Dark the Suns - In Darkness Comes Beauty
Firebox Records
Melodic Dark Gothic Metal
10 songs (39'56")
Release year: 2007
Firebox Records
Reviewed by Alex

You can blame it on Sentenced, but there is no denying that recent years brought a preponderance of Finnish bands subscribing to darker shade melodic metal. The reaction borne is largely two-fold. Some claimed dissatisfaction when syrupy melodies began creeping into death metal diluting it with gothic leanings, bringing out makeup and prevalent synths to many a band repertoire. Others, those who can’t generally stomach the more extreme shades of metal, were quite happy with many Finns reaching for the more commercial sound. The beauty, as always, is in the eye of the beholder, and as long as the result is quality I say “who cares”.

Dark the Suns, damn the grammatically uncertain moniker, follow in the footsteps of countrymates Entwine and To/Die/For with a rougher edge to their music coupled with some rookie production. Started by Mikko Ojala as a one-man band, Dark the Suns now has a full line-up which follows its formulaic approach practically 100% throughout ten cuts presented on this full-length debut.

Above mid-tempo (Reflections) or slower songs (A Darkness to Drown In), Dark the Suns visibly delineates their cleaner keyboard-laden distortion-free sections from the ones carried on by semi-muscular but fuzzed out guitar riffs. Those riffs or not, the main melodies are almost inevitably executed by synth lines floating above the fray, just about every song beginning with this melodic portion setting the tone for the rest of the cut. Mikko is singing cleanly, but mostly whispering (Reflections, Drama for Gods) whenever the riff-free part comes in. Most of the time, however, he is in much gruffer mode, at times scraping the complete bottom a la Tomi Koivusaari of the very early day Amorphis (A Darkness to Drown In), especially if the tempo slows down.

All of In Darkness Comes Beauty songs flow one into another with little variation between them which can signal both a good and a bad thing. If one of the songs makes an impression on you, it is likely you will dig this dark, but not so sweet, song collection. But if by the time Black Sun ends you still feel indifferent, there is no hope you will ever enjoy the album. Black Sun, actually, along with the next track Alone, seem to be a culmination of the album of sorts, where more forceful riffs come out, the rhythm is rather syncopated, melody penetrating and double bass ending brings out a good guitar solo.

Album’s production is also of dubious nature. While the keyboards/synth manage to hold the fine line between organic and overly electronic, the distortion in guitar riffs and percussion, especially cymbals, makes everything sound as if the band is possessed by static electricity. This buzz, on one hand prevents absorbing all of Dark the Suns melodicism, but if you hated that in the first place, perhaps the less than clean production will suit you better. I am, for one, in favor of cleaning it the next time around. This gothic dark metal tends to sound better clean, as long as you avoid pathetic sugariness Entwine has been slipping into the last album or two. In Darkness Comes Beauty is much more for the devoted fans of the genre than for the widespread audience.

Killing Songs :
Black Sun, Alone
Alex quoted 67 / 100
Other albums by Dark the Suns that we have reviewed:
Dark the Suns - All Ends in Silence reviewed by Boris and quoted 68 / 100
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