NEW DEATH/DOOM DESTRUCTION FROM INTO DARKNESS

 

Last November, as part of a MISCELLANY post (here), I made an impromptu review of the self-titled debut demo by an Italian band named Into Darkness. I tend to get carried away on a daily basis with bouts of metal enthusiasm, and I called that demo “one of the best death/doom releases of 2012“. But even after I calmed down as time passed, I still felt that way.

Today I discovered two new songs from Into Darkness. One, which has just been uploaded to YouTube, is named “Dreadful Omen of A Dark Millenium”. It will be included on a forthcoming 7″ EP. The second, “Shifted To the Red End of the Spectrum”, is also destined for future release on the EP or on a vinyl split, and it’s streaming on Bandcamp. These are two of four songs the band recorded earlier this year that are being released in “rough, unedited” form on pro-tape under the name Cosmic Chaos by an Italian label named Unholy Domain Records.

The two new songs are convincing evidence that Into Darkness are a band whose every release is going to be must-listen music for devoted fans of death/doom. Speaking of devotion, there’s a lot of old-school worship in the music, with strong reminders of both Incantation and Asphyx (and the latter, especially because of the resemblance of Doomed Warrior’s vocals to those of Martin van Drunen).

The riffs have the right stuff — moving from flensing, whipping, corrosive storms of radioactive distortion to ugly crawling masses of filth. The drumming is varied, powerful, and matched beautifully to the dynamism of the guitar work. And Doomed Warrior’s vocals are as raw and as rabid as you could want. Into Darkness also write really good songs that have staying power, in addition to being vile, vicious, and doomed in a faithfully old-school way.

The rough mix of the tracks that are now streaming actually adds to their old-school appeal. There’s something about the lo-fi murkiness of the sound that gives the music added authenticity. But it will also be interesting to hear the final cuts — the band have said that it will be heavier-sounding, and presumably a bit “cleaner”.

The Unholy Domain Cosmic Chaos tape release is extremely limited — 15 copies for the band, 25 copies made available at the Killtown Deathfest in Denmark, and only 20 copies for sale through Unholy Domain by mail order. If you’re interested, send an e-mail to this address:

unholydomain@hotmail.it

When I reviewed the band’s 2012 demo, it wasn’t going to become available digitally until the physical copies of vinyl and tape had sold out, but it’s now available both for download and on CD at Bandcamp (here).

Below, you will find the two new songs that are streaming at the moment, as well as the 2012 demo.

https://www.facebook.com/IntoDarkness
http://intodarkness.bandcamp.com/