Get ready for a power groove extravaganza as Dagoba shoves the gates of the abyss open wide on their second full-length album, What Hell Is About, offering up a churning, wicked mass of volatile Metal Armageddon. This French quartet impresses as being monstrously heavy, with the twelve tracks that make up the record bearing a steely, industrial edge. From the first note of the roaring title cut to the gunshot climax of The White Guy (Suicide), Dagoba delivers everything that a headbanger could expect from this style of music and then some.
After forming in 2000, Dagoba focused on crafting material for their debut EP for a solid year, honing their all-out assault to a fine edge. Their six song introductory EP, Release The Furysaw the light of day in November of 2001 to wide critical acclaim. Hitting the studio in early 2003 with producer Doug Chang, Dagoba formulated their full-length, self-titled debut record which saw the light of day later that summer, that precursor setting the stage for heavy touring and a buildup of experience culminating in the factually substantial sounds that you will find on What Hell Is About.
Although influences such as Fear Factory, Pantera and Machine Head may be culled from the group's enormous, powerful sound, Dagoba has taken these inspirations as their own and in doing so, tracks such as the violent yet tuneful Die Tomorrow (...What If You Should?) and the infectiously slamming cut, The Fall Of Men rage with an abundantly savage, bitter aggression.
Launching into a harsh, resonating bark during The Man You're Not, vocalist Shawter proves that he can stand toe to toe with vocalists such as Anselmo and Bell. The frontman also provides the programming and samples that do much to enhance the band's poignant Metal attack, rounding out the overall sound of the music without taking away one ounce of its brutal, muscular persuasion.
Meanwhile, Cancer displays a different face of the group, being no less intense but coming across in a manner that would make Rob Flynn blush. Here we can ascertain that the sound of Dagoba is certainly multifaceted, and the shifting of gears makes for an alluring diversion. Elsewhere, the interlude 042104 makes for a great segue into the hammering, in-your-face anxiety of Morphine - The Apostle Of Your Last War, an inventive and well-arranged foray into brash aural architecture.
In the final analysis, What Hell Is About is a domineering, mammoth slab of twisted steel that deserves both high praise as well as substantial recognition as being a distinct advancement of this particular style of heavy Metal.