Unleash the Darkness

Mythark was a local band from a city I know well, which in 2019 happened to record a single album of symphonic mythological-themed metal before going into slumber "to perhaps rise from its grave again in a few years", according to its members. Years have passed, and from Mythark nothing more has been heard; still Unleash the Darkness proudly stands alone, strange beast waiting to be tamed... provided the audience capable of taming it exists somewhere.

It was ambitious. Much too ambitious, in fact. Listening to it, the purpose behind appears clearly: a grandiose evocation of ancient myths – from Egypt, Greece, or the Bible, to medieval legends – through a combination of powerful orchestral samples with uncompromising black/death metal, tailored up to inspire fear and awe all together, perfect mirror of the ageless stories it was inspired by. Symphonic metal taken to the extreme, both on the symphonic and on the metal sides; a sort of Therion on steroids – unescapable reference when it comes to symphonic metal with occult/mythological sympathies. Only, that was how it was supposed to sound like, not how it actually sounds like. Because most of the time, what it sounds like is, an indigestible mess.

One song, Kossuth, gives but a glimpse of what it could have become, had the whole architecture been more structured, more solid. That one is truly grand. Too bad it comes so late, as the penultimate track, at a time the casual listener will already have given up. Before that, several moments of genuine inspiration might have been spotted, like this unexpected use of a 3/4 beat in the second half of Requiem, and further in the sick waltz Purgatory, one of the most interesting tracks with its ironical grand piano chords, cabaret style, and manic laughs. Or these Mid-Eastern scales which regularly invite themselves for short moments of postcard exotism, culminating on Aphrodite... and that's pretty much all that will be remembered, while the remaining good intentions are mercilessly crushed one by one under the terrific weight of the symphonic parts.

Those symphonic parts... They lead the way all throughout, and it seems the guys were so afraid of falling into the trap of mellow orchestral pop metal they aimed at making them as heroic as possible, to the point it becomes tiresome. Too many blasts of synthetic horns and trombones, too many fast strings not going anywhere, too many unfocused programmed opera choirs; and above all everything loud, far too loud. Deep below, the actual metal struggles to exist, not really helped by the limited abilities of the musicians – a line painful to write, considering the amount of actual labour and dedication which can be sensed overall. The vocals essentially consist in a low-pitched, but monotonous, growl, which easily turns into an indistinct droning mumble. The riffing, when it can be distinguished, looks predictable – some one-note chugging here, some conventional black metal tremolo picking there, I'd except Aphrodite again though – and when exceptionally a solo emerges, like in Apophis, it is a tired, hollow one, as if the guitarist had to recatch his breath twice before achieving it.

Of course the drums and bass pound fierce, though even they have hard times to pierce the densest of the orchestral walls. Of course this chaos you get progressively accustomed to, even discovering some islands of raw, savage beauty therein. Again, if Unleash the Darkness is too confused, too soaked in its synthetic orchestral pomp to rise above the status of mere curio to gain staying power, great promises seemed to lurk behind. It was only a debut, remember. Too bad the end had to come so soon after.

Highlights: Aphrodite; Purgatory; Kossuth.