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DARK DIVINITY
Unholy Rapture

Self-released (2022)
Rating: 5/10

Out of the cracks of Wellington in New Zealand crawls the debut full-length album from melodic death metallers Dark Divinity.

To be blunt from the off, this is the sort of crisp metal that can be heard anywhere, particularly with the duelling vocal pairing of the snappier rasps and deeper growls. I think with bigger backing, Dark Divinity is the sort of upcoming band that could appear on numerous European labels, because the sound they create, although rather cold and uninviting, is potent. However, for me the band would benefit from sticking to one style of vocal, namely the actual death metal grunts because those irritating snaps lean towards too much contemporary deathcore and the likes and does the band no favours, and it certainly isn’t a style that makes them more extreme.

Musically, the band rumble along nicely as evidenced from opener track ‘Exegesis’ where tempos shift nicely and the axe, bass and drum rumble like a belligerent tank. And this is the theme throughout as the combo borders on a clattering thrash menace, particularly with the juggernaut charge of ‘Subterfuge’, the groove-based yet destructive snap of ‘Forbidden’, and the angular threat of ‘Left For Dead’.

This is engaging metal, but it is the sort of stuff that was turning up in Terrorizer magazine by the bucket-load back in the late 90s. I don’t like to call such bands generic, it’s just I don’t see much of an identity in such grey and humourless solidarity even though I get exactly what the band is trying to achieve.

The outfit certainly doesn’t hold back when the speed is applied, although I do enjoy some of the starker, more abrasive seeping such as on ‘Cadavers’. But for the most part I’m struggling with those ear-scratching vocal sneers and through all its venting of fury I don’t see a great appeal here. Unholy Rapture can rant and rave until its dark heart is content but it remains a rather soulless journey into the bleak realms of contemporary macho self-indulgence.

Neil Arnold

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