Hail Darkness – Death Divine
Hail Darkness – Death Divine
Vatican Records
Release Date: 15/08/24
Running Time: 39:42
Review by Dark Juan
Score: Several quintillions/10
Well, good afternoon, friends.
Let’s see who I can piss off this time!
I have just been reminded that every scene and every group of people has their arseholes extant among them. You will remember I reviewed a band called Keys (https://www.ever-metal.com/2024/08/12/keys-the-grand-seduction/) recently and was very complimentary about them, in my usual irreverent fashion. However, one of the members of that band decided to throw his toys out of his pram because I had dared say that it sounded like 80s Hard Rock and he insisted that they had a “cutting edge vocalist who had formed Amaranthe and (some other band I had no interest in)” and launched a personal attack on Dark Juan, saying that I hadn’t listened to a new record since 1982, on my personal page. Ironically and somewhat amusingly, this overgrown toddler and his temper tantrum did not make its way onto the band’s own page where my review still stands, they themselves having shared it. Equally amusingly, he appears to have forgotten that I am a reasonably prolific music critic who has written close to, or just over, half a MILLION words about Metal and Extreme music over the years. Also, let’s just say he could have effectively sung ‘Every Rose Has Its Thorn’.
Let me be very clear, dear readers – I WILL NOT, EVER, DRESS UP MY WORDS TO PLEASE THE RAMPANT EGOS OF SOME MUSICIANS. If I like a record, I will say so. If I don’t, then I will say so and throw in a bit of constructive criticism because not every band in the world is the dog’s bollocks. Dark Juan tells the truth about music. If it sounds like the electronic version of 80s Arena Rock, I will say so. If it sounds like every single demon in Hell has farted at the same time and that the vocalist is belching up his own internal organs I will say so. I write in the service of the readers, who may well choose to spend real money on what I write. I do not write in service of the bands or musicians (apart from to try to get them as much recognition that I can because trying to get your band noticed is close to fucking impossible these days), unless I am a champion of them. I do not just blow smoke up the arses of musicians regardless of their ability and most importantly – Dark Juan loves a battle and would quite happily spend months dismantling people, so if anyone else fancies a bash, crack on. I can hold grudges for decades. Just ask Flesh Hunter and The Analassaulters. Or Kory Clarke. And now, Keys.
Wankers.
Now I have finished saying my piece, I should like to announce that the Satanic Platter of Splatter™ has been spinning and playing incantations and paeans to the One Who Walks Backwards in the form of the debut long-player from US Occult Rockers Hail Darkness, being a trio who also employ a bunch of friends in the Hail Darkness Coven to flesh out the sound of the band.
Now, if you are regular readers of my drivel, you will recall that I am a massive fan of Coven and Jinx Dawson and have been wishing for quite some time to have a band come along to raise their chalices to that seminal Satanic Psychedelic band – by Jove and by Jiminy I think we have found them in Hail Darkness!
Obviously, if they were mere copyists, Dark Juan would be frowning and wondering how he could phrase his disappointment in a way that would be inclusive and constructive. Thankfully, Hail Darkness build on the twisted, happy-clappy Psychedelia of Coven and combine it with the bass-heavy fuzziness and expansive grooviness of Electric Wizard. Added to this potent brew are elements of Folk music and the Pop sensibilities of Jefferson Airplane (vocalist Jez reminds Dark Juan very much of a less polished and considerably less drug-addled Grace Slick, with her all-or-nothing vocal style) and some sparkly flares in the guitar tones, which are reminiscent of the likes of classic 70s British Glam Rock at times… Think T-Rex playing Doom Metal and you’ll have an idea of what I mean.
So, Occult Psychedelic Doom, then. This is a genre that is so far up Dark Juan’s street that it is in my bedroom asking me to come to bed and promising that it has put the sacrificial daggers away, honest. It’s also asking me to bring a brew up. Cheeky beggar. Yes, Dark Juan is becoming very much a fan of Hail Darkness at this point in time.
Opening track ‘Luciferan Dawn’ sets up the album in mighty fashion, all superfuzzy guitars and bass, yet with drums cutting cleanly through the valve-driven miasma of the music, and vocalist Jez’s strident voice slicing viciously through the blissed-out grooves, especially on the insistent and slightly worrying chorus and middle eight, where her backing vocal is basically inchoate screaming. Her delivery is nothing less than terrifyingly committed on this opening song, the power neatly forming a counterpoint to the extreme Doom Psychedelia of the music. Yes, ladies, gentlemen and all other identifications of gender, we are back in the Temple of the Groove and Dark Juan is prostrating and abasing himself in front of the almighty grooves that Hail Darkness are providing. We are in the realms of psilocybin induced contemplation of the outer realms of the universe and religion. Lyrically, Hail Darkness take a frequently tongue-in-cheek deep dive into the worlds of witchcraft, Satanism and esoterica, backed by the kind of valve-driven tones that set avalanches off and their sound is very much rooted in the classic sub-Sabbathian Doom mode but with added hippy sacrifice. This is displayed excellently on ‘Cult Of The Serpent Risen’, where there is a passage that brings you right back to Eastern-tinged hippy-dippy incantations, but to Satan, not to some benign cosmic overseer. It is at points like these where you can also see the Folk Rock and Jefferson Airplane influences at work.
It is an intoxicating mix, indeed. Hail Darkness have managed to bridge that gap between mere lyrics and being able to tell stories with their words. The lyricism on this album is top notch as is the expertly judged production, which has left enough rough edges to provide the listener with an authentic experience of the band with little polishing. This makes for a thick and very meaty sound, with loads of bottom end yet still with clarity, modern production techniques hidden behind a wall of all-encompassing Satanic fuzz.
And then there is Jez, who handles guitar as well as vocals. She’s an absolute fucking peach of a frontwoman, being striking both visually and vocally. It is easy for Dark Juan to imagine her whipping across a stage, caught up in the magic she is extracting from a Gibson SG and emptying her soul into the microphone. She is by no means the most technically accomplished vocalist there has ever been, but when the music and the band are this fucking good, it really doesn’t matter. She is the perfect foil for the twisted, broken, damaged, unashamedly retro Psychedelia that Hail Darkness play, and it is that alchemy, that magic, that turns merely good bands into great ones.
Hail Darkness are a great band and Dark Juan now considers himself their acolyte. I beseech you, if you dig early Coven and Doom, consider Hail Darkness. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed with what you hear, and it’s cheap at the price of your soul, too!
The Patented Dark Juan Blood Splat Rating System has been waiting for the spiritual successors of Coven for decades now, and therefore awards Hail Darkness several quintillions/10 for a record that has delighted Dark Juan to the point of… well, you really don’t need to know!
ADDENDUM: To add to the weirdness while listening to Hail Darkness, my music player on my pooter elected to display a picture of Bette Midler.
I own precisely zero Bette Midler records. Goodbye.
TRACKLISTING:
01. Luciferan Dawn
02. Cult Of The Serpent Risen
03. Hour Of The Silent Rite
04. With Horns Of A Beast
05. Hail Darkness
06. Goat Of Mendes…Raise The Glass!
07. Coven Of The Blackened One
08. Azarak!
09. Eyes White Black Soul
10. See You In Hell
LINE-UP:
Joshua – bass
Jez – Vocals, guitar
Emmet – Drums
LINKS:
