Darkwater - Calling The Earth To Witness

A while back I picked up Dreaming Awake by Sweden's Harmony through the trading website lala.com. It was a blind pick-up, but I was pretty impressed with the album. The band played a brand of power metal with a slight progressive edge, one that on the surface reminded me of Circus Maxiumus, but lacked that heavy progressive sound. The band Darkwater, consisting of four of the five members of Harmony, takes the progressive banner and raises it high. What Harmony is only on the surface, Darkwater is through and through. They don't break the mold that bands like Zero Hour and Wastefall and the aforementioned Circus Maximus create, but they do reinforce it.

Calling The Earth To Witness is Darkwater's debut, having only released one song prior—in 2004—on a compilation called The Sweet...According To Sweden. The album is nine songs deep (one being a short intro), and clocks in at just under sixty-nine minutes. "All Eyes On Me"—preceded by the short intro "2534167"—sets the progressive metal bar high; crushing guitar and drum work (very solid, heavy tones on both), powerful vocals with thick, lush harmonies, subtle keyboard flourishes that create depth, outstanding lead work, and—most importantly—brilliant songwriting. "Again" and "Habit" step up next and land a perfect one-two combination, with the latter pushing the thirteen-minute mark, showing a more dynamic and experimental style. Darkwater doesn't deviate from this heavy progressive style on the whole of the album, but they do add some different elements from song to song to keep things fresh: the short piano ballad "The Play, Pt. 1," the aggressive and keyboard-heavy "Shattered," a little acoustic guitar work and a cappella on "Tallest Tree."

While not breaking new ground, Calling The Earth To Witness is a formidable album in the field of progressive metal. While so many bands of this genre have too many loose ends flapping around while they try too hard to create something "progressive," Darkwater manages to keep things compelling and dynamic without getting sloppy. It's not always easy to make something memorable and tasty when so many ingredients are used, but Darkwater will both satiate and keep you hungry for more.

Video: The Play, Pt. 2
Audio: Again (Edit), Shattered (Clip), Tallest Tree (Clip)

Website: http://www.darkwater.se
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/darkwaterofficial

Note: Many of these links are external. In time, they may become obsolete.