DODENKROCHT was founded in 2004 as a one-man project. After releasing the first demo "Zwijgend Als Het Graf" (2006 demo) DODENKROCHT fully formed in order to take a mixture of Doom and Black metal live. The release "Malebolge Opens" (2011 demo) followed soon after. Ever since, DODENKROCHT dwelled in the Black Metal underground. In 2019, DODENKROCHT joined forces with Auric Records in order to record pitched Black Doom Black Metal. The upcoming studio release "The Dying All" was released in November 2020.

"Null (Intro)" leads off the album. It's a short, two-minute mood setter. Opening with whispered tones and something clanging in the background, it settles into an evil sound, with winds whirling and you know the beast has arrived on earth. "God Never Spoke" is an eight-minute opus. It begins with some doleful guitar tones and those familiar screams. Bells chime in, adding layers to the sound. The guitar work here is thick and heavy. The song expands from there with different tones added to the mix. It ends with an ambient fade-out.

"Orphans of the Void" is close to nine-minutes in length. It opens with bell strikes, audible bass notes and the steady pulse of guitars and drums. Lead notes begin to come into play, as the vocals are despondent. The sound here is so damn depressing, as the title suggests. It will drain you of life. "And the Abyss was Silent" is the longest on the album, at just over ten-minutes in length. It's another slow, grinding song with layered guitar work, bell strikes, and vile vocals. It starts to slow, really soaking deep into your flesh.

"Barbed Wire Crown" is only six-minutes long. Beginning again with that classic mix of Doom and Black Metal, the guitar tones are despondent, and the slow-moving pace of the song rings high on the Doom registry. Background ambiance lingers...sometimes it's backing vocals while other times it is nefarious sounds. The vocals here scream nothingness. Everything is in vain. "The Dying All" has a similar sound...wretched vocals and guitar work that would either wake the dead or put you into a coma...either way, you're fucked. The pacing picks up here a bit and those familiar bell strikes continue here and there. The screams are anguished and tortured.

"Before the Grey" is another dejected song. I hear a little more Doom than Black Metal, but that is neither here nor there. The guitars climb up and down the scale, and when it picks up in pace, it picks up in the harrowing sound as well. Towards the end, the Doom sound really develops. "The Vortex of Being" is around five-minutes long, continuing the Doom sound from the previous track. Big guitar strikes combine with big snare drum hits, and some lead guitar work that echoes the sentiment in the almost void qualities in the vocals. "For his Name was Death" closes the album, at just over four-minutes in length. The dejected tones present here along with the tortured vocals are a really nice way to cap off the album.

For me, what "The Dying All" represents is a culmination of two intersecting styles of dark music that combine to create a real monster. On one hand, the harsh and aggressive style of Black Metal is ever-present. But on the other hand, the despondent and depressing style of Doom Metal is also there. When they intersect, it's like a bomb went off and this beast steps forward from out of the ashes that will bring death to the entire world. It's an emotionally draining experience as well. The band plays with confidence, and this album is sure to please fans of either genre.