DARKENED

Today,  Edged Circle Productions announces July 21st as the international release date for Lord of Sickness and Bile, a brand-new EP from international death metal elite Darkened, on 7″ vinyl format.

By now, the name Darkened should require no introduction. From their formation in 2018 featuring a veritable “who’s who” of death metal royalty and the auspicious Into the Blackness debut EP on to their even-more-widely-celebrated debut album, Kingdom of Darkness, that royalty – drummer Andy Whale (Memoriam, ex-Bolt Thrower), vocalist Gord Olson (Ye Goat-Herd Gods / Demisery), guitarists Linus Nirbrant (A Canorous Quintet / This Ending) and Hempa Brynolfsson (Excruciate / Ordo Infernus), and new bassist Tobias Cristiansson (Grave / ex-Dismember) – proved that they weren’t ready to rest on their all-too-considerable laurels. 

While doubtlessly a summation of their combined histories in death metal, Darkened continued to finesse that sound into something all their own last year, first with the Mourn the Dying Light EP and then successive second album The Black Winter. World-eating all-caps DEATH METAL with atmosphere to spare? You bet!

And so the tank rolls on with Darkened‘s new two-song EP, Lord of Sickness and Bile, with Whale departing and veteran Perra Karlsson (AngelBlast, In Aeternum, Nominom) coming in to the drum-throne. Featuring two exclusive songs and an 11-minute runtime, Lord of Sickness and Bile gets the job done with startling, throttling efficiency. Both songs carry forward the evolutionary steps made last year – spaciousness and suffocation in equal measure, a seamless integration of haunting melody, an utterly dense onslaught of sound either way – and again does everything sound HUGE, even when racing forward with palpitating propulsion. Drums were recorded and engineered by Pontus Ekwall at Studio Cave, and Gord Olson handled the mixing & mastering: more DIY this time, but an utterly massive result given the EP’s brevity. Capped by characteristic artwork by Juanjo Castellano, Lord of Sickness and Bile is another gem in the Darkened discography!

In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Archaic Wounds” here:

Preorder info can be found HERE. Aforementioned cover art and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Darkened (International)’s Lord of Sickness and Bile
1. Steal-Kill-Destroy
2. Archaic Wounds

MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/darkeneddeathmetal

www.edgedcircleproductions.com

Today, pan-international death metal elite Darkened premiere the new video “Swallowed by the World”. The track hails from the band’s critically acclaimed second album, The Black Winter, released this past May via Edged Circle Productions. See & hear the Stefan Jansson-directed video for Darkened‘s “Swallowed by the World” in its entirety here:

While Darkened made a none-more-auspicious start with the Into the Blackness EP during the summer of 2019, it was the band’s debut album, Kingdom of Decay, where they literally EXPLODED onto the scene. Proud and pure death metal, no more but definitely no less, it was not at all surprising that Darkened made an immediate impact given their lineup on that debut full-length: drummer Andy Whale (Memoriam, ex-Bolt Thrower), vocalist Gord Olson (Ye Goat-Herd Gods / Demisery), guitarists Linus Nirbrant (A Canorous Quintet / This Ending) and Hempa Brynolfsson (Excruciate / Ordo Infernus), and new bassist Tobias Cristiansson (Grave / ex-Dismember). Patient and punishing, they proved that true songwriting stuns and crushes when practiced by masters of the death metal craft.

Now, as presaged earlier this year by the quick-hitting Mourn the Dying Light EP, Darkened arrive with their massive second album, The Black Winter. Immediately, their trademark sound is in place – clear & crushing riffs, grooves like a tank, an overall world-eating sensibility – but delve deeper and one will find Darkened expanding their already-considerable powers. Most prominently, there’s a surprising amount of atmosphere being explored on The Black Winter, true to its namesake. The resultant spaciousness is somehow just as suffocating as the band’s now-characteristic density; whether it’s in the riffing itself or the very subtle touches of synth underneath, the album certainly bears a unique-yet-unified aspect. From there, melancholic twists and wistful melody are seamlessly integrated into the Darkened onslaught of sound, which alternately pushes the aggression to murderous levels and the doom to the darkest depths; put another way, everything here sounds HUGE. And credit for that must go to Linus Nirbrant, who handled The Black Winter‘s production, as well as mixing & mastering by the Dan Swanö at Unisound – truly, one will not find a clearer yet more crushing death metal record this year!

As these endtimes take on a muted resignation, it’s only bleakly fitting that Darkened provide the soundtrack with The Black Winter…

Cover artwork, courtesy of Juanjo Castellano Rosado (Unleashed, The Black Dalhia Murder, Gates of Ishtar), and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Darkened (International)’s The Black Winter
1. Premonitions
2. Blood
3. Flayed
4. Terminal Lucidity
5. Black Winter
6. Fearful Quandary
7. Swallowed by the World
8. Plague of Despair
9. Regret

DARKENED lineup 2022
Hempa Brynolfsson – guitar (Excruciate)
Linus Nirbrant – guitar (A Canorous Quintet)
Tobias Cristiansson – bass (Grave, ex-Dismember)
Gord Olson – vocals (Ye Goat Herd Gods)
Andy Whale – drums (Memoriam, ex-Bolt Thrower)

MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/darkeneddeathmetal

www.edgedcircleproductions.com

Today, Edged Circle Productions announces May 27th as the international release date for the highly anticipated second album of pan-international death metal elite Darkened, The Black Winter, on CD and vinyl LP formats.

While Darkened made a none-more-auspicious start with the Into the Blackness EP during the summer of 2019, it was the band’s debut album, Kingdom of Decay, where they literally EXPLODED onto the scene. Proud and pure death metal, no more but definitely no less, it was not at all surprising that Darkened made an immediate impact given their lineup on that debut full-length: drummer Andy Whale (Memoriam, ex-Bolt Thrower), vocalist Gord Olson (Ye Goat-Herd Gods / Demisery), guitarists Linus Nirbrant (A Canorous Quintet / This Ending) and Hempa Brynolfsson (Excruciate / Ordo Infernus), and new bassist Tobias Cristiansson (Grave / ex-Dismember). Patient and punishing, they proved that true songwriting stuns and crushes when practiced by masters of the death metal craft.

Now, as presaged earlier this year by the quick-hitting Mourn the Dying Light EP, Darkened arrive with their massive second album, The Black Winter. Immediately, their trademark sound is in place – clear & crushing riffs, grooves like a tank, an overall world-eating sensibility – but delve deeper and one will find Darkened expanding their already-considerable powers. Most prominently, there’s a surprising amount of atmosphere being explored on The Black Winter, true to its namesake. The resultant spaciousness is somehow just as suffocating as the band’s now-characteristic density; whether it’s in the riffing itself or the very subtle touches of synth underneath, the album certainly bears a unique-yet-unified aspect. From there, melancholic twists and wistful melody are seamlessly integrated into the Darkened onslaught of sound, which alternately pushes the aggression to murderous levels and the doom to the darkest depths; put another way, everything here sounds HUGE. And credit for that must go to Linus Nirbrant, who handled The Black Winter‘s production, as well as mixing & mastering by the Dan Swanö at Unisound – truly, one will not find a clearer yet more crushing death metal record this year!

As these endtimes take on a muted resignation, it’s only bleakly fitting that Darkened provide the soundtrack with The Black Winter…

Hear for yourself with the brand-new track “Blood” here:

. Cover artwork, courtesy of Juanjo Castellano Rosado (Unleashed, The Black Dalhia Murder, Gates of Ishtar), and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Darkened (International)’s The Black Winter
1. Premonitions
2. Blood
3. Flayed
4. Terminal Lucidity
5. Black Winter
6. Fearful Quandary
7. Swallowed by the World
8. Plague of Despair
9. Regret

DARKENED lineup 2022
Hempa Brynolfsson – guitar (Excruciate)
Linus Nirbrant – guitar (A Canorous Quintet)
Tobias Cristiansson – bass (Grave, ex-Dismember)
Gord Olson – vocals (Ye Goat Herd Gods)
Andy Whale – drums (Memoriam, ex-Bolt Thrower)

MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/darkeneddeathmetal

www.edgedcircleproductions.com

Today, pan-international death metal elite Darkened stream their brand-new EP, Mourn the Dying Light. Set for international release on January 7th via Edged Circle Productions on 7″ vinyl format, hear Darkened‘s Mourn the Dying Light in its entirety here:

While Darkened made a none-more-auspicious start with the Into the Blackness EP during the summer of 2019, it was the band’s debut album, Kingdom of Decay, where they literally EXPLODED onto the scene. Proud and pure death metal, no more but definitely no less, it was not at all surprising that Darkened made an immediate impact given their lineup on that debut full-length: drummer Andy Whale (Memoriam, ex-Bolt Thrower), vocalist Gord Olson (Ye Goat-Herd Gods / Demisery), guitarists Linus Nirbrant (A Canorous Quintet / This Ending) and Hempa Brynolfsson (Excruciate / Ordo Inferus), and new bassist Tobias Cristiansson (Grave / ex-Dismember). Patient and punishing, they proved that true songwriting stuns and crushes when practiced by masters of the death metal craft.

Now, as a precursor to a new full-length in 2022, Darkened arrive with the short & VERY sweet Mourn the Dying Light EP. More spacious but somehow heavier, the two songs comprising this record show that this lineup is truly finding their groove – and by “groove,” we most definitely mean those of a tank! Produced, mixed, and mastered by Linus Nibrant, Mourn the Dying Light maintains a most powerful aspect – clear and crushing, as expected, but with a surprising amount of atmosphere which will likely be expanded upon on that forthcoming second album. Says the band, “This EP continues on from where Kingdom Of Decay ended, and clearly sets the tone for the upcoming album. Pushing even further into lyrical darkness, foreboding heaviness, wistful melody, and murderous aggression, Darkened are forging old-school death metal in a melancholic landscape.”

Preorder info can be found HERE at Edged Circle‘s Bandcamp. Cover artwork, courtesy of Juanjo Castellano Rosado (Unleashed, The Black Dalhia Murder, Gates of Ishtar), and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Darkened (International)’s Mourn the Dying Light
1. Black Winter
2. The Slime Runs Down Your Throat

DARKENED lineup 2021
Hempa Brynolfsson – guitar (Excruciate)
Linus Nirbrant – guitar (A Canorous Quintet)
Tobias Cristiansson – bass (Grave, ex-Dismember)
Gord Olson – vocals (Ye Goat Herd Gods)
Andy Whale – drums (Memoriam, ex-Bolt Thrower)

MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/darkeneddeathmetal
www.edgedcircleproductions.com

Today, Edged Circle Productions announces January 7th, 2022 as the international release date for a brand-new EP from pan-international death metal elite Darkened titled Mourn the Dying Light on 7″ vinyl format.

While Darkened made a none-more-auspicious start with the Into the Blackness EP during the summer of 2019, it was the band’s debut album, Kingdom of Decay, where they literally EXPLODED onto the scene. Proud and pure death metal, no more but definitely no less, it was not at all surprising that Darkened made an immediate impact given their lineup on that debut full-length: drummer Andy Whale (Memoriam, ex-Bolt Thrower), vocalist Gord Olson (Ye Goat-Herd Gods / Demisery), guitarists Linus Nirbrant (A Canorous Quintet / This Ending) and Hempa Brynolfsson (Excruciate / Ordo Inferus), and new bassist Tobias Cristiansson (Grave / ex-Dismember). Patient and punishing, they proved that true songwriting stuns and crushes when practiced by masters of the death metal craft.

Now, as a precursor to a new full-length in 2022, Darkened arrive with the short & VERY sweet Mourn the Dying Light EP. More spacious but somehow heavier, the two songs comprising this record show that this lineup is truly finding their groove – and by “groove,” we most definitely mean those of a tank! Produced, mixed, and mastered by Linus Nibrant, Mourn the Dying Light maintains a most powerful aspect – clear and crushing, as expected, but with a surprising amount of atmosphere which will likely be expanded upon on that forthcoming second album. Says the band, “This EP continues on from where Kingdom Of Decay ended, and clearly sets the tone for the upcoming album. Pushing even further into lyrical darkness, foreboding heaviness, wistful melody, and murderous aggression, Darkened are forging old-school death metal in a melancholic landscape.”

In the meantime, hear the brand-new track “Black Winter” here:

. Cover artwork, courtesy of Juanjo Castellano Rosado (Unleashed, The Black Dalhia Murder, Gates of Ishtar), and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Darkened (International)’s Mourn the Dying Light
1. Black Winter
2. The Slime Runs Down Your Throat

DARKENED lineup 2021
Hempa Brynolfsson – guitar (Excruciate)
Linus Nirbrant – guitar (A Canorous Quintet)
Tobias Cristiansson – bass (Grave, ex-Dismember)
Gord Olson – vocals (Ye Goat Herd Gods)
Andy Whale – drums (Memoriam, ex-Bolt Thrower)

MORE INFO:
www.facebook.com/darkeneddeathmetal

MORE INFO:
www.edgedcircleproductions.com