Review Summary: This is why mixing band members is bad.
It’s hard to disagree that the melodic death metal scene, and the Swedish metal scene in general, have become so oversaturated that quality is no longer a factor in whether a band succeeds. The more pertinent factor of this truth is that bands will eventually mix, mingle, and sound alike. It follows without surprise that some bands may sound almost exactly the same while retaining a shred of dignity that stopped them from being absolute carbon copies. However…
On their latest album,
Anomaly,
Darkane want to metaphorically and physically punch the (assumedly male) listener right where it counts, showing off their completely fresh and unique sound that mixes thrash with melo-death and clean vocals.
Darkane have managed to put out yet anoth… – wait? What? This is
The Defaced? Well let’s look at a line-up for both bands:
The Defaced:
Jens Broman – Vocals
Klas Ideberg – Guitars
Mattias Svensson - Guitars
Mattias Andersen - Bass
Henrik Pommer – Drums
Okay, and how about
Darkane:
Jens Broman – Vocals
Klas Ideberg – Guitar
Jörgen Löfberg - Bass
Christofer Malmström - Guitar
Peter Wildoer – Drums
Oh.
Ohhhhh.
Ignoring that,
Anomaly is yet another strong showing by one (two?) of Sweden’s strongest bands. As far as instrumental work goes, mixing in enough variation between songs can be a mighty powerful challenge for thrash based bands, since most thrash riffs sound somewhat similar to each other. It’s a tragic black hole of a genre, repeating itself so often that bands don’t even realize when they are copying other bands. Luckily,
The Defaced have the upper hand in this regard, as they tend to utilize thrash based riffs for their verses and harmonized lines for their choruses. This pattern can become a little repetitive, as it is more or less the outline for each track. Adversely, many well played and thought out solos are added into many of the songs, giving a much needed break from the crunchy backdrop of melo-thrash guitars. Add to this a keen knack for introducing noticeable variations between riffs, and you get a band that is always precise and consistently interesting, keeping their work fresh while playing it as safe as possible. Interestingly, if one takes into account the unheard-of bass and the satisfied-with-doing-as-much-as-needed drummer, a problem becomes clearly elucidated:
The Defaced have absolutely no desire to change (as they are putting out solid music).
This alternatively works as both a strength and a detriment to their sound. A strength in the fashion that
The Defaced are very good at what they do, and it’s clear that they will enjoy moderate success if they stick with their formula. On the other hand, one might feel as though
The Defaced could accomplish anything they desired if only they were to take some risks. Unfortunately, this is not the case, as they are soberly content to crunch out the same thrash/melo combinations they have been for ages now. They say that “if it aint broke, don’t fix it”. Well, in
The Defaced’s case, that might go something like: “if it aint broke, but it’s kind of boring at times, maybe we could at least try to change it a bit”.
The Defaced need to take a chance and run with it; it’s okay to be happy with what they are doing, but they are heading down an ultimately inescapable path to mediocre monotony. There are very few bands that can accomplish staying interesting their entire career by never evolving their sound, but cursory listens of either
Darkane or
The Defaced will make one quickly realize that their music will not be able to manage such a great feat.
This crisis of identity may have been alleviated with a more unique singer, but as one listens to
The Defaced, they will inevitably find a formidable similarity between Broman’s two bands. Further complicating this matter is both bands’ tendency to make every third song a ballad, which the singer sings exactly the same way every single time. As far as their sound goes, however, it is easily distinguished from most other metal bands in the fact that Broman tries his hardest to harmonize with his backing instrumentation, lending a definitive melodic tinge to their already strong instrumental backdrop. Broman is clearly an accomplished singer, but he has the exact same problem as the band itself: he never tries anything new, always sticking to what he already knows how to do. The tone of his clean singing voice will become tiring after only a half-dozen or so songs, as its hyper-melodic edge blends together with previous tracks. His screams, however, are expertly executed, displaying a clear tone of confidence and power; his screams fit the music perfectly, and this is distinguishable even from the very first listen.
Ultimately, what brings this album down from being excellent is its tendency to repeat itself. Even though the guitarists write consistently interesting riffs, they are always variations of previous riffs. In an uncanny manner, they have the ability to write consistently strong, powerful music that at the same times repeats itself throughout the album. In a sense, one could say that they are the a interesting boring band, which is quite a headache to think about. While by no means a bad band, they play their sound much too safely, relying on what they’ve always known. As an issue, this is usually not too important. Take into count that sister band
Darkane put an album out that sounds almost exactly the same (the guitars have a bit less kick) just a few months later, and it begins to come clear that the two bands need to get their acts together and stop writing music for each other.
Throwing originality out of the window,
The Defaced have more or less produced a carbon copy of their sister band’s latest album. The real question at hand is, is this that much of a problem? The answer to that, quite happily, is no. The sound these men have crafted is a delightful concoction of thrash based grooving and melodic harmony, backed up by Broman’s demonically powerful clean vocals and high pitched screams. Worth checking out for fans of
Darkane and thrash/melo-death.
