Darkspace - Dark Space III review
| Band: | Darkspace |
| Album: | Dark Space III |
| Style: | Ambient black metal |
| Release date: | May 30, 2008 |
| A review by: | Lucas |
01. Dark 3.11
02. Dark 3.12
03. Dark 3.13
04. Dark 3.14
05. Dark 3.15
06. Dark 3.16
07. Dark 3.17
With their first two albums "I" and "II" the mysterious trio Darkspace quickly made name for themselves. Both albums where hymns to utter space, but focused on different aspects. Whereas "I" was faster and denser, "II" was a lot slower and focusing much more on the ambient side of their music. On "III" (it's getting annoying, isn't it?) they picked up the pace again, but maintained the ambient, free-flowing distortion of the second album. With these combined factors it is easily their best material up to date.
Perhaps the production is the best factor of the entire album. Allowing the guitars to freely waver around with their dark, yet natural sound, they put up an entire wall of sound without becoming boring or monotone. The drums play a very insignificant role, often they are completely buried underneath the static.
Each band members contributes to the vocals, all three utilizing a pained shriek, thus resulting in a vortex of dying screams. Often you hardly notice there actually is some shrieking going on, because the tormed screams of the wicked are very distorted and so soft in the mix the unaccostumed listener can easily mistake them for guitar distortion. And then there are the keyboards. At times stirring and grant, enlarging the wall of sound, at other times clear and bright, like twinkling stars, they push the ambience to astral heights.
With their spaced out Ambient Black Metal Darkspace strongly reminds me of Kubrick's masterpiece "2001: A Space Odyssey", a classic movie which perfectly captured the essence of the vast overwhelming silence of space - even with a soundtrack. And as such "III" also captivates the listener, and with a constant wall of sound, tricks him into feeling an overwhelming emptiness.
"III" does what most Depressive/Ambient/Suicidal Black Metal fails to do. It is a preview of death, as Atheism perceives it. No thoughts, no feelings, no emotions, nothing. Gravity withdraws itself and the void opens up. Allow yourself a temporary blissfull freedom and succumb yourself into nihil. All suicidal souls set for departure...
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 9 |
| Originality: | 9 |
| Production: | 9 |
 | Written on 08.06.2008 by If you're interested in extreme, often emotional and underground music, check out my reviews. I retired from reviewing, but I really used to be into that stuff. |
Comments
Comments: 17
Visited by: 279 users
| Dangerboner Lactation Cnslt Posts: 7262  |
This is an awesome album, but the end of it does get really boring. I still haven't decided if I or III is their best.
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| routa Account deleted |
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| Lucas Mr. Noise Elite Posts: 13427  |
Written by [user id=8724] on 12.06.2008 at 09:36 the internetz. i plan on buying my copy from www.dis-order.com (which should have it, somewhere this month) after I my paycheck.
---- SLUDGE. DOOM. DEATH. Wait, what?  "The reason I'm running for president is because I can't be Bruce Springsteen." - Barack Obama
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| routa Account deleted |
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| Sunioj Posts: 3894  |
Yeah, its one hell of an album. A lot more to my liking to my liking than II, I don't know what it is, just loving the crushing sound.
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| Damnated Churchburner Posts: 4943  |
i noticed a lot of death metal riffs, making the overall the sound way catchier than their previous albums. i'm not quite sure if this is my fav release from them, Dark space I was my first encounter with the band and it remains a special album for me. maybe with time this will sound better. a definite highlight of the year.
---- Blessed is he that murders Christ in himself and in his fellow men.  Written by TheBigRossowski on 10.02.2009 at 16:01
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| Lucas Mr. Noise Elite Posts: 13427 |
Written by Damnated on 13.06.2008 at 00:14 death metal riffs? i fail to hear those, tbh. any examples? (though there were a couple of riffs that sounded a bit "chugga chugga", if you mean those)
---- SLUDGE. DOOM. DEATH. Wait, what? "The reason I'm running for president is because I can't be Bruce Springsteen." - Barack Obama
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| Damnated Churchburner Posts: 4943 |
Written by Lucas on 13.06.2008 at 00:25 yeah, i mean those. they're especially noticeable on 3.13.
---- Blessed is he that murders Christ in himself and in his fellow men. Written by TheBigRossowski on 10.02.2009 at 16:01
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| Kurzag Account deleted |
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| Ellrohir Heaven Knight Posts: 8669  |
I gave this album a try, but for me it was too "raw"...i didnt even listen it to the end 
---- My rest seems now calm and deep Finally I got my dead man sleep 
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| BitterCOld The Ancient One Admin Posts: 15287  |
Written by Ellrohir on 18.09.2009 at 11:12 ...and yet your very next post/comment lauds Darkthrone's "Transilvanian Hunger" as one of the best in the genre. they don't get much more raw than that album. good review, this was my pick for black metal album of the year last year, and i still have not grown tired of it. the name of the band is fitting given the music.
---- get the fuck off my lawn. Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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| Ellrohir Heaven Knight Posts: 8669 |
Written by BitterCOld on 18.09.2009 at 19:37 weird, isnt it? but it is simply so...there was something in the music i cant stand
---- My rest seems now calm and deep Finally I got my dead man sleep
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18374  |
Written by BitterCOld on 18.09.2009 at 19:37 I think I can understand him, The "wall of sound" that Darkspace creates is waaaaaay louder and potent that Transilvanian Hunger imo. And maybe that can be the rawer thing. I really love Darkspace music and find it really inteligent for the genre it stands for, since ambient black metal is an either-you're-great-or-just-shit genre imho.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| BitterCOld The Ancient One Admin Posts: 15287 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 18.09.2009 at 20:49 raw was perhaps the wrong choice in words... i can also understand why some might find this unappealing. i've had a predilection for ambient music for a long, ling time (even if clueless as to where/how to seek it out for a while) so i enjoy the unholy marriage of ambient and black, particularly with the whole "space" theme. nothing is more terrifying to me than trying to grasp cosmic distances or the fact that ultimately as the universe continues to expand, everything will get ripped farther and farther apart - down to the atomic level - and all that void will be filled with dark matter... or darkspace, if you will. i find their approach far more unnerving than the standard, boring, same old "satan satan satan" crap.
---- get the fuck off my lawn. Beer Bug Virus Spotify Playlist crafted by Nikarg and I. Feel free to tune in and add some pertinent metal tunes!
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18374 |
Written by BitterCOld on 18.09.2009 at 20:55 I completely agree with that. Those things that you just don't know are the scariest ones. Another example would be the ocean imo, you just don't really know all things down there. That's why Ahab concept was scarry as hell for me. I know both bands are different, but both have really scarry concepts behind the music that I trully love.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Lucas Mr. Noise Elite Posts: 13427 |
Written by BitterCOld on 18.09.2009 at 20:55 Exactly my sentiments. Which is why the Total Perspective Vortex works. 
---- SLUDGE. DOOM. DEATH. Wait, what? "The reason I'm running for president is because I can't be Bruce Springsteen." - Barack Obama
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| Visioneerie Urban Monster Posts: 810  |
Chilling listen that's for sure. Overall I think the album is good, I enjoy pretty much everything though the fast paced black metal parts are sometimes a little tedious. Love the chugging guitars blended in with the gazing keys. The quiet interludes are also pretty gung-ho. Definitely have to be in the mood and the right setting though.
---- Any man can stand adversity, but to test his character give him power - A. Lincoln
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