Playwright Oscar Wilde believed it was only through art that humanity can realize its perfection; only through art that we can shield ourselves from the sordid perils of actual existence. The demons known to many as Fear, Doubt, Worry, Guilt, Regret, Shame, and Rage - when combined with creative self-actualization ( maximizing one's individual capacities & abilities in order to determine the path of one's life) - can act as a potent catalyst for personal growth. In music, we can address our capacity to invoke chaos upon ourselves. With nothing to gain or lose by navigating us through this emotional landscape, five men from Helsingborg, Sweden known as DARKANE stand to illuminate our path with their latest offering of melodic, aggressive, and technical thrash metal, Demonic Art. “The goal,” according to the track ‘Impetuous Constant Change,’ “is to alter the human / Give guidance to be reborn / Follow the path to the other side / Fresh and free from remorse.”
Born within the death metal genre amidst heavy influences from American thrash and Floridian death metal bands such as Atheist, Cynic, and Death, Agretator’s music was immensely technical. Their demise came when the band ran out of the necessary time and inspiration to devote to songwriting. When Agretator split up, guitarist Christofer Malmström, drummer Peter Wildoer (ex-Armageddon, ex-Arch Enemy), and bassist Jörgen Löfberg (The Defaced) continued on. Immediately signed to War Records, the first two tracks ever recorded by the newly launched DARKANE (the fusion of “dark” and “arcane”) was for the label’s War Dance compilation, featuring Soilwork’s Speed Strid as a session vocalist.
DARKANE soon entered Dug Out Studios with producer Daniel Bergstrand (Meshuggah, In Flames, Strapping Young Lad) in August/September 1998 to record their mesmerizing full-length debut, Rusted Angel. They added second guitarist Klas Ideberg (Terror 2000, The Defaced) and had not yet secured a lead singer. Asking Bergstrand for a recommendation, he suggested his assistant, Forcefeed/Seethings vocalist Lawrence Mackrory. Though considered temporary from the start, Mackrory urged the band to seek a replacement following the album’s completion. After deservedly receiving noteworthy praise throughout the underground in response to their first album – which many critics have hailed as one of the greatest debut albums in recent history – a tour with Soilwork and Naglfar in the Netherlands and Belgium ensued. DARKANE’s aggressive chemistry began to crystallize, and they found a new frontman in local Helsingborg vocalist Andreas Sydow. A clean singer by trade, Sydow learned to scream and discovered a unique voice that DARKANE wanted to permanently associate with the band’s sound.
Recorded like its predecessor with Bergstrand at Dug Out Studios, DARKANE’s aptly named second album, Insanity, was a compilation of manic ideas. The recording sessions were plagued by a series of unfortunate events (flooding, lightning storms, and near electrocution!) causing production delays. With more beats per minute than Rusted Angel and impressive time signatures, the result was a mature synthesis of technical thrash & melodic death styles. Called “a masterpiece of extreme aggression” by Metal Maniacs, Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles described Insanity as “a white-hot maelstrom of extreme metal with the precision of a sniper and the force of a speeding freight train.” Their North American debut at 2001’s Milwaukee Metalfest resulted in a crowd frenzy punctuated by chants for an encore, a legacy that followed DARKANE on the road while headlining in the U.K.
2002’s Expanding Senses signaled a return to Dug Out Studios and the adventurous production talents of Bergstrand. Though every song had its own character, all the familiar DARKANE ingredients were evident throughout: a futuristic mixture of thrash and death, caustic guitar arrangements, strong melodies, and the undertow of tight drumming, topped with Sydow’s inspired vocal performance. Kerrang! called Expanding Senses “the missing link between Strapping Young Lad, Fear Factory, and At The Gates.” The album even included a guest vocal appearance from Lawrence Mackrory on “Chaos Vs. Order.” True to their inherent hit-and-run brutality, DARKANE’s live shows in Holland, the U.K., Japan, Tel-Aviv, through Poland with Behemoth, through Europe with Testament and Death Angel, at the Aalborg Metal Festival in Denmark, at the New Jersey Metalfest, and at the famed Wacken Open Air festival stayed savage and kept the shrapnel flying.
The band relied on their own production abilities in their very own Not Quite Studio for 2005’s Layers Of Lies. DARKANE’s impeccable musicianship – with no attempts to hide their fondness for classical music & arrangements – made this a zenith of their collective talents. Brutal enough to satiate old fans, modern enough to span genres, and technical enough to appease the community of critics, Blabbermouth.net concluded: “Layers Of Lies is one infectious, irresistible, charismatic ass-kicker of a record.” Audiences responded fervently to DARKANE’s live, frenetic energy during the band’s first tour of North America opening for Fear Factory, Soilwork, and Strapping Young Lad. In 2006, DARKANE toured Europe again with Sadus and made live festival appearances the following year, but a line-up change was on the event horizon. Vocalist Sydow officially left the band in August of 2007. Searching for someone with the vocal diversity to sing back-catalogue material and add chemistry to the as-yet-unwritten new material, DARKANE set their sights on a native of Glumslöv (south of Helsingborg), Sweden who also happened to be Klas Ideberg’s side project bandmate and a good friend of Björn Strid from Soilwork: Construcdead /The Defaced frontman Jens Broman, whose live debut took place at the Progpower Scandinavia festival in Copenhagen, Denmark in November - three weeks after his recruitment into the band.
Infused with soaring doses of inspiration and creativity, writing for the fifth studio album commenced. Recorded and produced by DARKANE at Not Quite Studios & Sensus Musikhuset in Helsingborg, Sweden between February and April, 2008 and featuring artwork & photography by Fredrik Ödman, Demonic Art is a maelstrom of personal demons unleashed for the sake of the aural art of a higher self-consciousness. Not only does Peter Wildoer join metal’s roster of lyricist-drummers (Meshuggah’s Tomas Haake, Cannibal Corpse’s Paul Mazurkiewicz, Psycroptic’s David Haley), but all members of DARKANE fire on all cylinders in the categories of performance, ferocity, precision, and passion, as best exemplified by “Absolution,” “Impetuous Constant Chaos,” “Demonic Art,” and “Wrath Connection.” Longtime fan of the band, drummer Chris Adler from Lamb Of God, states: ““Incredible musicianship, diverse influences and intelligent songwriting… DARKANE is a band I have long admired for being able to combine the best of all forms of metal into one cohesive, ass-kicking machine. Demonic Art is an amazing example of what happens when lines are blurred and evolution begins.” “Demonic Art,” affirms Metal Maniacs, “finally pushes these guys through the way they’ve always threatened, and people will be taking notice. DARKANE is both the unstoppable force and the immovable object, and you will submit!”
Personal victory belongs to those who have fought the good fight and have vanquished the demons that destroy them within. Self-actualization belongs to those who have held fast to their beliefs unseduced by the empty values of popular culture. The attainment of perfection through art belongs to those who have dared to suffer, to resist, and to fight for a higher cause & awareness. If you’re anything like the members of DARKANE, you’ll let a necessary piece of yourself die in the process.
