HEART OF DARKNESS

For their second album, Dan Rock and Siggi Blasey hired another rhythm section to complement the Darkstar ranks. The difference is hardly perceptible but the album still manages to avoid the problems of the debut: it has just enough dynamics and the song material is a lot more varied.

Dark Paradise sets a great synth ambience, supplemented with touches of piano, lead guitars and vocal samples. Especially on this track it reminds me of the instrumental side of Kevin Moore's Chroma Key. Flight To Nowhere adds more guitars and soloing on top or the typical solemn pace. And then the craved for variation happens. The drumming on The Sound of Nothing is hardly spectacular, but at least the pace is shifted up a gear. Not only that, this track features vocals, ranging between a melodious take on Ozzy's voice known from Psychotic Waltz and some aggressive rapping. A welcome change.

And the changes continue. If the debut album suffered from monotony, then this album is starting to get overloaded with style variations. Transitory Angel is almost an indie rock song, reminiscent of the shoegazer stylings of My Bloody Valentine or the Pale Saints. It doesn't make for a coherent listening experience but it's a nice track.

Infinite Distance and The Dream return to known Darkstar atmospherics, with just a bit more dynamics then the previous album. Good. The next instrumental, Look To The Sky sounds like a lost demo from Psychotic Waltz, like an unused backing track from Faded, another highlight on this album.

The acoustic opening from Not Today has vocals that sound very reminiscent to Alice In Chains' acoustic albums Sap/Jar of Flies. The melodies are very pleasant but the vocals are slightly insecure and might have benefited from some extra rehearsing. The album ends with the synth-focused Last Drop Of Light. The untitled track is nothing but the recording from a thunderstorm.

Heart Of Darkness marks some improvements over the previous album but sounds a bit hurried and shoddy at times, giving it the feel of a really good demo. 3.5 stars.