by Cosmo Lee

Now this is what metal should sound like. Just shredding guitars, ferocious vocals and one of the most amazing
drummers on the planet. And, unlike metalcore imitations, Darkane sound Swedish because they actually ‘are Swedish. 2002’s “Expanding Senses” was a melodic thrash masterpiece, and the band was set to take its place atop the metal heap.

Then disaster struck. Guitarist Klas Ideberg badly hurt his back and drummer Peter Wildoer got a painful bone growth in his wrists that sidelined him for half a year. This delayed the recording of their next album, but the band used the downtime to work on side projects and build its own studio. One surgery and many doctors later, Ideberg and Wildoer are both well, and Darkane are back with “Layers of Lies.”

The album is stunning. While some of their Swedish peers have eased up on the intensity, Darkane are hungrier than ever. After a cinematic intro, the band is practically shot out of a cannon. Crazed solos swoop and dive-bomb over Slayer-esque thrash and melodic Swedish riffs. Singer Andreas Sydow is in fine form, with more vocal range than before. The guitarists are both godlike, but drummer Wildoer is the not-so-secret weapon here. His drumming is brutal, colorful, and technically flawless. Check out “Layers of Lies” and “Contaminated”. He has this weird cymbal technique that sounds like glass shards raining from above.

Singer Andreas Sydow is submitted to questioning.

The production on “Layers of Lies” is phenomenal. What did you do differently this time around?
Andreas Sydow: This time we decided to do everything ourselves. We recorded, produced and mixed the whole album by ourselves. Before we even started recording, we knew that we wanted a more clear production than on the previous albums. As we tried out stuff for the studio, we focused on getting as a clear sound as possible. We decided to go with Focusrite ISA 428 preamps and Swedish made Milab microphones. Everything is recorded and mixed in Cubase SX from Steinberg.

You used 26 microphones on the drums! Is this normal?
(laughs) Well, yes! This was actually a lot less than we used for “Expanding Senses”. For that recording I think we had something like 60 channels of drums. The reason we had to limit it to 26 this time was that the audiocard in our computer only has 26 input channels at a time!

You have said before that you are not well-known in your own country. Is this still true?
Metal is very much underground in Sweden, as in most countries. As a metal band I guess we’re quite well known, but to the big mainstream audience we’re not.

“The Matrix” was the inspiration for the song “Layers of Lies”. What other movies and books have influenced the band?
The Hellraiser movies have always been a big influence to DARKANE, during the recording of Insanity we watched a weird movie called Naked Lunch and A Clockwork Orange so movies in general are inspiring. Of course literature like Stephen King and Dean R. Koontz adds to it.

The album cover is strange but intense. Can you say more about it?
We actually had another cover made to begin with, but then we stumbled on to this picture and immediately felt that we just had to have it. It’s really a piece of art made to hang in galleries, not made as an album cover. The Swedish artist Fredric Ödman, who made it, is an up-and-coming photo artist with a very unique style. We convinced him to let us use it together with another picture of his (for the backside) and he even agreed to make a
special piece with us, just for us (the centerfold).

Two members of Darkane have just become fathers (congratulations!). How has this affected the band?
Actually it’s only Peter [Wildoer, drummer] so far. Christofer [Malmström, guitarist] is expecting around Christmas, and Klas [Ideberg, guitarist] in the end of January next year. I can’t say that it’s affected the band at all yet. Maybe it’ll get harder to go on longer tours in the future and stuff like that, but I can’t see very much changing.

Darkane toured the U.S. for the first time in a very long while. Any surprises from the tour?
Only positive things, really. We do have fans all over the U.S. (laughs) We were hoping for that, but one never knows. This was the first U.S. tour for Darkane ever, so everything was new. A lot to experience and see in every city. We’ve met so many nice and wonderful people on this tour. I really hope we get to come back really soon!

darkane.com

2005 “Layers of Lies” (Nuclear Blast)
2002 “Expanding Senses” (Nuclear Blast)
2001 “Insanity” (Century Media)
1999 “Rusted Angel” (Relapse)