DESCHAIN have been knocking around since 2008 forging their sound and building up a mythos suitable for such a legendary namesake as that of Roland Deschain, main protagonist of Stephen King's "Dark Tower" series.  Their third full length album "Grit Part I: Vigilance" marks the beginning of what could potentially become an interesting series of concept albums following the journey of an old law-man (Sheriff?) as he changes himself and becomes a beacon of righteousness and justice in the savage lands of the American West.

Did I mention that DESCHAIN are a Black Metal band?

This is what grabbed my interest, as it's a pretty interesting concept to have with this kind of music and perfectly symbolises a movement away from the Scandinavian purists and into a new territory that. Like the old American West, holds untold possibilities and stories to be discovered and created.  It may be a little superficial but I can't help thinking that the scenery and landscapes just don't match up. I have spent the better part of my life listening to Black Metal and seeing people creeping around misty forests, jumping out of trees onto unsuspecting young maidens and tearing out their throats.  Somehow, I find it quite difficult to picture this iconic imagery played out in the big, open expanses of Indiana.

All of that said however, DESCHAIN do a fantastic job of creating the atmosphere with their music and the reverb-drenched guitars build a sense of expanse that, strangely enough, works in place of the thick of the trees and the fog wrapped forests of Norway.  The typical Black Metal sound is embedded in the instrumental work throughout the album, with plenty of tremolo octaves and dissonant power chords present.  The drums blast beat their way through each song with the kind of raw sound that only amplifies the basic nature of this kind of music. The vocals have the right kind of grit to them and the overall production does a good job to create an authentic Black Metal sound.  Sadly, the mixing does lets it down on the odd occasion and there are some appallingly cut sections where the music just changes like two old tape reels that have been spliced together by a blind paraplegic using cello-tape and a flaccid carrot.

This is only one side of the coin however.

DESCHAIN stand out from the muggy cloud of Black Metal because they don't just use the tried and tested formula.  There are plenty of moments where you can clearly tell that this is not just another bunch of androgynous human shapes in corpse paint running around in a forest wearing capes.  They splash plenty of country influences into the guitar work and some of the bet bits of the album are when the combination of tremolo picking and blast beating is replaced with a riff of pure groovy Americana. This use of their heritage builds upon the sound to show that there is still so much more that can be done within this genre of music and makes me pretty excited to see what bands are going to start doing in the future.