vote
7.0
- Bands:
DARKNESS - Duration: 00:43:16
- Available from: 04/26/2024
- Label:
-
Massacre Records
Streaming not yet available
Damn plastic! Take that transparent veil that, historically, envelops your new CD: how many times have you carefully unwrapped it, giving free rein to its contents – from the cover to the precious booklet, finally allowing yourself to be carried away by the riot of energy and emotions transmitted by the various songs?
Now, consider that that light glossy layer has not actually disappeared completely, instead insinuating itself between Arnd’s six strings, on Lacky’s drum heads, on Lee’s microphone and, again, between the strings of Ben’s bass: in this way you will have the ‘perfect’ sound of “Blood On Canvas” here, Darkness’ fifth career album, after their long-ago debut “Death Squad” in 1987.
And, as then, the Essen band, which in the meantime welcomed the entry of the new guitarist Dominik Rothe, replacing Meik Heitkamp (not present in the new album anyway), has shaped its work on a very cordial thrash metal style mainly Teutonic, paying more than one ear to what Mille Petrozza has perpetrated over the years, ranging between the more melodic versions and those with a greater level of aggression of his Kreator. The result, once again, is nine pieces that flow smoothly and directly, supported precisely by the ability to match the right catchiness of the riffs leading to the vocal line exasperated by Lee himself.
Harmony and wickedness, with the former making a big voice especially in the first part of “Blood On Canvas”, instead increasing the rhythms in the second half and allowing us, in both cases, to enhance our status as true headbangers.
Tracks like “Wake Up In A Rage”, “A Couple Of Kills” (the best of the lot), “Human Flesh Wasted”, “Truth Is A Whore” (with references more inclined to Testament) or the long title track are bombettes in series to delight the thrash palate of enthusiasts. And the effect would have been even more appreciable if it weren’t for that plastic wall mentioned at the beginning of the review, guilty of having suffocated the sonic blood splashed on the canvas (paraphrasing the title of the album) by the Darkness mascot on the cover.
Was it better when you were rough? In this case yes! For thrashers, the German band’s new album is absolutely recommended, precisely for its authenticity and respect for the old school; It’s a shame, we repeat, for the production which, in fact, affected the final outcome of the product.
