Where the hell are Glass Cloud when you need them? Since their departure from music all the way back in 2015, Josh Travis’ brand of chaotic, groove-laden core has seen a significant decline. Sure, Travis might have been going strong in Emmure since then, but it’s not quite the same, and it’s no secret that their absence has been felt by myself and many others in their small but dedicated remaining fanbase. Come 2020, however, and not only has Travis himself started venturing back into more Glass Cloud-esque core with Andy Cizek, but a relative newcomer entered the field around the same time.
I say relative, because while Darko as a brand are a newcomer here, its members are far from it. A supergroup comprised of former Lorna Shore/current Chelsea Grin vocalist Tom Barber and former Glass Cloud/current Emmure drummer Josh ‘Baby J’ Miller, they’re far from newbies to the biz. But that doesn’t discount how fresh Darko’s material since their inception a very short while ago has been. See, not only does Darko seem to perfectly fill that Glass Cloud-shaped hole in my heart, they do it in a way I hadn’t quite expected. Blending the fierce grooves, ungodly low tunings and surprising grasp of melody versus the bands of their style with an all-new deathcore-centric angle. It’s bouncy, hyper-aggressive, and one of the most fun sounds to come out of this genre in a very long time.
The group has also proven to be insanely productive, having already released an EP and a number of singles from this self-titled record over the past year since their debut. The content has been consistent from the group, and with reports of work on a second LP from the group having already been completed, it seems the train isn’t stopping any time soon.
From the outset, Darko is unapologetically fast, frantic and punishing. Opening track “Splinter Cell” pulls absolutely zero punches, and while it may initially lull you into a false sense of security with a gorgeous pad synth to set the stage, Darko proceed to drop you in at the deep end. Tom Barber’s signature guttural vocal style pierces through alongside brain-meltingly complex chugging patterns in a guitar tuning lower than the depths of hell. It’s worth stating too that Miller does all of the instrumental work here, and while his drumming chops tend to give much of the music here a heavily percussion-focused sound, its no small feat – given how technical this all is – that it’s the work of one man.
Second track and album highlight “Fiend Dream” similarly impresses with its unrelenting freneticism and innate sense of groove. The song features one of my favourite moment on the entire record, in which vocalist Tom Barber evokes a very Jerry Roush-like laboured inflection over the group’s typically percussive and brutal sound as he chants “I’m doing so well, can’t you fucking see?” The track’s grasp of its chaotic and groove-laden style make it feel like the most true-to-form Glass Cloud counterpart the band has penned to date, just with perhaps a hint more deathcore-centric brutality.
With that said, while their sheer brutality is certainly the centrepiece of Darko’s sound, the album has a few quieter moments that truly speak to the creative breadth and ability of the group. Early-album track “Donna” breaks up the blind aggression with a sombre love letter from Miller to his late grandmother. Whether it was intended to or not, the song provides a sense of breathing room in an album that already feels quite dense by the time you get to this point. The track features a surprising new addition to vocalist Barber’s arsenal with the heavy use of clean vocals. In fact, most of this track is clean sung by Barber, with the exception of the wonderfully emotive scream-sing hybrid technique he utilizes on the song’s chorus.
Lyrically, “Donna” follows dealing with the loss of a loved one (much like Spiritbox’s tear-jerker single “Constance”) and it can be quite emotionally devastating. It’s definitely the most heart-on-their-sleeves moment on this record, and it feels better for it. This isn’t to say the record is monotonous by any degree, but the slower, more emotional stylings of the track (along with mid-album track “Daniel”) really help add to the album’s dynamics in a truly meaningful way.
If I had to provide a minor gripe for the record, penultimate track “If This Is Forever,” while it may help give the audience some breathing room before the monstrous closer, feels a tad long. It’s a nice attempt to give the audience space to breathe and reflect before dropping them head first into the closer, but at almost a full five minutes it’s easily the longest track on the album, and it doesn’t particularly earn that length. It still serves quite well to give the audience that much-needed moment of reprieve, and doesn’t detract from the experience massively, but it’s arguably about two or three minutes too long.
Back to the good, though. Aforementioned track “Daniel” serves as quite the album highlight. Featuring famed Spiritbox frontwoman Courtney LaPlante, alongside Kingdom of Giants clean vocalist Jonny Reeves, the pair trade off clean vocals with each other, before LaPlante explodes into her typically piercing screamed vocal style. LaPlante’s clean singing here actually reminds me more of her work with latter day iwrestledabearonce more than her recent work with Spiritbox, and that’s a wonderfully welcome thing. Haunting and fantastic performances all round, and while I wish the vocal melodies from Reeves could’ve been a tad more interesting, it’s still great to hear all three of these vocalists go at it together on a track in this metalcore meeting of worlds, so to speak.
They’re not the only features on the record, either. “Pretenders” features now-legendary Shadow of Intent vocalist Ben Duerr, who truly makes this track his own with his signature monstrous vocal tone. Further, chaotic closer and eponymous track “Darko” features Nick Arthur of Molotov Solution. On the track Barber and Arthur trade vocals back and forth masterfully, with Arthur’s more mid-centric vocal style complimenting Barber’s unique guttural tone extremely well. Both tracks are typically insanely heavy, with the latter serving as an intense round-off to a record that is just that: intense.
As it stands, it can’t be overstated just how fresh Darko’s sound is in 2021. The visceral, potent aggression this band brings to the table; along with their frenetic, progressive and surprisingly melodic musicality make for a beautifully destructive marriage of ideas in a consistently punishing package. If a second LP really is on the way soon, I can’t wait to hear it, because this group clearly has creativity and writing chops for days, and unless Glass Cloud miraculously crawl out of the murky depths to make a comeback, Darko will comfortably sit atop their throne as the kings of their genre. I wouldn’t say no to a reunion, though. Darko is available now, and you can stream or purchase the album here.
9/10