27th July 2022

Review: “Darkness Of Now” by Fall and Resist

After the break up of Technical Death Metal act Into Ruin, guitarist and vocalist Liam “Frosty” Frost-Camilleri found sanctuary in a new project more aligned with the worlds of Scandinavian Melodic Death Metal. Joined by drummer Benito Martino, guitarist Brendon Pyers and bassist Rory Pyers, 2016 saw the release of the bands first EP “Buried Beneath“, a record which set the standard with four cuts that showcase the Australian quartets myriad of influences while providing a concrete foundation on which to build. It also served to set the scene for 2018 debut full length “Fading Cinders“, which brought refinement, more complex song structures and harder hitting lyrical themes. Now, four years on beast arises once more from the black depths, the narrative of the bands records conjoined by artwork from Rhodri McCormack…

An achingly beautiful synth introduction to “Creators of Our Own Demise” builds to a searing main riff that finds Fall and Resist painting in the space between Melodic Death Metal and Thrash while maintaining their trademark high energy. There are points in the extended instrumental parts of the opening cut that it could be mistaken for an In Flames demo from the height of the Gothenburg Sound, such is the quality on show here, something reinforced by the re-emergence of the synths of underneath the guitar work to provide a melodic counterbalance. The drums were recorded at Bushido Studios in Melton Victoria and they deserve a lot of credit for Benito Martino’s drum sound which is huge and drives each cut forward in blistering fashion while sitting perfectly in the mix. Continuing the Thrash flirting “Nothing But Pain” gallops away like a 2003 era American Metalcore cut, the darkness of the lyrics matched by the raw quality of the vocal performance. An acoustic closing section is a touch of class that showcases the bands dedication to song writing, cleansing the palette to allow “Transient Forgiveness” to bite harder as Frosty roars “Breathe! Just breathe!” with the kind of conviction that tells you there is some cathartic release in it.

Packed with nuance the EP will keep you coming back as while you admire the vocal prowess your brain fails to fully appreciate some of the lead parts or staccato riff breaks until further down the line. The final nail in the coffin is “As It All Starts To Fray“, another blistering cut that continues the lyrical introspection as sanity becomes questioned, the addition of a couple of clean vocal lines allowing for the final verse to burst into flame in time honoured fashion. As musicians grow there is a tendency for extremes to push out and with “Darkness Of Now” what the band have done is take distinctive baby steps forward with the introduction of a few new elements rather than doing anything that makes for what you might class as a wholesale change. The vocals, recorded at Monolith Studios are, for the most part less harsh than on the bands previous offerings with work clearly done on the delivery to give a more rounded feel and the result is an EP that has had some of the bands more jagged edges sanded down and smoothed over to leave them sounding more polished and also strangely familiar. That gives the record an instant hook and makes for something you’ll want to return to time and time again [7.5/10]

Track Listing