Dark Driven – From The Unbeliever

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7.0

• Band:
  Dark Driven
• Duration: 00:42:30
• Available from: 21/03/2025
• Label:

• Hammerheart Records

Streaming not yet available

The Dark Driven are debut on Hammerheart with this “From The Unbeliever”, a record that exhibits an artwork that cannot fail to remember at least a little – only visually, let's be understood – that package wrapped in the good and better with lots of twine dated 1994, or perhaps the most iconic image of the Doctor Butcher project, a little impromptu band of which they started several stunned and Hal Patino and Hal Patino. (then ended up collaborating with King Diamond).
If musically we are far from Doctor Butcher, the aforementioned 1994 is still useful, given that the models of ours are rooted in the same years, in particular the senches of “Amok” and “Love & Death”, the Moonspells of “Wolfheart”, the Katatony of the medium term, certain Paradise Lost and many minor groups that resulted in more or less versions between Goth Rock and Metal like Cryhavoc or Darkseed.
The main reference, however, are truly the sentenced with Tanli Jarva under the voice, with their square twin guitars capable of creating a sort of manifesto of the extreme who re-found the classic 'traditional' through the very soft cover of “The Trooper”, still remembered by many.
In short, the territories are quite clear: metal a little Gothic structured however on guitars and much less on keyboards, even if the overall sound uses a certain softening here and there in the arrangements; “The Letters Said Nothing” is proof of this, both scratchy on guitars and strengthening from Synth's rugs. “To Death, Too Soon”, “Dressed Divine”, “Never Mind the Pain” and the title-track keep the flag of the nineties high for the Dark Driven, a trio that also sees Nir Nakav, Israeli already with the historic Salem and more recently also of the Tomorrow's Rain; Ours is accompanied by two decidedly lesser known Swedes, namely Filip Carlsson and Joakim Rimhagen.
The performance of the singles are a little good in all sectors (in particular we like Carlsson's harsh voice), with the circle, coincidentally to close with the production of Dan Swano. Personally we are admirers of that period and that sound and the senched of “amok” represent a modus operandi that we regret a little more is no longer 'on the crest of the wave', but the dark drivers do not satisfy us for now.
The pieces are all good, but they are not always focused in the best way: if the two singles “Dressed Divine” and “To Death, Too Soon” are really successful, it cannot be said that the rest is not always stated as it should be.
On the other hand, almost all the bands mentioned at the opening have delivered to the legend even for practically perfect refrains, an aspect that the Dark Driven for now do not seem to be able to always support fully. Interesting debut, however: we await developments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DHBVN3W5DG