DIABOLICAL RAW is a Turkish symphonic black/death metal duo. "Elegy Of Fire Dusk" is their second album after changing their name from DIABOLICAL to DIABOLICAL RAW. This small change was made to signify the start of a new era while still recognizing their contribution as DIABOLICAL. This album's lyrics are based on a short story written by vocalist Ozan Erkmen. This story borrows heavily from Central Asian Turkish mythology.

The first proper song on the album is "Commands Of The Gods. It starts with a distorted spoken passage that sounds like Erkmen is talking into a megaphone. This, combined with the busyness of the instrumentation, makes it nearly impossible to discern what's being said. Once the distorted speaking stops and the black metal begins, I quickly realized that Erkmen's vocals sound a lot like Shagrath of DIMMU BORGIR fame. They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. In this case, it sounds derivative.

The third track, Wise Old Woman, has plenty of moments when the symphonic and the metal have great synergy. Then comes a spoken part. Erkmen's voice is heavily processed to sound deep and evil. The problem is it takes away from the competent, synergistic parts. This deep-voice processing is how they chose to separate Erkmen's black metal rasps from his death metal growls, and it's noticeable enough to impact the song negatively.

Next, there's "Entry Into Erlik's Hell," a track that starts off with some spooky horns and then quickly gets to the black metal. As with many mediocre symphonic metal bands, there is a distinct delineation between both contributing styles throughout this album. This track has some great riffs, and the symphonic elements still complement the aggressive metal parts despite their separation. Also, the vocal effects were dialed down quite a bit, making this track the most enjoyable so far.

Tilgen's Fall has some epic builds, with the symphonic parts serving to elevate the black metal elements. The problem with this one is there is way too much talking instead of singing. At times, Erkmen sounds like he's talk-singing the higher vocals and speaking the deeper parts. Also, when he is actually singing, he still sounds just like Shagrath. The instrumentation is well performed, and the symphonic and the metal achieve that much-desired synergy. It's a shame that the vocals weren't better.

"Talking With Gods" starts with an exciting symphonic build-up to the black metal hook. When the keyboards are introduced, the vocals get muddy and absorbed by the instruments. There is an over-produced "deep voice" segment, but it isn't as noticeable here as it is on other tracks. The album's first lead guitar solo introduces some fantastic symphonic metal before the song's conclusion. "Talking With Gods" is the best song on "Elegy Of Fire Dusk." It's a shame that it is so deep into the album.

"The Last War With Evil" doesn't dawdle much before bringing on the metal assault. After that, there's another "deep-voiced" spoken part. These are becoming comical at this point. Then there is some nice vocal layering that almost makes up for the overcooked deep singing. Unfortunately, with all of its spoken pieces and talk-singing passages, this one is not nearly as epic as the title implies.

For the next track, they take another stab at making an epic war ballad with "The Last War With Evil II." This track would have been much more epic and better off if it was part of the previous one. Nevertheless, it doesn't pick up where its predecessor left off. Instead, it doesn't belong with the previous track at all. There is some great musicianship in this song that is spoiled by too much narration. It works much better during the times without vocals.

Needless to say, I did not love this album. Every track felt like a trade-off. You get over-processed vocals juxtaposed with some fairly good instrumentation. I also didn't find anything that made the album a slog to listen to. I can get past the vocal production and the occasional sub-genre mismatch. My biggest gripe is that "Elegy Of Fire Dusk" just sounds okay. If I heard any track from this album in passing, I wouldn't turn it off, but I also wouldn't be interested in their other offerings.