Conor Fynes 'The Return To Darkness' - Demonic Resurrection (7/10)

Although the merits of globalization could be discussed and argued to death, one certainly positive thing it has brought is a wave of new metal from parts of the world that have not witnessed it before. India has been one of the biggest up-and-comers for heavy metal, with a youthful generation yearning to adopt some of the Western traditions into their own and find their own way. One of the better known Indian metal acts is Demonic Resurrection, a band who has largely introduced me to what the Indian metal scene is all about. 'The Return To Darkness' is the third album by these guys, although it is the first one with a truly professional sound. Demonic Resurrection indicates to me that this young scene still has some growing to do, but there is no doubt that it will spawn some of the greatest metal in coming years.

This particular band is best described as playing extreme metal. That is, I am hearing influences pulled in from both death metal, and symphonic black metal. Demonic Resurrection has already had a couple of albums with which to consolidate a certain sound of theirs, and while 'The Return To Darkness' is an album not all too different from its Western counterparts, the evident influences come together to make a pretty convincing blend. I am hearing Dimmu Borgir, Morbid Angel, Opeth, and even Trivium coming together into Demonic Resurrection's sound, and as one, it sounds quite impressive. The technically slick riffs here are backed by strong drums, and songwriting that manages to nicely balance melody with heaviness. Melody is something that Demonic Resurrection does very well, more specifically the way the band incorporates it into their music. The riffs here are sometimes quite aggressive, but towards the 'chorus' segments of the songwriting, the guitars gear their aim towards creating memorable musical lines.

There are even clean vocals here, and this is arguably where their Indian heritage shines through most. Demonic Resurrection are a very Western-styled extreme metal band, generally skirting away from the sort of traditional influences that other non-West bands like Orphaned Land are defined by. The growls on this album sound more or less like they could have been plucked from the United States or anywhere, but the clean vocals show a fairly noticeable Indian accent coming through Demonstealer's voice, in what sounds like an auto-tune, no less. If I had heard the clean vocal segments of Demonic Resurrection's music described this way, I would not have been too excited, but these moments in the music do work from the keen sense of melody. After the barrage of heavy riffs and growls that come through as well, it is a nice refreshing change to hear parts of the songwriting that focus on something other than extremity.

The melodic switches are a very strong element of the music, although Demonic Resurrection still sounds like they need a little more variety in the music. The album is over an hour long, and while Demonic Resurrection play their music and style very well, the fairly static melodic death metal sound doesn't justify the length. I had the feeling that the album should end, well before it actually did, and it does take away from the overall impact to hear an album play on fifteen minutes longer than it should have. The production is quite polished, although a little dry for my tastes, but it shows a definite improvement over what Demonic Resurrection has done in the past. Really, I have found myself excited to hear a band coming from such a different part of the world, and I get the sense that Demonic Resurrection is only a vanguard for a wave of Indian metal to come in the near future. The cultural differences aside, 'The Return To Darkness' is a very good piece of extreme metal, heritage regardless, although it does not quite branch out past its influences.

J-Man After my extremely positive experience with The Return to Darkness, my next venture into Demonic Resurrection's work was with 2005's A Darkness Descends. This Indian extreme metal act grabbed my attention immediately with their progressive song structures, symphonic keyboards, and impressive technical capabilities, and I'm happy to say that A Darkness Descends delivers the goods almost as much as The Return to Darkness. Crushingly heavy riffs, deep gutteral growls, and captivating melodies are all found here, and Demonic Resurrection's ability to compose fantastic progressive death metal shines as brightly as ever with this observation. A Darkness Descends suffers from some production-related issues that didn't plague its successor, but this is otherwise an excellent purchase for fans of progressive death metal.

Musically, A Darkness Descends is progressive death metal with a heavy emphasis on Mephisto's symphonic keyboards. I'd say the music here rests somewhere between Dimmu Borgir, Edge of Sanity, Opeth, and Emperor. Demonic Resurrection has a distinct influence from melodic death metal in their music, and the frequent melodic leads and catchy keyboard sections keep A Darkness Descends from ever feeling too inaccessible in spite of its progressive song structures. In that sense, A Darkness Descends certainly isn't too far-removed from Crimson II-era Edge of Sanity. Although Demonic Resurrection wear their influences on their sleeves, the music here does come across as pretty original and unique, and I give the band tons of credit for their ability to stand out from most prog death metal outfits. Their ability as composers is also terrific, and A Darkness Descends is free of any weak tracks. Even though this is a pretty long album - it extends past the one hour mark - it never grows stale, and remains interesting for the full duration.

The only big "knock" I can give A Darkness Descends rests in the production department. The sleek production found on The Return to Darkness is nowhere in sight, and instead a much rougher, amateurish sound is present here. The drums sound weak and powerless, the mix is uneven, and the bass is inaudible at times. It's really a shame that this album is plagued with such a less-than-ideal production - musically, it's so damn good that I guess you have to look past technical flaws like this.

A Darkness Descends isn't a faultless album by any means, but it's a great purchase for fans of Demonic Resurrection and progressive death metal in general. I had a great time experiencing A Darkness Descends, and even though the fairly weak production interfered with my enjoyment on occasion, this is generally a terrific observation from this excellent band. If you like symphonic keyboards, memorable compositions, and top-notch melodies in your death metal, it's hard to not recommend this one in a heartbeat. 3.5 stars seems very fair for A Darkness Descends - with a better production, this could've easily been raised by a half-star.

UMUR The Return to Darkness is the 3rd full-length studio album by Indian, Mumbay based death metal act Demonic Resurrection. The album was released in January 2010 by Candlelight Records worldwide and Demonstealer Records in India.

The music on the album is symphonic, synth heavy and at times progressive death metal. The vocals vary between deep growls, higher pitched raspy type vocals ( which at times give the music a blackened touch) and very well performed clean male vocals. The synth heavy nature of the music leads my thoughts toward Dimmu Borgir, but overall I think Demonic Resurrection are more "death" than "black". The quality of the material on The Return to Darkness is very high and after my first couple of listens, where I was a bit intimidated by what I felt was a lack of subtility, I began to discover the many details and hooks on the album. The tracks on the album feature a plethora of melodic guitar leads that colour the album and keep the songs interesting throughout, but I can also mention the varied vocals, the professional and powerful production ( yes it´s polished, but the sound suits the music well) and the generally excellent musicianship as some of the assets on the album. It´s obvious that we´re dealing with top professional musicians and composers here. The tracks go through several transitions and are very cleverly composed. Take a listen to the 11:28 minute long Lord of Pestilence to see how great the band are at writing adventurous tunes. All tracks are full of creative energy and memorable moments though, so take your pick.

The Return to Darkness has been one of the more positive surprises for me this year. I wasn´t instantly hooked, which might have something to do with my personal taste. Symphonic death or black metal for that matter usually have a tendency to tire me because of the bombastic nature of the music and the lack of dynamics, but after investigating The Return to Darkness a bit deeper I´ve found that the album has more layers, or in other words tricks up its sleeve, than what I caught on initial listens. The more I listen the more I hear recognisable parts and discover semi-progressive ideas, that I missed the first couple of times around. For fans of symphonic blackened death metal with a progressive edge, I find The Return to Darkness highly recommendable and a 4 star rating is fully deserved.

J-Man If there's one metal scene that truly impressed me in 2010, it was definitely the Indian extreme metal explosion. Even though other countries such as Sweden, America, and England had plenty of high-profile exports, it's amazing how many overlooked gems came out of India this year. Of all the terrific metal releases coming from the nation, Demonic Resurrection's The Return to Darkness may very well be the best. The highly progressive approach, technical playing style, and incorporation of melody make The Return to Darkness a journey worth experiencing. Demonic Resurrection's third full-length album is excellent in almost every sense of the word. If you like progressive death metal, please don't miss out on this one.

Demonic Resurrection plays a highly technical and progressive, yet still melodic, style of black/death metal. The main influences I hear when listening to Demonic Resurrection are Opeth, Edge of Sanity, Enslaved, and Emperor, albeit more synth-laden than any of these bands. Demonic Resurrection has a distinct and recognizable sound that's clear on all of The Return to Darkness. Every song is very memorable, featuring melodic hooks and true brutality. This is just one of those albums that keep you coming back for more and more. Of all the tracks here, the highlights are "Where Dreams and Darkness Unite", "A Tragedy Befallen", "Bound by Blood, Fire, and Stone", the very progressive "Lord of Pestilence", "The Final Stand", and the epic conclusion "Omega, I". I mentioned over half of the album as highlights, which just proves how excellent the music is. All of the other songs are still far above average, but not quite masterpieces such as the aforementioned tracks. Aside from the fantastic compositions, another highlight about Demonic Resurrection is the talent of its musicians. The highly technical guitar riffing and complex drum patterns provide just the right amount of heaviness, while Mephisto's keyboards provide a spot-on sense of atmosphere. The vocals from Sahil "The Demonstealer" Makhija are also noteworthy - he actually masters many different vocal styles, whether it is deep guttural growls, black metal sneers, or clean singing. As a whole, the execution and compositional talent of Demonic Resurrection is top-notch.

The production sounds great. Although it may be a bit too "over-produced" and synthetic for some people, I personally think it sounds great.

The Return to Darkness is an absolutely fantastic album by Demonic Resurrection, and is a fitting end to their Darkness trilogy. If you like progressive death metal with melodic and technical twists, this is an essential 2010 album. I didn't know what to expect when I received this album, but I can now confidently say that it was one of the best metal releases this year. I'm going to hand out 4 shiny ones for this superb effort. Long live Indian death metal!