Darkend are a band from Italy that plays a symphonic form of black metal and this is a review of their 2016 album "The Canticle of Shadows" which will be released in April by Non Serviam Records.
Operatic male and female vocals start off the album along with some keyboards a few seconds later which also takes the music into a very fast and symphonic black metal direction that also uses a great mount of blast beats and the songs also get very melodic at times while you can also hear all of the musical instruments that are present on the recording.
Spoken word parts can be heard in some parts of the songs and the music also brings in a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and the solos and leads when they are utilized are also done in a very melodic fashion and most of the tracks are very long and epic in length while also being ritualistic at times.
The fast riffs also use a great amount of tremolo picking and some songs also mix in elements of classical music and as the album progresses acoustic guitars can also be heard briefly and some songs also bring in violins and saxophones and spoken words are also added onto the recording at times and there are also some session work from members of Mayhem, Shining, Rotting Christ, and Abysmal Grief.
Darkened creates another symphonic black metal recording that is very heavy yet epic sounding, the production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover Occultism, Spirituality, Philosophy and Death themes.
In my opinion this is another great sounding recording from Darkend and if you are a fan of this band, you should enjoy this album. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Clavicula Solomonis" "A Passage towards Abyssal Caverns (Inmost Chasm II)" and "Congressus Cum Daemone". 8 out of 10.
Youtube link: https://youtu.be/TATLIL5M4mE
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