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Reviews
Darkane: Demonic art
08/12/08 || Global Domination
Darkane has always been a band that I really like, a much underrated outfit that plays some inventive and interesting technical thrash. Some people might dismiss them as just another Swedish melodeath band, but I’m a lot less inclined to do so. I’ve already given up on defending these bands that I like that no one else seems to, so fuck it if you feel like checking out Darkane after this review, and fuck it if you don’t too. I guess that whole matter is jaded anyway, that’s the way somebody trying to convince me of the greatness of some random band which doesn’t impress me at all must feel. Everything’s relative, you know? The thing about Darkane is that they’ve got a distinctive sound that I’m always able to recognize, and that’s always a fucken excellent sign of a band being clearly above average the way I see it.
“Demonic Art” is their fifth and latest record, and after quite a few listening sessions I must say I’m impressed. The songs are typical Darkane: structurally jagged yet possessing an unnatural sort of groove that works quite well. The tempo changes they flawlessly execute are fucken unexpected and properly reflect the best aspect of Darkane: unpredictability. After an epic short intro, Darkane kicks off with the storming thrasher “Leaving Existence”, followed by the excellent title track, and they never look back from then on. The album continues on a fucken tear, with pretty awesome and even tracks all over, although personal favorites besides the two already mentioned are “Execution 44”, “Impetuous Constant Chaos“, “Soul Survivor” and “The Killing of I”. This is some of the best material the band has written in their career so far, hands down.
There’s plenty of aggression overall, a fact brought home by many sharp riffs and some striking solos from Ideberg and Malmström. Their work has enough technical variety and death metal influences thrown into the mix to round off a solid, distinguishable sound. The skillful drumming of Peter Wildoer is another remarkable feature of Darkane’s music. He’s very talented, a flashy and fast drummer who bashes his kit really fucken hard. He adds a lot to that unpredictable nature surrounding many of the songs with his “controlled-chaos” style of playing, his fills specially standing out as being borderline insane and quite original. Also, Löfberg’s groovy bass playing complements Wildoer’s lead on the rhythm section quite well, taking center stage occasionally with good effects.
The addition of new vocalist Jens Broman also represents a significant improvement present in “Demonic Art” over previous releases too. His predecessor Andreas Sydow was a decent growler, but overall a guy that in my opinion failed to impose himself properly. Broman is more of an old-school thrasher, a shouting maniac possessed of a somewhat annoying, high-pitched style that let’s everyone know he’s fucken there in proper fashion. His clean parts on the choruses come off fine too, his vocals not being completely useless when trying to sing, always a good thing. Besides, anyone with such last name will always be thought of highly over here at GD. The endless possibilities for bromance! Imagine that!
As far as I’m concerned, “Demonic Art” is definitely a step forward for Darkane. They’re clearly improving on their particular neo-thrash formula, and having a new, more energetic vocalist will help them realize their undoubted potential to the fullest in the near future. Their songs continue to be dynamic, technical and catchy, and that’s just the necessary mix required in order to get my attention. Good work here, by all fucken means!
8 potentially bromantic vocalists out of 10.
- Information
- Released: 2008
- Label: Massacre Records
- Website: www.darkane.com
- Band
- Klas Ideberg: guitar
- Christofer Malmström: guitar
- Jörgen Löfberg: bass
- Peter Wildoer: drums
- Jens Broman: vocals
- Tracklist
- 01. Variations of an Eye Crush
- 02. Leaving Existence
- 03. Demonic Art
- 04. Absolution
- 05. Execution 44
- 06. Impetuous Constant Chaos
- 07. Demigod
- 08. Soul Survivor
- 09. The Killing of I
- 10. Wrong Grave
- 11. Still In Progress (bonus track)
- 12. Wrath Connection (bonus track)