Where do I start with this Sydney outfit that formed in 2003 whilst in school? Led by singer Vo Simpson they have gone from strength to strength. I first saw this outfit on the Paul Di’Anno Beast Down Under tour in 2009 and have followed them ever since. They blew me away with their technical ability; Vo had a vocal reach to rival Rob Halford and Bruce Dickinson. The latter being the most obvious influence in most of his recordings to date. It’s not often Metal royalty like Di’Anno gets overshadowed but these young guns did just that on that Hot Sweaty night at The Basement in Canberra. Their constant touring has really paid off and opening for some major international acts has just given them more exposure to the metal community and those that know will tell you when these guys are on drop everything and go and watch.
If you only knew the bands 4th full-length outing is by far the best thing the guys have ever recorded. It’s polished and sounds more like a multi-million-dollar production than most big productions will ever get to. Vo Simpson lyrics show signs of a craftsman at his very peak. With tracks like Sedentary Pain and the title track If you only knew we get some of the most operatic and textured music you will hear on any Australian produced metal this year. If you stopped me in the street and asked me to describe their sound to you, (and we in the metal community love tribalism) id say they are steeped in Power Metal but draw very heavily from NWOBHM. Sumptuous Steve Vi like guitar pyrotechnics and the sort of searing vocals that could break glass (so hold on to your beers boys this stuff is seriously dangerous to your pint).
This record shows growth and points to maturity that you only get with one focus and one vision. The boys are showing this in bucket loads. There are some real deep grooves on this record.
The money shot for me is This Ain’t Over the last track on the record and it’s meaty big and bouncy. A lot of the time, bands forget to put out music you can really get a nasty case of whiplash to and flood us with speed and guitar wizardry.
THIS is one of those times when you just get 4 glorious minutes of rhythmic majesty.
It’s not blistering fast but it has a hook that has had this listener put it on repeat more times then he should admit to. It bookends nicely with the speed of the opener Glass coloured Rose that’s very much influenced by Painkiller era Judas Priest with dollops of Dragon Force lovingly thrown into the mix.
So in the round-up go find it Stream it, or buy it from all good music stores and most of all go see them live if they pass through your town in the near future. Not only will you get to see one of the most underrated modern Australian metal bands but you will get see where I’m coming from. And you too can say I know where I was the day DARKER HALF made it. (let’s make it happen people)
Dedicated to Brad Dickson guitarist with Darker Half 2009 to 2014 and stalwart of the Sydney metal scene lost his battle with illness on April 15 2020. Keep rocking Brad!
Release Year: 2020
Label: Massacre Records
Category: Album
Country: Australia
Reviewed by Tony Evans
