Facebook here.