Darkenhold don't exactly fit the conventional stereotypes of French black metal. The Gallic BM scene has made a name for itself through a range of unique styles; the mind-warping dissonance of Blut Aus Nord and Deathspell Omega; the ultra-depressive, strangled melodicisms of Mutiilation and Mourning Dawn; the grimy, nihilistic grinding of Anteus. Darkenhold seem to have instead teleported in from early 90's Norway, espousing a classic symphonic/melodic second-wave sound with an overtly theatrical capes-and-castles aesthetic to match. The band hail from Nice, an area better known for its Mediterranean beaches than for frostbitten, windswept climes, and its only when considering the close proximity of the majestic French-Italian Alps that things finally start to make sense.
'A Passage to the Towers...' is epic, sweeping stuff, but not lacking in raw edge: a bouncy, chaotic mix of old Immortal and Emperor that's positively overflowing with bombast and momentum. Raw, tremolo riffs grind away, plunging into melodic half-time gallops, the songs sounding immediate yet with a clear sense of direction, full of energy and most definitely *going somewhere*. Pretentious guff about going on a 'musical journey' aside, the songs powerfully evoke a sense of moving through boundless vistas and towering ruins. Beautiful, cascading riffs and triumphant, mid-paced surges pay homage to classic Dissection, adding a Swedish flavour, and are merged masterfully with Immortal's pounding, razor-sharp dynamic, backed up here and there by rolling banks of medieval synth, low, clean Nordic singing and fragments of warm, acoustic guitar. A mixture of nicely balanced rasped growls and understated spoken-word parts complete the picture.
Sure, there's nothing here that hasn't been done a thousand times before, but the album stands out because everything is so expertly woven together. Electrifying melodic riffs and hammering drums pour down upon the listener throughout, acting as a lynchpin for the various transitions that follow. One minute the album might hint at the churning, brooding aggression of Storm of the Light's Bane, the next it'll segue into some epic, slow-building riff that could be from Sons of Northern Darkness, or else fly off on a symphonic tangent bursting with melodic solos, or switch into some crunchy, pounding heavy metal riff. Or else it might shift into a gentle acoustic passage that reminds of Ulver's Kveldssanger, or a sprawling, melancholy, slow-marching riff that has Agalloch written all over it. The album surprises and engages throughout, and feels thick in atmosphere without ever spilling over into cliche.
'A Passage to the Towers...' has a rather fitting ambiguity about it. It has one eye on the mountains, exuding a lofty, epic coldness, but at the same time is bursting with uplifting melody and shot through with warmth and light. It manages feel polished whilst retaining a certain raw kick, successfully evoking the halcyon days of second-wave melodic black metal without coming across as pretentious or redundant. Now pass me that burgundy cape and set of plastic fangs will you, I'm off to scare some tourists.
http://www.myspace.com/darkenhold
Ross Taylor
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