A Darker Kind of Salvation

Are you worried In Flames has inspired a massive dump of groups looking to imitate their awful identity? If so, find a bunker and hide: they are among us! Sweden’s Closer kindly gloats over the torch provided by their main influence in musical worship throughout “A Darker Kind of Salvation,” but this release does nothing special at all. Strangely enough, I’d say the darker, primitive edge discovered in Closer’s sound achieves a few fallen ideas. Hell, I’d go as far to say Closer is voluminously prepared more intelligently on a musical notion than In Flames, but one sound containing no dignity still leaves an album without any dignity; that’s the tale behind “A Darker Kind of Salvation.”

You know, why even bother mimicking In Flames? You’ll accomplish nothing! “N0 Way D00D,” replied our slow friends. Yes, we have melodic death metal like always, but with putrid touches of groove slams and metalcore breakdowns always present. Funny thing is Closer enjoys guitar licks that are barely different from their own melodic structures and cuts; pretty bland and unoriginal, but who would have guessed that could ever happened, right? The percussion doesn’t do much beside easy patterns and predictable fills that aren’t really productive to begin with, plus the bass goes nowhere. I’m no fan of the production either: the drums are triggered to death, solos are poorly polished by studio charms, and everything appears too tampered for Closer’s own good. Me no wanty.

Positives, however, make an appearance once in a while when not pressed against vast negativity. First off, I have no quam towards Andreas Melberg’s fantastic vocals. Sure just another growler, but one that can bend when facing different atmospheres, and sounds very good nevertheless. Another high point lies between “Open Your Eyes,” where Closer applies mild pianos over Melberg’s voice; not revolutionary, but it adds some justice upon this corrupt offering. Finally, the title track has a nice death metal riff layered over rapid bass pedals and heavy instrumentation, which says a lot about what could have been with these gentlemen. Too bad they took a wrong path instead of actually seeking a valid blueprint.

There really isn’t much behind this effort besides the obvious truth of modernized metal taking another vicious hit from redundant patterns and unnecessary formulas that stay in a single spot and refuse to flex. The record’s tone remains identical throughout, even more so when Closer’s originality runs out and they depend on bland melodic death metal, with no plan or frontier for absolution. In an age that’s controlled by this vague sense of melodic death metal, Closer comes out as champion, but that doesn’t add much creditability towards “A Darker Kind of Salvation” or the group’s counterfeit performance. Don’t bother.

This review was written for: www.Thrashpit.com