Darkane - Layers Of Lies (2005) - Promising but far from being convincing - 77% (28/03/12)

Darkane from Sweden play a quite interesting mixture of modern death metal passages and pitiless thrash riffs with a dark and desperate vibe that could also please to gothic metal fans. This variety means that this kind of music may be worth your attention as it could please to fans of a bunch of very different bands such as Absu, Children Of Bodom, Communic, Meshuggah, Nevermore, The Old Dead Tree or Watch Tower. Their music has a very technical and almost progressive approach at some points. The band is able to mix technical ecstasy with atmosphere and emotions which is a thing not all of the mentioned bands are able to do. The basis of this record seems to be very promising but there is a little something that disturbs my full appreciation for this output.

The problem we have in here is that the tracks sound all quite similar and the well sought song structures get a little bit used after a while. Especially the beginning of the album kicks off on a rather low note and the band only varies significantly towards the end of the record. The last three tracks vary between profound and harmonic progressive parts as in "Maelstrom Crisis", bass orientated thrash monsters with a few doom undertones as heard in "Decadent Messiah" and very aggressive, fast and technical stuff like "Creation Insane". These tracks offer a lot to discover but need some patience until they grow as they are hard to follow and sound strangely complex and quite straight at the same time. All in all, this album is though a little bit too straight and everything is said after a while. If you have listened to previous records of the band it seems as if they haven't changed a thing in their formula to progress in any artistic way. There is no real need for a purchase of this record if you aren't a very loyal collector and true fan of the band and you might as well pick any other album of the band or wait for a compilation release.

My favourite song is though in the middle of the album. The title track has epic a very hypnotizing dark vibe, a simple but extremely catchy chorus, a pitiless and energizing middle part followed by beautiful guitar harmonies that awaken a melancholic spring in this grey winter of despair. The band is able to create a truly addicting atmosphere which is definitely one of their strongest points and this track represents the band very well and in top form. If these guys would be able to catalyse this precision between diverse technical ecstasy and addicting atmospheric hooks over the whole record, they might easily be part of the top technical death or thrash metal bands in the world but there is definitely still some way to go as they are only slightly above good average right now.