Satanath Records - Reviews: SAT400

Reviews: SAT400

Two years after the release of their debut EP Ritual, the Siberian band Dewichor are returning with their first full-length album, No Tomorrow, which is set for release in August by Satanath Records. The “elevator pitch” for the album describes it as “the quintessence of black, death and post-metal, seasoned with the atmosphere of the end of the world.”

The label’s further pitch is to recommend it for fans of such bands as: Behemoth, Kriegsmaschine, Mgła, Batushka, Ultar, Grima, Gaerea, Schammasch, Belphegor, and Panzerfaust.

As quick pitches go, those are obviously very enticing, especially since these days it’s fairly easy to imagine living in a post-apocalyptic world before we expire (but hopefully not before this album’s release in August). It’s thus agreeable to have a soundtrack that (as the label promises) will “plunge us into a world of chaos and the absence of any hope for survival.” And of course those comparative band references create agreeable (and lofty) expectations too.

But let’s see how well the music of No Tomorrow lives up to these quick pitches. As a sign of that, we present the album’s fifth track, a stunner named “Barbed Wire“.

True to the promise of the album’s inspiration, this song does sounds like the harrowing and haunting agonies of those doomed to survive in a ruined world. It creates these sensations through an amalgam of stylistic ingredients.

The doom and grief come first, rendered in the slow throb of dissonant, abrasive chords and the dismal wail of a saxophone, coupled with a very heavy bass-clang, a sharp drum punch, sorrow-stricken singing, and clear tones that intriguingly ripple.

That opening phase, far away from the realms of black metal, has a mesmerizing effect, both ethereal and earthen in its sounds, creating a very beguiling and melodically rich rendition of bleakness. But eventually the throbbing guitars begin to distressingly sear, the rhythm section furiously hammer, and the vocals explode in incinerating screams, all of it bringing the pain.

The immensity of the bass doesn’t disappear (though it becomes more nuanced in its maneuvers), nor does the soulful wail of the sax. They return, along with the other dismal and strangely delightful aspects of the song’s overture, and eventually the band interlock those with the more intensely distressing (and blackened) aspects of the music — even the saxophone seems to scream.

What drives the music from beginning to end is the vivid, muscle-moving pulse of the riffing in all its forms. It begins to sound like a terrible siren, a grim and grievous warning, or like the beat of fearful hearts in distress. Near the end, the intensity mounts, through electrifying drum-fills and a soaring union of sax and guitars.

It’s really quite a gripping song, one not soon forgotten, and one that merits the references to post-apocalyptic post-metal and black metal. (Credit for the remarkable saxophone performance goes to the band’s guest Andrey Pobozhiy.)

In addition to the links below, we’re also providing a stream of the album’s first advance-track, “Requiem“, which comes third in the album’s running order. It’s also a remarkable and very memorable union of elaborate sounds and styles (including traces of prog rock). Considerably more intense than the song we’ve just premiered, it includes a riveting bass solo and scorching gang vocals, but the ringing melodies, as unsettling as they are, also create a gripping magnetic attraction.

https://www.nocleansinging.com/2025/05/13/an-ncs-premiere-dewichor-barbed-wire/