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DARKENED
The Black Winter

Edged Circle Productions (2022)
Rating: 7/10

This international death metal combo is not a band I’ve followed too closely, although I did pick up their Mourn The Dying Light EP which was released earlier this year.

I prefer my death metal to be gloomy, squalid and downright rotten, whereas Darkened provide a lot of melody and, above all, a far cleaner sound. And that’s evident once again with this new release where virtually every guitar solo hints at the more traditional aspects of metal with doomier touches, while in general the band flashes between Swedish-styled ground n’ pound flurries alongside simplistic battering.

For those unaware, Darkened have been doing the rounds since 2018 and is a super group somewhat, with a line-up consisting of vocalist Gord Olson (AngelBlast), guitarists Hempa Brynolfsson (AngelBlast) and Linus Nirbrant (This Ending), bassist Tobias Cristiansson (Grave), and drummer Andrew Whale (ex-Bolt Thrower, ex-Memoriam).

So, the members have certainly been around and there’s a lot of influence to consume, but it’s fair to say that Darkened doesn’t really deviate from its path as a rather upbeat, refreshing and gnashing example of modern day death metal where buzzsaw riffs work in tandem with fiery melodic leads, drums rattle in nifty, clean fashion and the vocals are somewhat standard for what I’d consider to be labelled as accessible modern death metal.

The slower segments of this record – the band’s sophomore outing – are to be savoured and one has to be impressed by the blazing leads, particularly on a track like ‘Terminal Lucidity’ which brings flashes of pace alongside more melancholic strains, even if the crisp production never allows the record to have a boggy feel.

To an extent, much of The Black Winter feels cold and clinical, whether it’s the obliterating qualities of the title track with its razor-sharp riffing, the hammering prowess of ‘Swallowed By The World’, or the gargantuan riffage of ‘Flayed’. There’s nary a murky slog in sight even when the band does slow down, and because of that hasty edge The Black Winter has to rely on the vocal outbursts to give some sense of heaviness.

There are even streaks of black metal dissonance, again displayed on a track such as the aforementioned ‘Flayed’, but that’s not to say it’s not a heavy album. ‘Plague Of Despair’ is a fine example of the band exhibiting a grinding aesthetic with those ominous chugs, which is what made Andrew Whale’s previous band Memoriam more accessible, albeit lacklustre.

The end result here is an album brimming with Swedish nuances yet at times edging towards a British no-nonsense charm. However, occasionally it can feel a tad generic even though brisk with aggression. This is quality death metal of that I’ve no doubt, but when one considers the competition The Black Winter is not going to be on heavy rotate in my house.

Neil Arnold

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