Krohm – A World Through Dead Eyes CD (Rare / Used, VG+)

Krohm is the solo black metal project of Drawn and Quartered drummer Dario Derna. It’s depressive black metal, a long ways from the blastbeats and brimstone of DNQ. His guitar work is reminiscent of Xasthur, with pulsing, dissonant jangly figures. Since Derna’s a drummer, his percussion is more “lively” and interesting than the typical one-man band drum machine.
“Sad” hardly describes the lyrics: “These eyes have wept, torrents of years / The sense of wonder, slowly slipping away.” But despite how downcast this material is, I find it strangely uplifting. The production really helps in this regard. The guitars have the requisite grittiness, yet the overall sound is relatively full. So many one-man black metal projects are so lo-fi that they destroy their own atmosphere, but this album invites you to sit inside it and shiver.