ALBUM REVIEW: Dark Space -II – Darkspace
In the world of atmospheric black metal there are very few bands as revered as Switzerland’s DARKSPACE. Since the release of their first album, Dark Space I, in 2002, the band have stuck to a heady, bombastic blend of black metal and ambient, with a touch of industrial thrown into the mix, creating a sound that is incredibly cavernous and almost futuristic in its sharp and polished undercurrent, sounding utterly cosmic in the most awe-inspiring sense of the term. After the release of their fourth album, 2014’s Dark Space III I, the band entered a lengthy period of creative dormancy, although they remained very active as a live band. Now, just shy of ten years since that last album saw the light of day, the band are back with Dark Space -II, an ambitious, one-track album that reasserts their place at the forefront of atmospheric black metal, matching the grandeur of earlier records whilst exploring the ambient elements in the band’s sound a lot more thoroughly.
Beginning on a subtle wave of ambient minimalism, Dark -2.-2 immediately sets a cavernous, hypnotic tone right out of the gate, with droning synths, tight industrial drums and chunky, imposing guitars all slowly creeping into the sound as it progresses. It creates an engrossing, slow-burning feel that builds anticipation within the listener, the song’s full, spacey majesty not being apparent until close to ten minutes in, when the music shifts towards a slightly more animated, melodic style as slick riffs rise out of a sea of heady, opaque atmospherics and rumbling rhythms. The vocals are similarly buried underneath some of the song’s weightier, more awe-inspiring elements, but they do cut through the mix with their searing, snarling harshness and add another subtle layer to an already monolithic sound.
Rather than cutting from one section to the next and feeling like several shorter tracks tacked together and presented as a single piece of music, the music on here gradually moves, almost imperceptibly, into each part of this song, with the murky ambience at the core of the band’s music being the main link as the track progresses, transitioning from harder to lighter moments with ease. The guitars duck and weave in and out of the music, with many points of this song stripping away the black metal at the heart of the band’s sound entirely and allowing the domineering industrial and dark ambient elements to carry the music much more prominently. Far more forceful and epic guitars return as the track reaches its climax, with the drumming taking on a more thunderous and powerful sound as well, meaning that the final few minutes of this gargantuan offering sound a lot more chaotic and urgent in their style and pace than the much more subdued approach that dominates this track throughout.
In the nine-and-a-half-year gap between Dark Space III I and this album, it doesn’t feel like DARKSPACE have lost a step at all, with the music present here feeling every bit as impressive and awe-inspiring as the band’s earlier work, and slotting in with the huge, cosmic sound that each of their previous efforts possess. Although DARKSPACE are known for their longer form tracks, it’s great to see the band finally take this sprawling approach to songwriting to its natural extreme, giving each aspect of the music plenty of room to develop and breathe in a way that several shorter tracks wouldn’t have been able to. Hopefully there won’t be another decade-long wait until the next record, but whatever they produce next is sure to be every bit as stunning and subtly grandiose as what has preceded it.
Rating: 8/10
Dark Space -II is out now via Season Of Mist.
Like DARKSPACE on Facebook.