Anonymous prophets with angelic monikers heralding an impending day of judgement? No, it’s not Ghost’s new gimmick, this is Division:Dark, an industrial five piece who have let a surprisingly minimal amount of information about them slip out to the public, which has a positive effect on drumming up interest in the project but at the same time it makes it an absolute ballache to do the usual introductory exposition and backstory stuff this introductory paragraph usually holds! What we can say is that this project features a huge host of talented guest musicians including members of The Agonist, Megaherz, Bluntengel, Eluveitie and Anneke van Giersbergen. So, if that piques your interest, let’s see what this melodic and darkened industrial metal prophecy is all about.
In contrast to what the press bio says about this enigmatic, apocalypse predicting five-piece, the music isn’t as ‘dark’ as you would believe. Instead, what we have is a strange blend of electronica and industrial elements tightly interwound with Euro-Metal and Neue Deutsche Härte, with some melodic metal thrown in for extra variety. It is actually a rather upbeat and lively release, if not a rather heavy one at that. Bright sounding, vibrant, energetic but loaded with extremely thick and heavy riffing and a pounding sense of rhythm. When you have this musical foundation and then add a whole host of vocalists who perform in a variety of languages to it, you end up with something infectious and accessible. It might sound like modern Industrial metal at first, but it is so much more!
Case in point, we have Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese and English languages represented across the tracks, all delivered in a massive variety of styles. Melodic and clean singing, borderline operatic power metal vocalizations, commanding Teutonic monotone commands and the ever reliable raw and nasty growling and snarling. Each style works fantastically with the music backing it to the point of every track having a strange air of familiarity about them to the extent that you would think that each track would actually be a release from the respective vocalist’s original bands! Case in point; “Twisted Game” features Vicky Psarakis of melodic metal titans The Agonist, a band known for their hard hitting metal riffs and formidable vocals. This track packs enough of a punch that it actually sounds like something The Agonist might actually put out themselves, only it features a lot more electronic and synth elements which augment the huge low end rumbling of the guitars and the pounding rhythm section.
“(They’re All) Hypocrites” which features Chris Pohl of Bluntengel is a phenomenal, moody and atmospheric industrial inspired metal groove monster of a track which is loaded with plenty of guitar hooks and synth refrains, all tied together by some solid vocal work, making it one of the best tracks of the release and the first part of a fantastic 1-2 track sequence. “Oden Organ’s Sebastian Levermann delivers a fantastic vocal display on the eponymous track “DivisionDark”, another industrial groove loaded track which has some empowering vocal melodies and infectious electronica composition work which will have you singing along to its anthemic chorus after one or two listens. “Still Meinen Durst” has Frank Herzig of Schattenmann delivering a commanding German language stormer of a track, featuring massive walls of distorted guitar and synths which evoke similarities to Rammstein and In Extremo with its straight forward approach whilst the closing track “Wrong” which features the legendary Anneke Van Giersbergen manages to deliver a captivating and emotional performance over the dark and gothic inspired number which has some wonderful and dark arrangements, perfectly matching the haunting beauty of her voice.
In all, this is a release which should be checked out by everyone, regardless of whether they like Industrial-leaning metal or not. It’s highly accessible and the words above are merely scratching the surface of what could well be a dark horse for the obligatory end of year accolades those of us who write about music look forwards to with eagerness and apprehension. Loaded with a multitude of musical styles and plenty of atmospheric impact, “Prophecy” foretells a highly enjoyable listening experience.
(9/10 Fraggle)
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