Review Summary: The best trip on the Silk Road you'll ever take
The time has finally come. I have another favorite gem from 2008, which I have known and loved for a longer time than Subrosa's "Strega", and which would be the polar opposite of Eowyn's "Silent Screams". Either way, it's another ultimate album of my teenage years, and one of the most special albums you'll ever hear.
How can I even describe Darkestrah? Well, they're a black/folk metal band that makes very long, very atmospheric songs about the culture and history of their home country, Kyrgyzstan, located in Central Asia and once a part of the famous Silk Road. But that's just a surface description, really. Their music has a lot of energy, it's as upbeat as black metal can get. There is also so much creativity in their mixture of heavy guitars, weird raspy growls and whisper, and Asian folk instruments. There is a lot of cultural information to research if you want to explain their music accurately, so much that I could write an entire book about this album alone. But take this introduction as an as-brief-as-possible description of this one-of-a-kind band. As for the music, let's see.
We begin with the title track, hooking us instantly with this verse repeated in the first and last part of the song: "I pass valleys, a way among different civilizations. In other words, it's a song about travelling, and because of its changes in mood and melodies, its use of fiddles, jaw harps and throat singing among the guitar riffs, it does feel like a musical travel. Where else does the music take us? Through the amazing intro of "Inner Voice" , which goes from a Middle Eastern melody to a fast and catchy riff, to a heavier, almost doom-y one, while the rest of the song alternates between both moods. Or to "Cult Tengri", a hymn to the sky god that's essentially a metal version of a rather upbeat traditional melody. Or to the amazing "Kara Oy" (another pagan track) and its melancholic intro, followed by Darkestrah's unique take on black metal: some heavy doom metal influence, a sort of upbeat and comforting tone, but lots of speed and heaviness too. We end appropriately on "The Last Steps", a melancholic instrumental that feels almost like a movie soundtrack.
For once, I describe every song, and in the right order, because this album has only five tracks, all longer than 6 minutes except the outro. As you might guess, this is one of the least easily accessible albums I've ever reviewed. Before you set aside a whole hour to listen to this, make sure you have no problem with long songs, with cultural references you might not understand unless you share the band's background, with black metal that feels notably different from typical black metal, or with a singer who sometimes whispers her lyrics, but mostly delivers them in a raspy, witchy growl rather than a high-pitched shriek. But if you can open your mind to all of that, you'll find a lot to like on this album. I did.
Why? Because it sounds really good, with a wonderful sound on every instrument, instantly memorable riffs and melodies, and a very interesting, unique sound with a lot of personality. They know how to play more than cliché black metal riffs, the drumming is punchy, skillfull but not too showy, the vocals have a lot of power and and a unique sound, and they have the songwriting skills to make their music memorable and enjoyable. It's fun, fast, heavy, melancholic, graceful, and comforting at the same time. I could easily lose myself in their unique world.
I don't give 5 out of 5 ratings to just anybody. They only go to albums I really love, that I consider perfect or close to it, but I've rewarded three completely different albums with that score. Oh well, my musical taste is all over the place, and this is one of the bands that helped my expand my musical horizons. Darkestrah's music has done a lot of good things for me over the years. It got me pumped-up, or comforted when I needed it, it showed me all the things that could be done with metal, made me understand a culture I would have otherwise known nothing about, and made me understand the power of music as an universal language. Say what you will about that, but my favorite black metal and folk metal band is Darkestrah. They're another band I could talk about for hours, and I hope this review was good enough as a tribute to this incredible band. "The Great Silk Road" forever.
