Darkness Within is a Dutch Doom band inspired by oldschool bands from the 80’s and 90’s. They released their 3-track single Dion at the end of last month. Lets dive into this melodical piece of heavyness.
About the songs
Dion starts off with the track Growing Strong. The clean, clear bass and guitar riff accompanied by the clean vocal melodies do indeed remind me of the oldies from ages past. It’s mainly the vocals and the way the vocal lines are written that take this track to the 80’s heavy kinda sound. The doom-aspect of the track is in the slower bpm, but to me it would fit the heavy-metal genre too. All in all a pleasant opening track, but nothing too special.
Bad Dreams is the second track and this track has a bit more groove too it with the bass bringing the the rythm. The backing vocals for this track are so different than the main vocals that I’m not sure it is a good fit, but that might also be the mix. I wonder how this track translate to a live stage. Bad Dreams is a confusing track though. After a minute the song changes to a more straightforward and almost classic heavy metal chordprogression (besides the fact that it’s all really low), only to halt at 2:15 and change to another part of the song. Then at about 3 minutes another change. It doesnt help that the words ‘see no evil, hear no evil’ feel dragged out too much over this piece. At 3.35 there is a bridge part, for some reason in a major scale, which takes away from the Doom-vibe completely.
The final track to this single is To Eternity. This track feels the most dark of them all. It opens with an interesting guitar melody and a low/slow riff. This is also the track that named the single, since it’s about ‘my best friend Dion’. The track progresses in the same, slow tempo until it reaches a bridge part of about a minute of instrumental music. It helps that the main vocals are very pleasant to listen too, ’cause the songs in itself isn’t that captivating.
Verdict
Dion has two tracks that are pleasant to listen too, but nothing too special (yet). If you’re into oldschool metal, this is definately right up your alley. The vocalist has a great voice and really carries the music. And while some of the riffs are interesting, the songs don’t really speak to me. To Eternity would be my favorite track of this single, because of the mainriff and the fact that it’s the most dark/heavy track of the three.
Tracklisting
- Growing strong
- Bad Dreams
- To Eternity
Check out the bands Facebook and Instagram. Listen to Dion at bandcamp or Spotify.
Or check their bandpage at metalfrom.nl
