When bands rooted in black metal branch out, labelling them can become an issue. There are only so many adjectives one can add to describe Dark Fortress’ darkly progressive music without the result coming off as totally ridiculous. It is a fact, however, that ‘Venereal Dawn’ is quite a bit different than the Dissection-isms of the Germans’ earliest work. But that is hardly a problem for me, especially considering that it was guitarist V. Santura’s work with Triptykon that drove me towards Dark Fortress. ‘Venereal Dawn’ is a highly dynamic, intense and atmospheric work that gets better with each spin.

Although the band’s roots are obvious, there aren’t many elements traditionally associated with black metal on ‘Venereal Dawn’. There is hardly any tremolo picking, limited blastbeats and even the vocals are quite measured by the genre’s standards. That only leaves the dissonant chords, which are often arpeggiated here. Save for the more brutal ‘Betrayal And Vengeance’, ‘I Am The Jigsaw Of A Mad God’ and parts of ‘Odem’, it is not that much of a stretch to say that a large portion of ‘Venereal Dawn’ is progressive doom metal. The gothic qualities are not quite as pronounced as on its predecessor ‘Ylem’, but the power of the album is in its atmosphere and subdued tempos.

Closing track ‘On Fever’s Wings’ in particular is a moving doomy chapter in the story of Dark Fortress. Even the gallops are relatively slow and a large portion of the eleven minute track is built upon the melancholic lead guitar melodies of Santura and the alternately deep and desperate vocals of Morean. The other bookend of the album, the title track, is equally lengthy and subdued in tempo, but somewhat more aggressive in its overall approach. The track houses all of the aspects that appear on the album, an approach that is somewhat mirrored in the powerful ‘Luciform’.

Even more atypical are the tracks in which Dark Fortress takes the full leap into darker rock music. ‘Chrysalis’ is the most gothic song on here, with its eerily reverberating clean guitar parts and Morean’s vocals delivering ample nightmare fuel even when Seraph’s drums and the rhythm guitar crunch add a strong bottom end. ‘The Deep’ even sees the band adopting a largely acoustic approach, which combined with the percussion almost makes it sound like black metal world fusion, which might not be a thing. ‘Lloigor’ also has some acoustic guitars, but quickly turns into a powerful midtempo track with an almost ‘Blackwater Park’-era Opeth feel.

‘Venereal Dawn’ further explores what is possible within the boundaries of Dark Fortress’ core sound without alienating their existing fan base. For me personally, ‘Ylem’ and ‘Venereal Dawn’ are by far the most interesting albums the band has released thus far and I truly hope they will continue down this progressive, yet atmospheric path. As stated in the beginning of this review, it is quite difficult to categorize the music on ‘Venereal Dawn’, but that is exactly what makes the album so good. Black metal fans may be disappointed by the slow tempos and the melodic touches, but to me, this is an album that still reveals exciting new secrets every time I put it on.

Recommended tracks: ‘On Fever’s Wings’, ‘Venereal Dawn’, ‘Luciform’, ‘Chrysalis’