Artist: Darkness Dynamite
Title: The Astonishing Fury of Mankind
Type: Album
Label: Metal Blade
The first thing to say about this album, the first full release from the French band Darkness Dynamite, is that it’s modern and imaginative. I shuddered when I read in the publicity that the band “integrates all of the modern metal flavours but takes inspiration from 80s metal with references such as Metallica, Guns n Roses, Pantera and Sepultura”. I could see the Pantera influence in the rhythmic style but these “references” don’t do them justice. This simultaneously heavy and uplifting collection of songs has the tightest of structures. The styles vary while being predominantly in the area of Thrash/Death, it’s catchy and contains enough Metal twists and turns to keep anyone happy.
Typical of the album as a whole, the opener “Supernatural” operates on a number of levels. It’s mid-paced and driving and features a thrashy rhythm. The most striking aspect is the catchy chorus line which has a despairing ring about it, drawing the listener in and just right for this genre. As the album develops, I heard thumping beats, death and thrash rhythms and frantic drumming but above all tight control. “15$” reminded me a lot in style and sensation of the first time I listened to the album “Everblack” by Mercenary, one of my favourite bands. It has melodic thrashiness to accompany the hunting rhythm. Altogether there’s something majestic about it and the material is head-wrenching. The persistent heavy melody runs throughout this album, while tracks like “Chasing Inside” and “Dare I Say” have an added harshness about them. The vocals are in overdrive all the time and reminded me of Darkane. Whilst it’s not possible to pin down the style exactly, it’s undoubtedly modern but above all it flows and the band know how to channel their brand of heaviness to great effect. Then there are the softer “A Simple Taste Of ..” and “”The Everlasting Grace of Mind”. I’ve never really understood the convention of having instrumentals as the penultimate track, but “The Everlasting Grace of Mind” is exceptional. It’s almost a modern version of the Fleetwood Mac classic “Albatross”. More important to the integrity of the album is the fact that the final track “The Astonishing Fury of Mankind” is a stormer. In common with its title, it’s a piece of Thrash angst, but not before a sludgy opening worthy of Bossk. We’re soon into more familiar territory and the heightened thrash tones of Hatesphere. The track is capped off with the accompaniment of the sinister sounds of sirens, which I thought was a great touch and captured the bleak atmosphere which complements the catchy appeal of the album.
It’s very much a case of quality over quantity as the 38 minutes of this album fly by. The good news is that there are no fillers, just creative ideas culminating in an intense and entertaining Heavy Metal album. I’ve already made a note of it as a likely candidate for one of my Top 10 albums of the year, but I guarantee I’ll be listening to it many times before then.
http://www.myspace.com/darknessdynamite
http:/www.metalblade.com/
Andrew Doherty
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