Darkane "Rusted Angel" CD
[Regain]
And another reissue of melodic Swedish death metal (this time with two bonus tracks) comes to us from Regain Records. Admittedly when this record came out it wasn't particularly the most original sounding thing in the world, I mean, it's fairly typical melodic Swedish death metal, but in retrospect there are a few things about this record that were expanding on the genre just a bit. I always fucking loved the drumming on this thing, and looking back the drum performance is still top notch, knowing just when to step back into a basic beat or cut loose into some wildly flashy fills, but some of the faster tempos brought in some thrash influences, and the mix of screaming vocals with hints of singing was slightly ahead of the curve as well. And there are some fucking classic songs here. "Convicted" was always one of those songs that tore my head off right away, and I'll never forget it. The chorus to the title track is also fucking incredible, as the singing is used perfectly to accentuate the tempo changes and melodies. The two live tracks were recorded in late-1998 and sound pretty good. The vocals are a tad loud and there's not enough density, but the mix isn't that bad and the songs are easily listenable. The recording of the album itself stands up fine to anything that's out there now. It's a little thin, the drums stand out a lot and the bass lacks density, so the vocals and cymbals and such sort of float to the surface. But the rigidity of the percussion helps the playing leave a mark, and they keep that in check fairly well. More of a thunderous bass presence and a thicker, tighter mix would've made a difference, but it's the songwriting here that truly matters. I like the layout for the most part, it's really consistent and there's some cool imagery happening. Some of the computer effects are over the top or sort of basic and become a little cheesy, and the cover art isn't as strong as some of the other panels, but it works in the end. Lyrically things are pretty angry and whatnot, but I'm not really interested in the content at all, it's fairly typical and unassuming. This is still a damn good record. I hated the follow-up album, but "Rusted Angel" should definitely have a home in the collection of any enthusiast of this genre. (7/10)
Running time - 49:48, Tracks: 13
[Notable tracks: Convicted, Rusted Angel, July 1999]
Regain Records - http://www.regainrecords.com

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