Dark Age – Acedia (2010)

Apparently we had this little gem of an album sitting on our ‘to review’ folder for quite some time and it just recently got its deserved play time. We really regret not having enjoyed this fine release when it was released since it features a very interesting combination of Melodic Death Metal with what you can call ‘pop metal’ influences.

This German band has been known for releasing ‘average’ Melodic Death Metal bands, but until this release they will either standout more or be hated by their previous fans. Fusing electronic elements and clean vocals we get a bit of a ‘pop metal’ feeling to this album, and while this prevails through most of the album, the underlying foundations of the music are very much like their earlier stuff: melodic riffs and catchy song structures.

We are pretty sure that fans of the ‘classical’ Melodic Death Metal will be puzzled and highly likely reject “Acedia”. However, if you are of a bit more open to different music, you will find this album interesting. There are some points that like other people have mentioned the band sounds like Linkin Park and such bands, but the music is way better than that.

All eleven tracks of “Acedia” feature a healthy balance of Melodic Death Metal with more ‘commercial’ elements, making the band sound very actual and fresh in comparison to other bands of the genre. We think that this was the right move for Dark Age, since they were stuck with a similar style of music for quite a while, never achieving much and with this change they will surely get noticed by a broader audience.

Like we mentioned before, the music is pretty good and pleases us both the Melodic DM parts, and the other ‘pop-ish’ stuff. The keyboards are done very well and they help create a very futuristic atmosphere (sometimes comparable to Dark Tranquility). The guitar riffs are more powerful than anything you get in ‘commercial metal’ and the solos are pretty strong.

Vocal wise, the band still has the powerful growl most of the time, and the band uses some clean vocals that are pretty decent into making the music sound different, sometimes the band goes into sections that sound like Sybreed and even Silent Descent.

In overall “Acedia” is a pretty solid album that features a band making a change in their style. We hope that people can see past this and give the album a chance, we think is a pretty good effort and it’s worth your time.

Release: January 26th, 2010

Country: USA