Darkane – Demonic Art – Review

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Demonic Art (Nuclear Blast)
By Mike Delano

Skill and talent are two things Sweden’s Darkane has never lacked, and nothing has changed in that regard on Demonic Art. Jens Broman’s voice is formidable, coming off as a higher-register Chuck Billy, and the rest of the band has no problem assembling a suitably pummeling thrash/death hybrid with a few comedown guitar solos and calculated pit-fodder breakdowns thrown in occasionally to keep things varied. Unfortunately, all this talent goes into creating songs that are mostly faceless, and at times, numbingly robotic. Demonic Art begins with an overblown symphonic overture, announcing grand intentions the album never manages to deliver. The riffs and especially the clean choruses are largely cut-copy-paste-repeat from song to song, and while you’re likely to find some you like here and there (the chorus of “Demigod” and the entirety of “Execution 44” do it for me), it’s overwhelmingly one-dimensional for 50 minutes. There’s too much energy and professionalism on display on Demonic Art to dismiss it completely, but taken as the sum of its admittedly polished individual parts, it doesn’t deliver.
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