61. Dimscûa - "Dust Eater"

One of this year’s word-of-mouth hits. Having spoken to the band at Damnation (Video Interview), you realise just how bonkers the story is. Four mates with a shared love of post metal decide to make a record purely for the cathartic process of exercising a number of their own demons. No label, no track record, no plan beyond making music to soothe their souls. They uploaded it to a number of streaming services and that should be that. But its wasn’t. It somehow ended up on the radio of the Damnation and Arctangent promoters Gav and James who host a weekly podcast together. They espoused the beauty of this twisted but also resolutely hopeful album and suddenly a band that frankly wasn’t a band found themselves with a top streaming album and slots at both the benefactors festivals. The fuzz is justified as this is a brilliantly haunting and thought-provoking album. It balances vulnerability and coarse heaviness with the confidence of a band who have been doing this all their lives. The focus ebbs and flows, and the contracts between light and dark are magnificently evocative. A stirring album that superbly encapsulates the human condition.