It’s a dark, cold night as you walk leisurely through the woods, something you’ve done countless times before. But something’s different this time. Something is amiss. You push on further, lured by the smell of fires burning, and sounds of chants filling the air, and then it comes into view: what looks like a ritual conducted by cloaked figures.
That also sounds like a typical nightmare for those whose minds tend toward the haunted, and it also could be what Hail Darkness was looking to soundtrack on “Death Divine,” the band’s first full-length. Anyone looking for something that mixes the best of Coven, Jex Thoth, and Cathedral will be right at home on this 10-track offering, and while the band—vocalist/guitarist Jez, bassist/backing vocalist Joshua, drummer/backing vocalist Emmet—doesn’t really visit new ground, they have the proper mind frame and personality to make this feel like a new stab at a time-honored sound. Plus, there’s a sense of devious fun coursing through this record’s veins, and that’s an easy selling point for me every time.
“Luciferian Dawn” kicks off with psychedelic heat, Jez’s smoky, bluesy vocals striking, a buzzing and trippy push leading you down the rabbit hole. The leads lather as the vocals continue to loom large, the playing bristling as the echoes consume all. “Cult of the Serpent Risen” delivers cool riffs and hazy playing, the vibe taking on a late summer feel when the sun’s retreat leads to cooler evenings. Burly pounding slips into a groove as folkish melodies rain down, hand drumming rousing as strings trip, feeling dark and ritualistic. “Hour of the Silent Rite” opens with Jez’s voice only, easily haunting you, and then we’re deep into ’70s bliss, the coven-like feel making your flesh crawl, the singing again overtaking you. The playing continues to agitate embers until the sounds disappear deep into the woods. “With Horns of a Beast” has the bass crawling, flutes breezing, and warm guitars washing over you. The singing is warm and lucid, strangely mystical as the heaviness lands, dissolving into sound. “Hail Darkness” is a short cut with acoustics, high singing, and a dreamy gaze that leaves you hypnotized.
“Goat of Mendes… Raise the Glass!” has scalding guitars, the playing turning bluesy again, and Jez calling, “Midnight rituals of the blackened mass.” The guitars let psyche waves lap the shore, and then the pace grows molten, the playing plodding and driving your face into the dirt. “Coven of the Blackened One” unloads with harsher guitars and impending darkness, the singing causing clouds to burst as the visions of ritual flash in fires. “Casting shadows, casting light,” Jez calls, the guitars bubbling into folk passages and suddenly darkening pathways. “Azarak!” opens with guitars churning and a hazy chorus numbing the senses, the immersion into mystery taking on a bigger role. Wiccan chants cause chills as the guitars boil and crunch, muddy trails swallowing footsteps, entrancing as the final notes ring out in time. “Eyes White Black Soul” feels like a brief ’60s-style pop burst, the bouncy guitars plucking, breathy calls unfurling a velvet-rich landing spot. Closer “See You in Hell” greets with erupting drums, riffs chewing, and electricity swaggering, Jez’s singing packing another strong punch. The leads blister, letting the smoke form into a stormfront, chunky and punchy playing landing blows as Jez taunts, “See you in hell.”
Hail Darkness tread similar ground as other artists, but they make up for the well-visited sound with their charisma that drips all over “Death Divine.” This is a fun record that swells with witchy magic and pays homage to elements that have been part of metal and heavy rock’s fiber throughout history. Autumn arriving soon makes for the perfect setting for this music when the haunting majesty is thick in the air once again.
For more on the band, go here: https://haildarkness.bandcamp.com/
To buy the album, go here: https://www.diggersfactory.com/vinyl/319104/hail-darkness-death-divine-lp
Meat Mead Metal 