THE RETURN TO DARKNESS

If there's one metal scene that truly impressed me in 2010, it was definitely the Indian extreme metal explosion. Even though other countries such as Sweden, America, and England had plenty of high-profile exports, it's amazing how many overlooked gems came out of India this year. Of all the terrific metal releases coming from the nation, Demonic Resurrection's The Return to Darkness may very well be the best. The highly progressive approach, technical playing style, and incorporation of melody make The Return to Darkness a journey worth experiencing. Demonic Resurrection's third full-length album is excellent in almost every sense of the word. If you like progressive death metal, please don't miss out on this one.

Demonic Resurrection plays a highly technical and progressive, yet still melodic, style of black/death metal. The main influences I hear when listening to Demonic Resurrection are Opeth, Edge of Sanity, Enslaved, and Emperor, albeit more synth-laden than any of these bands. Demonic Resurrection has a distinct and recognizable sound that's clear on all of The Return to Darkness. Every song is very memorable, featuring melodic hooks and true brutality. This is just one of those albums that keep you coming back for more and more. Of all the tracks here, the highlights are "Where Dreams and Darkness Unite", "A Tragedy Befallen", "Bound by Blood, Fire, and Stone", the very progressive "Lord of Pestilence", "The Final Stand", and the epic conclusion "Omega, I". I mentioned over half of the album as highlights, which just proves how excellent the music is. All of the other songs are still far above average, but not quite masterpieces such as the aforementioned tracks. Aside from the fantastic compositions, another highlight about Demonic Resurrection is the talent of its musicians. The highly technical guitar riffing and complex drum patterns provide just the right amount of heaviness, while Mephisto's keyboards provide a spot-on sense of atmosphere. The vocals from Sahil "The Demonstealer" Makhija are also noteworthy - he actually masters many different vocal styles, whether it is deep guttural growls, black metal sneers, or clean singing. As a whole, the execution and compositional talent of Demonic Resurrection is top-notch.

The production sounds great. Although it may be a bit too "over-produced" and synthetic for some people, I personally think it sounds great.

The Return to Darkness is an absolutely fantastic album by Demonic Resurrection, and is a fitting end to their Darkness trilogy. If you like progressive death metal with melodic and technical twists, this is an essential 2010 album. I didn't know what to expect when I received this album, but I can now confidently say that it was one of the best metal releases this year. I'm going to hand out 4 shiny ones for this superb effort. Long live Indian death metal!

"The Return to Darkness" is the 3rd full-length studio album by Indian, Mumbay based death metal act Demonic Resurrection. The album was released in January 2010 by Candlelight Records worldwide and Demonstealer Records in India.

The music on the album is symphonic, synth heavy and at times progressive death metal. The vocals vary between deep growls, higher pitched raspy type vocals (which at times provide the music with a blackened touch) and very well performed clean male vocals. The synth heavy nature of the music leads my thoughts toward Dimmu Borgir, but overall I think Demonic Resurrection are more "death" than "black". The quality of the material on The Return to Darkness is very high and after my first couple of listens, where I was a bit intimidated by what I felt was a lack of subtlety, I began to discover the many details and hooks on the album, that ultimately earn Demonic Resurrection the right not to be subtle. The tracks on the album feature a plethora of melodic guitar leads that colour the album and keep the tracks interesting throughout, but I can also mention the varied vocals, the professional and powerful sound production (yes it´s polished, but the sound suits the music well) and the generally excellent musicianship as some of the assets on the album. It´s obvious that we´re dealing with top professional musicians and composers here. The tracks go through several transitions and are very cleverly composed. Take a listen to the 11:28 minute long "Lord of Pestilence" to hear how great the band are at writing adventurous tunes. All tracks are full of creative energy and memorable moments though, so take your pick.

"The Return to Darkness" has been a very positive listening experience. It´s not an album that got me instantly hooked, but detailed albums seldom do. They often require many spins to sink in. Symphonic death, or black metal for that matter, often have a tendency to be a bit overblown as a result of the bombastic nature of the music and the lack of dynamics, but after investigating "The Return to Darkness" a bit deeper I´ve found that the album has more layers, or in other words tricks up its sleeve, than what I heard on initial listens. The more I listen the more I hear recognisable parts and discover semi-progressive ideas, that I missed the first couple of times around. For fans of symphonic blackened death metal with a progressive edge, I find "The Return to Darkness" highly recommendable and a 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.

'The Return To Darkness' - Demonic Resurrection (7/10)

Although the merits of globalization could be discussed and argued to death, one certainly positive thing it has brought is a wave of new metal from parts of the world that have not witnessed it before. India has been one of the biggest up-and-comers for heavy metal, with a youthful generation yearning to adopt some of the Western traditions into their own and find their own way. One of the better known Indian metal acts is Demonic Resurrection, a band who has largely introduced me to what the Indian metal scene is all about. 'The Return To Darkness' is the third album by these guys, although it is the first one with a truly professional sound. Demonic Resurrection indicates to me that this young scene still has some growing to do, but there is no doubt that it will spawn some of the greatest metal in coming years.

This particular band is best described as playing extreme metal. That is, I am hearing influences pulled in from both death metal, and symphonic black metal. Demonic Resurrection has already had a couple of albums with which to consolidate a certain sound of theirs, and while 'The Return To Darkness' is an album not all too different from its Western counterparts, the evident influences come together to make a pretty convincing blend. I am hearing Dimmu Borgir, Morbid Angel, Opeth, and even Trivium coming together into Demonic Resurrection's sound, and as one, it sounds quite impressive. The technically slick riffs here are backed by strong drums, and songwriting that manages to nicely balance melody with heaviness. Melody is something that Demonic Resurrection does very well, more specifically the way the band incorporates it into their music. The riffs here are sometimes quite aggressive, but towards the 'chorus' segments of the songwriting, the guitars gear their aim towards creating memorable musical lines.

There are even clean vocals here, and this is arguably where their Indian heritage shines through most. Demonic Resurrection are a very Western-styled extreme metal band, generally skirting away from the sort of traditional influences that other non-West bands like Orphaned Land are defined by. The growls on this album sound more or less like they could have been plucked from the United States or anywhere, but the clean vocals show a fairly noticeable Indian accent coming through Demonstealer's voice, in what sounds like an auto-tune, no less. If I had heard the clean vocal segments of Demonic Resurrection's music described this way, I would not have been too excited, but these moments in the music do work from the keen sense of melody. After the barrage of heavy riffs and growls that come through as well, it is a nice refreshing change to hear parts of the songwriting that focus on something other than extremity.

The melodic switches are a very strong element of the music, although Demonic Resurrection still sounds like they need a little more variety in the music. The album is over an hour long, and while Demonic Resurrection play their music and style very well, the fairly static melodic death metal sound doesn't justify the length. I had the feeling that the album should end, well before it actually did, and it does take away from the overall impact to hear an album play on fifteen minutes longer than it should have. The production is quite polished, although a little dry for my tastes, but it shows a definite improvement over what Demonic Resurrection has done in the past. Really, I have found myself excited to hear a band coming from such a different part of the world, and I get the sense that Demonic Resurrection is only a vanguard for a wave of Indian metal to come in the near future. The cultural differences aside, 'The Return To Darkness' is a very good piece of extreme metal, heritage regardless, although it does not quite branch out past its influences.