Label: Prophecy Productions
Review by Warren Mayocchi
There is a majestic sound to Darkher‘s debut album “Realms”. Darkher is the work or maybe alter-ego of Jayn Hanna Wissenberg. There is a specialness about solo artists producing projects, everything you hear is a part of a creative vision which emerges whole from an individual – each drumbeat, every darkly lingering bass note, the lyrics and vocal presentation, and so on. They all make for a lonely concept forged for the listener by artist. It is a fascinating experience and feels very personal when given much thought. The instrumental “Spirit Walker” begins the album and sets a cinematic tone which will continue throughout. There is an acoustic feel to the music though it is not, perhaps it is due to the slow expansion each song makes. From a sound to crashing wave of sounds. All of the songs are excellent, to gain an idea of how good the album is watch some of the music videos – there are of number of performances in lush gothic tones – “Moths”, “Foregone”, “Hollow Veil”, “Lament” – note they are not the same as the versions on the album. On the actual recordings there is a lot more going on than in the pared back presentations on the videos – but they are still great. The album closes brilliantly with “Foregone” and “Lament” probably my song favourites, with the underlying disturbance of “Foregone” a standout amongst excellence. “Realms” could be labelled as doom but some might object, saying it has only elements of doom. Whatever you want to call it, it is brilliant. There is a regular meme about making things as simple as they can be, but not one bit simpler. Darkher has done so here, adding or removing anything would be vandalism.
Rating – 95/100
Tracklist
- Spirit Waker
- Hollow Veil
- Moths
- Wars
- The Dawn Brings a Saviour
- Buried Pt. I
- Buried Pt. II
- Foregone
- Lament
Line Up
- Jayn H.Wissenberg – Vocals, Guitars, Production & Sorcery
- Martin T.Wissenberg – Atmospheric & Lead Guitars/Bass
- Shaun ‘Winter’ Taylor-Steels – Drums
Links