Band:	Darkspace
Album:	Dark Space -II
Style:	Ambient black metal
Release date:	February 16, 2024
A review by:	X-Ray Rod

01. Dark -2.-2

One plus one makes two. One plus one... Can it make one? Darkspace strips down its formula; the negatives add up, and yet the cosmos remains as cold and unforgiving as ever.

A good number of metal bands have looked up to the sky and beyond for inspiration. Within the realm of black metal, some examples that spring to mind are Mesarthim and Progenie Terrestre Pura, but no band has come close to capturing the universe’s beautiful chaos and terrifying emptiness quite like Darkspace. From the distant voices of men and machines, to the overwhelming walls of riffs, and from the pulsing beats and harrowing shrieks, to the inspiring synths that tear apart the cosmos, Darkspace truly is one of a kind, and the project has done well in securing an identity within the black metal scene. Constant refinement has led to their crowning achievements, III and III I. For their fifth album, Darkspace used the cryptic title -II. It did well in causing some intrigue among fans, as previously, the only release with a negative number was their demo -I. It is fitting though, as -II is a departure from their style as we knew it.

To properly describe what Darkspace has unleashed, I want to zoom out and look at a completely different band that did a similar thing both in themes and sound. The French act Monolithe also became well known for the cosmic themes in their music, although presented under the banner of funeral doom metal. Their Interlude Second EP saw the band going off the rails to compose a largely industrial metal record. That experiment was a success, as Monolithe began deconstructing their sound and improvising with the building blocks they already had. On -II, I see Darkspace doing a very similar thing in order to freshen up their black metal discography. I do appreciate the effort in throwing us a curveball; electronic beats and slow, foreboding riffs have been used ever since their -I demo, but now the Swiss trio decided to take these elements and make them the main ingredients.

Many of the sounds that people think of when they hear the name Darkspace have been modified or straight up deleted, like the furious walls of fast riffs and blastbeats that dominated their previous works. It is impressive how much Darkspace is able to achieve with so little. It is a good thing that the music is so immersive, because if the listener isn’t immediately drawn to the concept, they will find very little left to grasp and enjoy; not much happens across -II, as it has a very basic structure. The droning ambient echoes give way to distorted dirges of hypnotic riffs, prolonged guitar leads, distant voices, and slow but catchy beats. The layers are slowly stacking on top of each other until around the 18-minute mark. Over six minutes of straight-up ambience then follows, with only sampled voices and beats as a companion. It reminds me of some of the more subtle sonic explorations from Blut Aus Nord’s The Work Which Transforms God or even the Thematic Emanation Of Archetypal Multiplicity EP. Slowly but surely, the riffs are back, and once again the building blocks begin stacking on top of each other, as if to conjure images of newborn stars amidst the cosmic soup that was left after a supernova.

But if you thought there was anything leading up to this constant layering, you are out of luck. At 47 minutes, -II is a highly monotonous affair, with no big tempo changes and crescendos. After the six-minute interlude mentioned above, the album carries on with the same marching tone until the bitter end, with no release at all. If the listener doesn’t immediately end up trapped in the haunting void, then they may find this album to be very dull. It’s an understandable take, and to be perfectly honest with you all, depending on my mood and time of day, this album is either excellent or at least 20 minutes too long; it varies that much for me. At first I was led to believe that a 20-30 minute long EP could have resulted in a much more powerful result, but there is also the risk that a more immediate release would not be able to produce a trance-like state of mind. Music of this kind, where tension is a growing factor that only leads to more tension and nothing else, is risky business for sure.

I applaud Darkspace’s willingness to try something different, even though it wasn’t instant love at first listening like with the Monolithe EP I mentioned. -II is a very puzzling experience, but it shows that Darkspace have not lost their ability to send vivid mental images to the listener. Just be prepared for the trip beforehand. Good luck out there, explorers. The void shows no mercy.