New Jersey’s Dark Empire returns with their third release, “From Refuge to Ruin” On March 27th Via Nightmare Records. Band members are Brian Larkin (vocals) Matt Moliti (guitars, vocals) Randy Knecht (bass) Produced by Jeremy Krull and artwork by Gustavo Sazes (Arch Enemy, Firewind, Morbid Angel) . If you were to ask me what genre they fall under it is hard to explain (progressive, power, death, and thrash) is this a new type of metal or just a blending? 70’s prog rock, with poetic lyrics. Dark Empire does it all it is unique, raw and aggressive. Dark Empires “From Refuge to Ruin” is the followup to “Humanity Dethroned”. If you have listened to King Crimson you will hear some similarities to Dark Empire only they have more crushing guitar and blistering death metal riffs.
Track four “Dark Seeds Of Depravity” Begins with a short violin intro then jumps into a crushing pounding rhythm section. There is a high production value throughout the entire album. Track eight “Black Hearts Demise” Has some excellent melodic guitar work in the intro before it punches you in the face it has a great mix between Brian’s vocals and Matt’s chilling death growls. You never know what is coming next and definetly keeps your attention The closing track “The Cleansing Fires” is the prog/power/death masterpiece of rapidly changing tempo with a fierce and relentless passionate climax!
What Dark Empire has accomplished here is quite amazing their music manages to cross over so many genres I think fans of progressive, power, death, and thrash metal will all enjoy “From Refuge to Ruin”. Brian Larkin has a phenominal voice, the guitar work is all top notch! For Fans of: Symphony X, Nevermore, Opeth a must have!
Rating 9/10
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