### Darkane: Layers of lies

#### 22/10/07 || The Duff

I never really lost track of this band, I just stopped listening to them for a while after “Expanding Senses”, and it took me sometime to give their latest, “Layers of Lies”, a spin, despite my interest in where the band was taking things every occasion I saw the album in some record store or other. Then I found out about vocalist Sydow’s departure, checked out the music video attached to the article, and thought that it was time I became reacquainted with this talented five-piece.

I always expected to enjoy this band’s music, but to find Darkane’s melodeath style to be a refreshing experience is something I could never have foreseen. However, because The Haunted and Soilwork no longer play (this kind of) metal (KABLAM!), Darkane have reminded me just of what Swedish metal bands are good for, and that when done right, the melodeath/thrash scene still very much has some breath left in it.

I suppose that the most striking aspect to Darkane’s music is in fact Sydow’s vocals. Some have accused him of sounding too monotonous, which is true, but at the same time he sounds very unique, and also has an arsenal of other vocal techniques that come into play so as to combat boredom setting in. What’s more, the guy is creative, and the vocal hooks he comes up with the icing on the cake to a disc brimming with quality music.

The music isn’t really all that ground-breaking; a Meshuggah-like riff here and there, some Slayer, The Haunted and At the Gates influences, a lot of death metal riffing without the brutal-fuckyerface attitude (think The Forsaken), and some Strapping Young Lad-esque “wall of sound” moments (where Sydow’s vocals truly reveal their fullest effect), but it’s all well-written stuff, with a lot of heart.

What sets Darkane apart in the songwriting department is that they have one of metal’s most underrated guitar players, someone with a knac for keeping everything tasteful (even the few, somewhat accessible sections this album has), and also a know-how of when to let the song breathe and when to delve into the excess and break some faces. His solos are of the uppermost level, and riff-wise the guy delivers in both catchiness and the all-important heavy.

It’s great being able to appreciate that vintage Swedish thrash sound I once thought to be dead and buried, and so I welcome a band like Darkane with open arms, likely to keep a close eye on any future endeavors.

7 multi-talented vocalists out of 10.

- Information
- Released: 2005
- Label: Nuclear Blast
- Website: www.darkane.com
- Band
- Andreas Sydow: vocals
- Jorgen Löfberg: bass
- Christofer Malmström: guitar
- Klas Ideberg guitar
- Peter Wildoer: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Amnesia of the Wildoerian Apocalypse
- 02. Secondary Effects
- 03. Organic Canvas
- 04. Fading Dimensions
- 05. Layers of Lies
- 06. Godforsaken Universe
- 07. Klastrophobic Hibernation
- 08. Vision of Degradation
- 09. Contaminated
- 10. Maelstrom Crisis
- 11. Decadent Messiah
- 12. Creation Insane