One night in LA like any other or was it? I ran off to see the band DOMMIN at what I thought was to be at the Key club, but no so. After rushing around I find out it’s the ROXY, thank God they are close to each other. Once inside I saw the band had just started playing. I never heard the band before but my first impression was, “hey these guys are excellent”. Kristopher’s voice was cavernous and unique it had a pleasurable tonality. The music has a bit of a sinister reverberation to it. I first heard their song titled “My Heart, Your Hands”, this one had me hooked with the lyrics alone. I like music with a bit of a gothic feel, so this was right up my alley. Kristopher Dommin/singer, song-writer is backed by Billy James on bass, and all the guys are “scorching” for the lady readers. Dommin has his hair in his eyes hiding something but the other two in front, they give you a very pleasant visual, Konstantine /keyboards and Doc on the drums. They have a bit of a German flare type sound, like Rammstein and Danzig with some synth pop kings Depeche Mode feel. Then add some old school influences of the early crooners. They are from the East Valley of LA, but Dommin has a way of grabbing fans all around the world, identifying with the pain and passion in the lyrics of his songs. A woman I met in the audience says she follows them wherever they play, she too a fellow journalist. The stage was arrayed with roses with one also on the microphone in a clean silhouette. It was a packed house at the Roxy for this early 8 o’clock show and they had a great draw.
It was well worth the venture out over the hill for this show. “Mend Your Misery” is their debut album and can be found on their site. www.dommin.com and they also have a myspace at the same name. The lyrics on this album have a way of conversing with you in a way that you experience what he is saying and can recount to it in ways sometimes lost when the writer writes for himself. I think Dommin writes to the masses. The song “Next Day Apologies” started a pretty pitiful attempt of moshing because only one guy was bopping around the entire floor like a fool and he was nothing more then a nuisance. The keyboards add such a fastidious sound to the riffs and hard core sounds of the guitar in songs in the vein of “You Can’t Love”, “Without End”, “Drama Days”, “I Still Lost”, I can’t even elect to choose a favorite and I have been listening to the CD for a while now. If you like high-quality music and unyielding lyrics (you can understand for it is sung and not screamed) with a darkness that is appealing you will like this band as I have.
