Album Review: The Futility of Breathing by Dimwind (Self Released)

So did Dimwind achieve their vision of creating emotional and captivating soundscapes? Absolutely, yes. From the early notes of album opener First Light Never Stays, you feel engaged and involved. The doom like riffing and sound to the instruments is so comfortable to listen to while gorgeous and impactful melodies provide a layer of introspective beauty. The drums in this opener are absolutely phenomenal, playing out with speed and force and intricacy in a song that feels so meticulously crafted that you don’t always notice the individual instruments, instead becoming engulfed in just the one overall sound and feeling.

Days Subside Ablaze shakes your soul with it’s deep and melancholic tones. It’s smooth, dark and morose. It feels dangerous, the pound of the drums, the crash of riffs and elevated lead guitars make you feel on edge yet as the song progresses, the fear occasionally subsides for moments of optimism and courage, often delivered through the melody. Once a Lushful Green is the longest track on the album at just over 9 minutes. The extra time allows Dimwind to take you on a bit of a rollercoaster of emotions. The rhythmic intro with high pitched melody is so hypnotic and I adore the silky smooth transitions between different phases of the track. As well as mesmerising with the thick and bassy riffs and delicately placed melody, I must say the drums stand out massively.

Also, the production on the album is really clever and massively helps the band to achieve their goals.

As we move through different phases, occasionally picking up in pace, dropping down into dark and drawn out melody, a spoken word recital, you feel fully engaged and captivated, not noticing the time has passed when this stunning composition ends. We stay in long song territory now with the next two tracks all getting near the 9 minute mark. Withering Unseen comes first, followed by The Growing Shadow Gains. By now, the tone and the sound is familiar so there could be a danger in songs starting to bleed into each other, especially without lyrics to switch things up. Thankfully, these songs are so emotive, so well crafted, that there is no way to lose focus and each song has a very clear identity, while clearly being part of the same moment in time captured on The Futility of Breathing.

Withering Unseen has some nice background atmospherics in the intro that add a layer of additional depth to the steady drum patterns and leading riff. It has some really interesting ideas with combinations of punchy drums blending with quite a quirky melody at the beginning. It creates a feeling of discomfort at first, moving through heavier sections of anger and frustration. The leading guitar line gives me the impression of a person screaming out in hopelessness yet you also feel strength being drawn from deep reserves as the drums continue to rain energy down on you.

The Growing Shadow Gains has the most gorgeous intro, leaning heavily on a sombre melody yet with a very clear ringing tone. The meandering melody runs throughout a lot of the song while a slower, shuddering drum beat and stop start riff keeps the song moving forwards. I love the tapping drum patterns in the slowed down section half way through, the overall atmosphere and depth of feeling generated in this song is tantalising. The Futility of Breathing comes to a close with A Feeble Frame Remains.

The quality across this album hasn’t waned even for a second and that continues to be the case here. The intro is hypnotic, then the melody joins and it is absolutely jaw dropping. The drums again are just immaculate and the crunch of riffs is heavy and engaging. The lead melodies are glorious and all elements of the track are just so perfectly in balance. There is so much grief on show, so much sadness, it is just so admirable how much heart has been poured in and that comes through in the slowed down section with a spoken passage on loss and grief and again in every guitar note, every hit of the drums across the track.

The Futility of Breathing is quite the album. Fully instrumental, morose and melancholic, the sadness and struggle gushes out of every note on every song. The courage and strength shown by Dimwind here to pour their heart and soul into this album is inspiring. Facing such significant loss, well, I can’t pretend to understand the feeling, but listening to this, I think I do and I think this would be an album of great comfort to those who are feeling loss or grief. Not because it is going to raise your spirits, but it will help you understand that you are not alone. That you will get through this.

Any album that can convey such feeling, such breadth of emotion deserves our fullest respect and gratitude. The Futility of breathing is an accomplished work showcasing extreme talent in musicianship but also mastery in how to compose songs to generate real emotion in listeners.

The Futility of Breathing is a must listen so grab your copy from the band, here.