DARKNESS – A Silver Blade

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6.5

• Bands:
  DARKNESS
• Duration: 00:40:58
• Available from: 12/12/2026
• Label:

• Time To Kill Records

Streaming not yet available

In the prolific exploration of the horror universe that generated and still fuels the foul creature called Tenebro, it is time to dedicate one's personal homage to the king of cinema Dario Argento, with a work that retraces his most iconic and disturbing scenes taken from his absolute masterpieces released between the Seventies and Eighties.
An explicit and faithful homage, which is interpreted in a metal key by the Italian duo, tackling a rather clear new stylistic shift compared to the recent past of “Ultime Grida Dalla Giungla”.

The disturbing melodic flashes that appeared in the band's jagged sound path today take on a primary and founding importance, showing a more introspective side that is rather original, although still poisoned by the psychotic and oppressive attitude perpetrated by Tenebro since the beginning. Never before has their rough and brutal death metal alternated with less tense riffing, probably thought of as a sound counterpart worthy of the most mysterious moments of the famous Italian director and which fuel a disturbing sense of anticipation compared to the blind outbursts in full Mortician style.
“Inferno”, introduced by an unhealthy piano turn, translates into the first episode that shows this change, but it can be perceived even more in “L'Angelo Caduto Tra Le Luci Del Teatro” and in its solo phrasings that are so minimal, yet capable of transmitting negative suggestiveness in spades.
The journey proceeds with the direct attacks of “Impiccata” and “Sangue Sui Muri”, new songs where we begin to notice a methodical cyclicality in the construction of the riffs, which continue to repeat and resemble each other also in “Lo Specchio…Omicida” and “Il Corpo Come Sparito”. In addition to an always similar modus operandi, it seems that they have chosen to propose the same solution in each song, varying only the pace and accents.
Even the subsequent songs, with some more violent expedients to vary the plot, still propose the same scenario, ending up making the more atmospheric moments that characterize this “Una Lama D'Argento” repetitive.
“Nel Sonno Della Veggente” and “Jennifer”, placed at the end, slightly increase the palette of colors used by Tenebro to paint their death metal carnage, but all things considered, every song on the album contains within it at least one reference to the usual, archetypal guitar riff.

Whether it is a deliberate choice in the name of the primitive and obtuse character of the project, or an easy find to easily resolve a creative headache, what remains is an excellent opportunity, however only half exploited: Tenebro remain expert evokers of malaise and perversion, and taken individually, the songs on the album manage to shine with a very intelligible dark light.
Taken in its entirety however, this work seems to have a captivating thematic and stylistic framework, which dampens the enthusiasm due to a content that is all too limited in terms of choices and creativity, getting lost in a compositional loop that loses unpredictability and mystery, an essential element for any self-respecting horror artistic manifestation.