Band:	Dark Suns
Album:	Existence
Style:	Progressive metal
Release date:	February 21, 2005
A review by:	Jeff

01. Zero
02. A Slumbering Portrait
03. The Euphoric Sense
04. Her And The Element
05. Daydream
06. Anemone
07. You, A Phantom Still
08. Gently Bleeding
09. Abiding Space
10. Patterns Of Oblivion
11. One Endless Childish Day

Dark Suns, what an amazing band unfortunately underrated but which however really deserves success and respect. After a first exceptional album "Swanlike", this band from Germany is back this year with its new album "Existence" but for all the ones who knew the first Dark Suns we have a big difference this time? No more Death vocals, no more Doom Metal aspect the band took a real musical turn, and I will only talk about Progressive Dark Metal now. This is not the same band, but don't worry, it doesn't means that the quality left their music?

The "first" Dark Suns, was certainly more dark, more aggressive, with some parts in its music near of Doom Death Metal, it was easy to compare them to some bands like Katatonia and especially Opeth. Bu today, this is different, first I think that the band is certainly more mature, and by this fact they chose to forget the Death Metal vocals and the very loud and heavy riffs in the music. "Existence" is different because the general ambiance of the album is always black and depressive but a lot more dreamy. This album is like a journey, a journey in a spiritual world where all the different sides of the human being are in conflict. A lot more complex but before all poetic and Progressive on the musical aspect, "Existence" is the album of Progressive Dark Metal that the fans of Anathema or Porcupine Tree will adore. The great thing with Dark Suns, is the fact that you always enter into the music of the band, I mean that you don't undergo the music, you live with it and honestly is it not something that every music lover must expect when he buy a new album? I think so yes?
The eleven songs of this new albums are all very catchy, and the general peaceful ambiance is more than attractive. The musical composition is complex, don't expect any song with an inferior length of five mins, at the opposite the band is an adept of the very long tracks but this is not boring and not repetitive at all at the opposite the music is really addictive.
The guys of Dark Suns are some good musicians, the singer and drummer Nico Knappe is a very good singer with a really beautiful voice the other guys are also omnipresent especially the keyboardist which is relatively more active on this album than on "Swanlike", you can expect a lot more of background ambiances on this album.
"Existence" is really different, if you are an unconditional lover of extreme music, maybe you will be a bit disappointed, as I said, we are more into this musical trip where bands like Porcupine Tree for example are the masters. This is less aggressive, more calm and peaceful really beautiful and I like this different aspect of the music of the band, even if I regret a bit the Death vocals which was really good and gave something more to the band.

"Existence" is a great album of Progressive music, and the thing is that the band will also catch now some Metal Heads who dislike extreme music. No more Doom now, only a sad and dark progressive music but what a great one? Let's hope now that you'll all try to find this album to discover this excellent band who definitely don't suffer of the comparison with the masters of the genre. A great and surprising album to start the year 2005?