Dark and minimalistic, Dragged Into Sunlight’s sophomoric effort's worth is dependent on its capacity to create an evil atmosphere that entices the listener more so than its predecessor. If their 2009 debut, Hatred for Mankind, was comparable to Anaal Nathrakh being distilled into blackened doomdeath then this album could be compared to a blackened Earth sound. Their 2009 album had such a visceral intensity that it accosted one’s sensibilities and couldn’t help but grab the listener. Much in the way Earth’s latest double album, Angel of Darkness, Demons of Light relies on the atmosphere created through somber chord progressions so too does Widowmaker. If the listener isn’t brought into the fold of said atmosphere then this album’s path might quickly appear meandering, even boring, yet the album deserves patience.

Part I is DIS at their most melancholic. The entirely instrumental track relies much on the rough strum of the chords against the serene sound created by the violin (almost reminiscent of seemingly defunct Virgin Black); this juxtaposition lulls the listener into following the descent into evil that DIS conjures, invoked through somewhat awkward sound clips of misanthropic social commentary. From there, though, the band shift gears to return to something more similar to what they were doing on Hatred for Mankind with the rest of the album. They aren’t replicating that earlier blackened death metal sound, but instead have relied heavily on their doom metal elements. The tracks confront the listener, only to fall away, and then return with a heavier tone. The last two tracks repeats this pattern, never falling into pure aggression but simply sustaining the plodding pace that they seem content to create. Each track unravels with subsequent listens; the song lengths give the band quite ample amount of time to alter and complicate each layer into more and more intricate of a sound before allowing the aggression to drop off. The way Part II weaves its sound is mesmerizing by the end of it and is just a pleasure to behold. It is quite simply exceptional doom metal built on a solid riff. Part III begins with droning chords before relying on heavier chords to carry the song that contrast with the clean picking interludes interspersed throughout its thirteen minute span.

All in all, Dragged into Sunlight is creating some of the more interesting doom metal these days. The band seems to have a knack for releasing the most crushing album each year albeit their songwriting style has never quite been perfect. Single songs often have too many disjointed parts yet this ambitious album seemed to have improve on that fault from Hatred in the fact that their songwriting here seems to the consistent thread of each tune. With patience, the band quite easily impresses. They have yet to release their masterpiece, but their work thus far attests that it can only be on its way.

The album can be streamed in its entirety here.