Review by Felix on September 11, 2024.

Vom Schwarzen Schmied, the predecessor of Uranium, was a massive statement with excessive melody lines, a lot of drama, and dynamics. Uranium points into the same direction. It’s a logical successor. Dauƥuz still wallows in the fascinating mining scenarios of total darkness, fear, superhuman efforts, and exploitation of natural resources. As a guy from West Germany, I admit that for years I only thought of the “Ruhrpott” in Northrhine-Westphalia in terms of mining. Therefore I enjoy that Dauƥuz add the East German perspective, spanning a line from the year 1666 to the second half of the twentieth century. Especially their lyrics about the murderous and inhumane Russian regime after World War II are very interesting, even though they lack the occult charm of the opener’s lyrics which deal with alchemy and the birth of the name-giving element of the actinide group (isn’t it exciting that there is seemingly nothing that the world wide web doesn’t know, haha?).

Uranium, upgraded by its atmospheric, ominous, and stylish artwork, cannot completely achieve the class of Vom Schwarzen Schmied. It does not suffer from a lot of weak details, but in my humble opinion, tracks like 'Radonquell 1666' (almost nine minutes) and 'Ein Werkzeug Des Todes' (ten minutes) are a bit too long and not totally immune against a few rather vapid sections. The drama of the lyrical content thus loses density, in no moment to a great extent, but nevertheless noticeably. In addition, the melody lines are maybe five or ten percent less expressive than those of the predecessor. This means that most of them are still very good, but the final iota of excellence is missing from time to time.

But let's stop lamenting, after all, only luxury problems are being complained about here. Uranium is another intelligently designed work, meticulously thought out and very competently executed. The single parts of the songs create an organic flow and the single songs almost coalesce with each other, giving the album the feeling of just one track, divided in six chapters. The vocals offer a broad portfolio from grim nagging to heroic singing and the band still does not care about commercial aspects. No doubt, the approach of the duo reflects a lot of the artists’ individuality and despite the lengths of the songs and their different sections, they are more or less easily accessible. Speaking of individuality, the only obvious reference to another band is the bone-chilling guitar line in the opener and the closer which reminds me of the riff in "Daudafærd", the masterpiece of Sweden’s Pest. Apart from this detail, I am sure that every fan of pretty melodic yet always desperate black metal will enjoy the album.

By the way, I am speaking of a very well produced work. Uranium is not based on a furious wall of sound, but it scores due to its masterly balanced and transparent appearance. Each and every single component has found its place. This and the strength of the song material makes the album to a very enjoyable listening experience. The many facets of the songs guarantee that convinced black metal fans will find something good in each and every one of them. Those who think they should skip a song make a mistake, because one can feel the passion and dedication of the two artists in almost every moment. With that said Uranium is no gigantic milestone and very picky maniacs will moan about too many theatrical moments. I also cannot completely rule out that the album loses a bit of its fascination outside of Germany, due to the lyrics in my mother language and the very German lyrical topic. Either way, from my Teutonic perspective, I can recommend Uranium with a clear conscience.

Rating: 8.1 out of 10

Review by Nathan on February 28, 2024.

While I don't think anyone is considering the German scene to be their personal favorite, it's easily the most consistent scene out there, which is no small feat consider it's a markedly bigger country than, say, Poland. There's a lot more opportunity for generic bands to suck. However, I find it almost works out in the complete opposite way, because generic metal in Germany has assembly line levels of efficiency. I dunno if it's just because Rammstein is considered radio rock there, but there's a level of professionalism and dedication that you see in a band like Dauþuz that just isn't there in other local scenes. I dunno if it's just that the German miner lyrical theme adds a degree of "serious business" to the mix, but if this is bargain bin black metal in Germany, fuck, I should move to Germany.

Here's a little rundown if you're unfamiliar with this band (as I was prior to checking out this album). This is black metal that sometimes takes influence from more niche genres (the screams suggest a DSBM influence, while the prominent sense of melody can give off Pagan/folk vibes), but is otherwise straightforward. The drums have a simplistic, almost punk rock feel to them, which is already common in black metal – it's very reminiscent of a more European, slightly expanded version of El-Ahrairah's eponymous album when the drums fall back into a standard rock beat. The vocals are mostly a hollow, screechy howl, with some clean backups and double-ups sprinkled in there on occasion. It's not quite friendly enough to be classified as folk/black or melodic black, but it comes close. A slightly less upbeat Sargeist is a somewhat accurate comparison if you take the regional differences into account.

The building blocks Dauþuz uses are as generic as they come, as you can see, but they songs are arranged in a way that makes them memorable. This is a perfect example of a band not needing to reinvent the wheel because they've already got their formula down. The only thing that you can really do to improve is build on the chemistry you have, and Dauþuz recognizes this with Monvmentvm. They're sticking with the same themes and trimming the fat, and also try to create unique arrangements within the template they already have. 'Der Bergschmied' has a super cool harsh-vocal-over-clean-guitar part at the end that a lot of bands try but few can make work effectively. Because they've been hammering away at the style for a few albums now, Dauþuz knows what kinds of risks they can take within the songs, and they've also done a really good job of eliminating unnecessary filler riffs on Monvmentvm. Even the longer 8-9 minute songs don't drag. No sections ever sound like they're ill-fitting and they never repeat riffs for too long, which is significant in a genre that is supposed to be raw and minimalistic. Even the acoustic guitar passages, which usually function as little more than hokey interludes, do a lot to solidify the atmosphere and pace of this album. Nothing about Monvmentvm is different from the tens of thousands of other black metal albums out there, Dauþuz just takes a bit more time and care when they're composing, and the small investment pays big dividends. Although this is a 2019 release, the tight compositions and confident execution present makes it sound like these songs have been written for years.

Even as a black metal fan, it's possible Dauþuz flew under your radar. Naturmacht Productions has a somewhat insular family of bands, all content to dwell within their little German atmo-black circle. I can't say that Dauþuz stands out at all from that already-niche crowd, but that could be seen as a good thing or a bad thing, because nothing stands out in a sore thumb-type way, either. This is just a very sleek, meat-and-potatoes kind of black metal album that chugs along like a carefully crafted and well-oiled machine. It's simple and melodic enough that the riffs will stick with you, and if you don't need a lot of extra garnishes in your black metal to be satisfied this will be right up your alley. At first, I was confused as to why a folk-tinged black metal album would choose German miners as a concept to base a band around, but it makes a lot more sense when you see the words I'm using to describe Dauþuz - they're steady, efficient, and more about substance over style. Not unlike a German laborer slowly plugging away in a mineshaft, a tinge of hope gleaming in his eyes as he searches for a rare gold nugget.

Rating: 8.3 out of 10