_Dusk and Void Became Alive_ is the embodiment of that form of self-indulgence. It is the work of Richard Lederer, he of Summoning fame, and is about as rote and lacking in any real muse as it gets. It's well recorded, sure; no doubt it'd make a great addition to the portfolio when trying to earn a paycheck producing other bands. As a product intended for commercial consumption, however, it's suspect who the market really is for this material.

The album entire consists of nothing but droning keyboards with martial drum beats and ethereal female vocals layered dimly in the gauze-like haze of the miasmic background (Christ, the minimalism is such that it's impossible to even talk about it without overcompensating in description for the lack of actual substance). There is no progression to speak of; the album seemingly has no real destination or goal. It merely exists in a narcotic vacuum, steeped in pretension and fervent unease like a self-important sleeping pill.

The novelty of metal fans discovering the dark beauty of other strains of music, many of which feature operatic vocals and goth / industrial instrumental underpinnings, is long since (or at the very least becoming) a thing of the past. The cross-pollination of extreme music is now at its zenith, and the coma of complacency Die Verbannten Kinder Evas seek to perpetrate is no sort of wake up call; for this genre or any other.