Review: Darkness Everywhere – To Conquer Eternal Damnation
“To Conquer Eternal Damnation” sounds like a relic unearthed from the mid-nineties and reforged in modern fire. Darkness Everywhere, a Bay Area trio, channel the melodic death metal of old with an intensity that feels more revival than imitation. Their music doesn’t just remember the Gothenburg sound; it wrestles with it, roughens it, drags it back into raw daylight. What results is a half-hour of sharp, fast, melodic violence that feels both familiar and fiercely alive.
The album opens with “Retaliation”, a song that wastes no time. The guitars are jagged and soaring, harmonized in that classic dual-lead way that owes as much to Dark Tranquillity as to early In Flames. The drumming is thunderous and precise, the vocals a raspy snarl that stays just on the edge of collapse. There’s no room for hesitation; every riff feels written to hit fast, fade fast, and leave a scar. “The Architect of Misery”, with its brief guest vocal appearance, throws in enough variation to keep the middle of the record from blending together. “Starving Eyes” moves with short, urgent rhythm, while the title track stretches out, embracing melody as a kind of battle cry rather than respite.
Production is clean but not polished smooth. The distortion still grinds, the drums still carry that room echo that makes them sound alive rather than programmed. There’s clarity in the mix, and the low end provides real heft. Even when the tempos push near thrash territory, every note stays legible. That kind of precision gives the songs weight without sacrificing energy.
Where “To Conquer Eternal Damnation” falters is in its predictability. The band knows its craft, but follows the patterns too obediently. Verse, chorus, tremolo break, harmonized lead, finish – it’s a blueprint that works, but repetition dulls the edge over time. The brief runtime helps, but it also limits scope: the record ends before it finds a way to truly surprise. Darkness Everywhere clearly have the chops and ideas, yet you can sense a larger, darker record waiting behind this one, one that hasn’t yet broken through.
Still, when the band hit stride (the gallop of “In Blood They Will Drown” or the cold melodicism of “The Last Line”) it’s enough to remind you why this style refuses to die. They bring urgency back to a sound too often nostalgic. “To Conquer Eternal Damnation” is not just an act of homage; it’s a statement of belonging. Melodic death metal, as played by Darkness Everywhere, is still a living, breathing creature.
