Bandcamp “Doodswens” translates to “death wish,” and the band has carried that name through five albums since 2019. But the self-titled record inverts the premise. “This album isn’t about wishing for death, but the death of the wish,” writes the band’s founder, known only as I. The distinction matters. DSBM as a genre trades in surrender, in the aesthetics of giving up. Doodswens the album is about the moment after, when you have stared at the tree at the side of the road and felt not fear but peace, and then kept driving.
The origin story I. tells is specific: a spontaneous road trip, music and new connections, a misty horizon of endless asphalt. A large tree at the edge of the road. The realization that crashing into it would not feel like failure. “I’m not afraid of life. I’m driven by death.” It is the kind of statement that could sound performative in a genre press release, but the music on “Driven by Death” backs it up. The track opens the album fast and aggressive, the guitars raw and distorted in D#, the energy less despairing than propulsive. This is DSBM that has been through the crisis and come out moving.
Seven tracks in 37 minutes, lean and purposeful. The mix balances mid-range distortion against vocals that sit within the wall rather than above it. The harmonic complexity is moderate, the riffs built for directness rather than layered atmospherics. The Dutch-language tracks “Verrot” and “Vlaamse Vloek” (Flemish curse) bookend the English material, grounding the record in its Eindhoven origins.
Svart Records, the Finnish label known for careful curation across doom, psych, and black metal, picked this up for good reason. Doodswens operate in a corner of DSBM that most bands in the genre do not reach: the part where the pain has not disappeared but has been metabolized into something that moves forward. The price is 6.66 EUR on Bandcamp, because of course it is.
The production is raw and direct, with dense distortion dominating the mid-range. The guitars are heavily saturated with a textured, rough quality. Bass frequencies provide support without prominence, keeping the mix lean and aggressive. The overall loudness is pushed to typical modern black metal levels. The harmonic complexity is moderate, prioritizing riff clarity over atmospheric layering. The vocal placement sits within the guitar wall rather than on top of it, creating an immersive rather than confrontational listening position.
Standout tracks: “Driven by Death” for the opening four and a half minutes that redefine what DSBM can sound like when it stops romanticizing the abyss. “Vlaamse Vloek” for the Flemish-language closer that returns the album to its roots.
Five albums in seven years, each one moving further from the genre’s default setting of beautiful despair. Doodswens the album is the point where the project’s name becomes a past tense rather than a present condition. The death wish is dead. The band keeps driving.
