“You were a wonderful experience.”
Many are aware of how significant 2020 was not just for the world, but the music industry as well. The sudden influx of what was, at that juncture, indefinite downtime, ultimately ended up becoming the biproduct of several artists taking advantage of an otherwise suboptimal situation to create new material and experiment with their sound. Just as equally apparent was the emergence of new projects that from the very beginning displayed a steady and high volume of output. One such project was and still is, Darko US. Consisting of two current members of deathcore titan, Chelsea Grin in high-range vocalist Tom Barber and the multi-faceted Josh ‘Baby J’ Miller, Darko US is arguably amongst the most recognizable ventures of that era. Rhythmical oscillation, darkened galactic ambience, and technical brutality have been amalgamated into a crushing slew of releases since the duo’s inception in early 2020.
If dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin receptors all firing simultaneously were ever conceptualized musically, Darko US have done just that and are likely to remain its corporeal embodiment for the conceivable future. Two EP’s and three albums of more colloquially denominated “ADHD deathcore” later, enter DETHMASK PT.3. With what is highly likely to serve as the conclusion of Darko’s DETHMASK trilogy, Barber and Miller have ended this journey on a brutally beautiful high note.
Appropriately, “INTRODUCTION” sets the proverbial stage with a sampled curtain call as an eager audience awaits Darko’s frenzied bombardment of interplanetary destruction. Hyperbolic rhetoric aside, proclaiming Darko to be “from another galaxy” is not too far from materiality given their prior releases. “MALLET PULSE” abruptly begins in all its polyrhythmic, signature Darko electronic synth, sampled and high-ranged vocal glory. Expecting something different? Not to worry. Darko once again proves they continue to find nuance amongst the vast mellifluous cosmos on this track. The sheer array of tempo changes and cross-genre execution that have propelled Darko since the very beginning are omnipresent from the outset of DETHMASK PT.3, and set a firm precedent for the remainder of the EP.
“THE CHAIN HAND” feels like—as antithetical as this seems with respect to Darko—a slowburner track in comparison to not just the other songs on DETHMASK PT.3, but Darko’s overall discography. That’s not to say that “THE CHAIN HAND” is completely devoid of those familiar machine gun fills and breakneck sections that have welcomingly bludgeoned our ears for the last five years but rather substitutes that in many places for more noticeable ambience. Josh Miller’s sampling and synth talents truly shine here and remind us—if we even needed to be—that Darko does not have to statically subscribe to constant brutality to produce quality sound.
The pace skyrockets once more as “BLOODHOST” laser-beams into the frame with fully layered synths on top of Miller’s warp speed blast beats and riffs. Continuing the space-akin atmosphere, we hear a very soulful solo towards the end of the song followed by another chaotic breakdown that ends with intertwined guitar riffs and synth. Combine these with Barber’s full range on blistering display, and you have your quintessential Darko song of the EP.
“HAVE YOU EVER” serves as DETHMASK PT.3’s vocal Olympics in more ways than one. Outside of Barber’s routine delivery, this track uniquely features two vocalists that won a recent competition Darko held. The winners, Keilokei of Slay Squad 111 and Caleb Douthett of Trash Can Murder Ride,offer their odes to deathcore on “HAVE YOU EVER” in spades. While Miller’s musicianship remains as relentlessly staunch as ever, this track feels as though it was the vocalists’ floor more than anything. Given the quality of the features, however, that is in no way an indictment of the bone crushing sound “HAVE YOUR EVER” offers.
DETHMASK PT.3 continues to grind away at the listener’s mental aptitude with “SUPRA”. With a sample that rivals the pure instrumentals of this track in speed and time signatures, the aforementioned concept of “ADHD deathcore” is realized to the fullest extent. Miller and Barber toss the entire kitchen sink along with the plumbing at listeners on this particular song. Given how DETHMASK PT.3 ultimately ends, such an exhibition was more than likely intentional.
“GIZAMACHI” and “GRIM REAPER AND A UZI” could very well stand to be among the more compelling closing track tandems of Darko’s catalogue. The former track interludes as a synth-filled ambience showcase. Given Darko’s release history, what follows could be anyone’s guess. What ultimately does is arguably one of Darko’s strongest compositions to date. Featuring the vocal talents of indie artist Layzi, “GRIM REAPER AND A UZI” is nearly five minutes of emotional reflection and a beautifully produced inverse of Darko’s usual sound. It’s no secret that Darko pulls a fully clean song out of their hats at least once every time they release. What makes “GRIM REAPER AND A UZI” especially distinctive is that we do not hear Barber’s vocals at all, and Darko instead allows Layzi to take centre stage, with a gorgeous and expansive vocal performance. The result is a more than befitting end to DETHMASK PT.3.
Consistently and uncompromisingly full of the established Darko US sound whilst still manifesting considerable refinement, DETHMASK PT.3—like any great third entry irrespective of artistic medium—is an outstandingly proper finale to Darko’s inceptive triad. Whether DETHMASK PT.3 stands to be more than the end of this chapter for Darko remains to be seen. Whatever comes next, however, will be just as eagerly awaited and listened to as everything else in this relatively new yet highly productive supergroup’s young career.
8/10
DETHMASK PT.3 independently releases on February 5th, and you can preorder it here.