Review by Jeger on October 12, 2026.

A wasted treasure, a lost opportunity, a lost loved one, clinical depression… Too many misfortunes to even count as to why Misanthropy/Nihilism are born within us who used to see the world as someplace different, somewhere that brought hope with every rising of the Sun and sweet solace as night's blessed spell set in, but now… There's a drabness to even the brightest sunlight and a feeling of indifference in regard to fellowship. No one would understand anyway. I only know this: once this cursed way of seeing truth is set into action, there is no going back. We long for those days of yore and hide from the thought of what tomorrow may bring. For some, the only natural conduit for such a condition of mind, body and spirit is the timeless art of Black Metal. Enter Dantalion…

Dantalion is Spanish Black Metal duo hailing from Vigo, Galicia. They formed in 2004 and their tenth installment in their discography, "Dantalion", is set to drop on November 1. For the trudge, for the longest way home through the most drenching downpour and not a fuck to give. For those moments of realizing that everything is not going to be okay and that our best years are long spent, wasted and nothing to show for them but "Born Of My Own Damnation" and "Ascend Through Ruin" - the opening tracks of the record. Both unfold to similar tones to Poland's Mgła, only more melodic, more elegant and somehow even more dread-inducing. For every moment of misery, there's one of beauty. For there is beauty in the pain - the great transformer of Men. Beauty in every fluttering tremolo riff, every finesse percussive technique and every impassioned vocal expression.

Take a moment… Let it soak in; the realization that we are going to die and if you're like me, you have more days behind than ahead. And so we mourn, we wonder where the time went. Regret like a curse rears its ugly head each day and yet we endure, we turn to the music! We become at home within its evil scapes and among its wicked connotations. Such a direct album. No pretentious bullshit or overly elaborate anything, only the sound of true Misanthropic BM as conveyed through such rich melodicism and artistic genuineness. We could listen all day and be okay with the idea. Tracks like "The Temple Of Eternal Ruin" with its galloping pace and soaring melodies create an irresistible experience fit for gluttony. Just gobbling down every misery-drenched moment in this - a bleak imagining of internal turmoil set to some very depressive tones. Shades of Advent Sorrow's "Kali Yuga Crown" reveal themselves throughout not only this track, but throughout much of the recording.

Holding on for dawn now as the morn ticks away and our hopes fade even more. Longing for the Void some days, lost in a comfortable sort of sorrow during others. Tuning into these depressive albums provides the listener with something to relate to, to grasp onto on those days when the end never sounded sweeter and it's not long before the illusions that we were living begin to fade as the music plays, as we understand that this is the bottom line, the big picture! The end of the line… Do you remember when you lost hope? The day the music began to make sense.

With their titular Opus, Dantalion explores the realm of suffering with the kind of fervor that only the experienced sufferer can utilize and their experience in agony is only matched by their understanding of what constitutes the real depressive BM experience; what makes for something reflective and stark; difficult to swallow even. Stumbled upon some depressive gold here. Enjoy…

Rating: 9.5 out of 10