Darkane - Layers Of Lies
Nuclear Blast - NB 1459-2 - 2005
By Philip Whitehouse
Since the attention grabbing futuristic thrash of debut release Rusted Angel, Darkane have been consistently proving themselves to be one of the more forward thinking bands in the contemporary metal scene. With latest release, Layers Of Lies, the band have made great strides towards ending up top of the modern metal pile. Fusing together relentless thrash velocities and hook laden riffage with Devin Townsend-esque super-sized choruses and occasional bursts of technical polyrhythmic headfuckery, the twelve tracks that make up this CD are a consistently entertaining and dizzyingly impressive collection of songs.
After the introductory track (which features an actual choir and real orchestrated instruments, as opposed to some dude with a Bontempi), the album kicks off at full speed and rarely relents. 'Organic Canvas' stands up as an immediate highlight, with its expansive vocal production in the massive chorus and Peter Wildoer's imaginative drum-work underpinning the whole track. The title track also, with it's Matrix-inspired lyricism and classy, retrofitted acoustic melody/lead guitar intro, is possessed of riffage that will be bouncing around the listener's head for days.
The production is top notch too - a guitar tone that manages to both growl and bludgeon, powerful drum sounds and a rumbling bass, complete with tastefully-used synths and samples and some excellent multi-tracked vocals giving the choruses an extra kick towards a truly epic atmosphere. Generally, the whole album sounds like an amalgamation of the best parts of The Haunted, Soilwork, Devin Townsend and Mnemic, fused together with some exemplary songcraft that is all Darkane's own. Highly recommended.
9/10
Official Darkane Website
[url="http://www.nuclearblast.de]Official Nuclear Blast Website[/url]
Nuclear Blast - NB 1459-2 - 2005
By Philip Whitehouse
Since the attention grabbing futuristic thrash of debut release Rusted Angel, Darkane have been consistently proving themselves to be one of the more forward thinking bands in the contemporary metal scene. With latest release, Layers Of Lies, the band have made great strides towards ending up top of the modern metal pile. Fusing together relentless thrash velocities and hook laden riffage with Devin Townsend-esque super-sized choruses and occasional bursts of technical polyrhythmic headfuckery, the twelve tracks that make up this CD are a consistently entertaining and dizzyingly impressive collection of songs.
After the introductory track (which features an actual choir and real orchestrated instruments, as opposed to some dude with a Bontempi), the album kicks off at full speed and rarely relents. 'Organic Canvas' stands up as an immediate highlight, with its expansive vocal production in the massive chorus and Peter Wildoer's imaginative drum-work underpinning the whole track. The title track also, with it's Matrix-inspired lyricism and classy, retrofitted acoustic melody/lead guitar intro, is possessed of riffage that will be bouncing around the listener's head for days.
The production is top notch too - a guitar tone that manages to both growl and bludgeon, powerful drum sounds and a rumbling bass, complete with tastefully-used synths and samples and some excellent multi-tracked vocals giving the choruses an extra kick towards a truly epic atmosphere. Generally, the whole album sounds like an amalgamation of the best parts of The Haunted, Soilwork, Devin Townsend and Mnemic, fused together with some exemplary songcraft that is all Darkane's own. Highly recommended.
9/10
Official Darkane Website
[url="http://www.nuclearblast.de]Official Nuclear Blast Website[/url]
