Modern metalcore/deathcore duo Tom Barber of Chelsea Grin and Josh Miller of Spite have been absolutely blowing up in the advent of the pandemic. Barely a year into their inception, Darko US has dropped one of the best metal albums in 2021, delivering a uniquely heavy sound and a hell of a time.
The talent and musicianship in this album is amazing. It has some of the most creative and catchy lyrical deliveries and drum grooves I've ever heard, and a generous amount of chugs to satisfy any metalhead out there. Their fusion of low-tuned chugs and blast beats, electronics, ambience and dissonant styles pay homage to both deathcore and modern metalcore while making it a sound unique to themselves.
Their call to heaviness isn't purely on how intense the music is, but rather with how expertly they play with balance, negative space and, in some cases, expectation subversion. Moments like the monotone "such" right before the first chorus of Pretenders or the build up to the breakdown of Pale Tongue, it's clear they know how to make their songs hit hard. Emotionally too, I might add, looking at the heart wrenching song Donna which is a tribute to Josh's late grandmother, or the soft piano instrumental If This Is Forever sitting in the middle of all the heaviness that's reminiscent of Bring Me The Horizon's Count Your Blessings or There is a Hell.
If I had anything to dislike about the album, it's that the title track seems to be somewhat underwhelming. Lacking any defining moments or catchy riffs and rhythms, the final track of the album somehow has less streams on Spotify than the instrumental interlude, which virtually never happens. But, to their credit, everything else on the tracklist are such straight up bangers that I'm more than willing to overlook this.
It's just hard not to be in awe of this band and it's capabilities knowing that, on one hand, Tom's vocal techniques are top of the game and his performances are incredible, and on the other, Josh's writing is phenomenally creative and the fact that he handles all the instrumentals is unbelievable, even if it's naturally percussion-oriented due to his drumming background. This album is just all sorts of great. It's fun, it's enjoyable, it's a great record to headbang to, it's so vibrant and full of energy, what's not to like?
Rating: 8/10