Review by Michael on December 10, 2021.

The Swedish/British/Canadian collaboration named Darkened sends a vivid sign of life to the metal community with Mourn The Dying Light. It's just a 7' EP, but this is a great title for the upcoming winter. The first album Kingdom Of Decay was quite similar to Bolt Thrower (no wonder since Andy Whale is playing the drums in Darkened and he did for Bolt Thrower as well) but I think they found their own style here.

'Black Winter' starts quite fast and brutal with a simple riff but soon turns into a mid-tempo track with a lot of melancholic, melodic parts that match perfectly to this disgusting time when (at least here in Germany) everything is closed again, and no concerts nor soccer games can happen with public present (or with a limited publicity and strict restrictions). The riffs are kept quite simple and repetitive, and the gloomy chorus is also repeated quite often to create a very oppressive atmosphere. Vocalist Gord Olson sounds quite pissed-off and aggressive and his dark and raspy voice matches the mood of the track.

The B-side 'The Slime Runs Down Your Throat' is a more varied than the A-side and a little bit faster. Fast and slow, doomy parts interchange here and the melodies played are really impressive. The band creates a very dark and threatening mood with that track using this one specific guitar riff again and again (which reminds me of a movie but my mind can't come up with the title…. maybe someone can help me!!). And again, Gord Olsons vocal performance is great (maybe he slurped some slime before recording them) – dark, brutal and flawless.

Of course, Darkened cannot deny the Bolt Thrower influences completely but let's see if they'll keep working on their own style and kill it on the upcoming album that will be released in the midst of 2022. So, mark the date in your calendar and wait for what will become a killer album from Darkened!

Rating: 8 out of 10