Enjoy melodic hardcore infused with elements of technical metal? Then step this way!
First, full disclosure; I have the attention span of a caffeinated gnat, so when I saw Darko labelled with the ‘progressive’ tag, I was initially alarmed. After all, ‘progressive’ shortens to ‘prog’, as in ‘prog rock’, as in 2-hour concept albums called something like ‘Incantations Part IV: In The Court Of Narklar The Wizard King’. Not my idea of a great listening experience, all told.
Thankfully, Darko are an altogether different beast. Yes, this EP is the third in a conceptually-linked trilogy, but these folks are progressive in the sense that they’ve stuffed (or should that be painted?) ‘Canvas’ full of great ideas, all brought to life with zero tedious musical self-indulgence. Fans of the likes of Propagandhi, A Wilhelm Scream, Strung Out and Protest The Hero should start salivating now.
After the mournful, atmospheric instrumental intro track ‘Grey Havens’ gradually builds into a wall of noise, the band hit the ground running, with ‘Dared To Dream’ exploding into a glorious frenzy of powerhouse drumming, dexterous riffing, and sudden time changes. It’s all topped off with frontman Tom West’s enjoyably high-pitched vocals, at times reminiscent of AFI’s Davey Havok, and the end results will make you want to simultaneously pump your fists, yell along, play air guitar and start a one-person circle pit in your kitchen. Ok, maybe that’s just us.
The title track features some brilliantly spidery guitar work, leading into a widescreen chorus, before ‘Override!’ barrels into your subconscious like some kind of runaway tech-punk freight train. It’s actually quite tricky to write genuinely anthemic songs in this style without slipping into overblown cliché, but on ‘Canvas’, Darko seem to have mastered the art.
Just when you think you’ve got them all figured out, though, they go and hit you round the head with the minute-long hardcore rager ‘Hectic (A Father’s Lament)’, complete with death metal growls towards the end. It sounds utterly feral, and if the band feel like further exploring this direction in future, we certainly wouldn’t complain.
Normal service resumes with the punchy ‘Goodbye Bastards’, and then it’s all over with ‘Aux III’, which features the immortal line: “With sand in our lunge, and salt in our wounds/If we’re going to hell, then you’re coming too!” You can almost picture the steam rising off their fretboards afterwards; Darko certainly sound like they’ve thrown everything they’ve got at this EP, and the results are genuinely spectacular. They’re touring now, with more dates to be announced, and on the strength of ‘Canvas’, you’d be crazy to miss out.
‘Canvas’ is out now on Lockjaw/Thousand Islands Records – order it HERE.
Main Photo Credit: TIM KRAMER
- Grey Havens
- Dared To Dream
- Canvas
- Override!
- Hectic (A Father’s Lament)
- Goodbye Bastards
- Aux III
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I spend my days teaching English to foreign students, and my evenings attending as many gigs as possible. Raised mainly on a diet of 90s third-wave punk, my tastes have grown to include just about anything from trad ska to thrash metal. The Ramones are my musical gods.
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