Artist: The 69 Eyes
Title: Death of Darkness
Genre: Rock / Goth
Release Date: 21st April 2023
Label: Atomic Fire Records
Album Review
It’s been almost four years, since I wrote 10/10 review about ‘West End’ and it was clear that writing a review about the follow-up album won’t be an easy task. THE 69 EYES developed a new strategy due to the fact that the music industry requires bands to release new music all the time. In Summer 2022 the band released the first single ‘Drive’ while working on their upcoming. The song got plenty of radio play and the band members found themselves pretty busy while working on the album. I must admit that the song is a catchy one, the perfect soundtrack for a summer trip to a Rock festival.
The band’s album opens with the title track ‘Death Of Darkness’ and when I heard the song the first time a few days before the band embarked on their European tour, the song reminded me of something from the 80’s, but I couldn’t get a grip on it. A few days later, I read that the band had worked with Ben Christo (DIAMOND BALCK; THE SISTERS OF MERCY) on the song and the scales fell from my eyes. The live version I heard in Munich was a blast and I’m sure ‘Death of Darkness’ will find a spot on the bands ‘classic-list’. ‘Gotta Rock’ is a catchy one, too. The song was aired live on air in Finland last autumn, when the band was part of the Finnish version of ‘Sing my Song’ and is a cover of BOYCOTT’s original song. The song was not on the setlist during the latest European tour, but the live version I heard in Finland was really intriguing.
‘This Murder Takes Two [feat. Kat Von D]’ was released as a single with a wonderful video and one must admit that Kat von D improved the command of her voice a lot, since she collaborated with the band for ‘Rosary Blue’ 11 years ago. The song comes in a Goth Americana style and will be perfect for you Goth Halloween preparations. ‘California’ brings back the vibes of summer and the glam of Holiday to rainy German spring and is the perfect soundtrack for the festival season. Somehow it reminds me a bit of their album ‘Back in Blood’, though it has none of its tongue-in-cheek attitude. What would be a 69 EYES record without a movie themed track? Not a real 69 EYES release for sure. Jyrki 69 takes you on a journey through ‘Escape From New York’ while the soundscape is not a typical one for the band. The sound is a mix between Industrial, 80s Goth, some Post-Punk and Hardrock elements, if you followed Jyrki’s side projects, you’ll soon find out where he drew the inspiration for the vocal style from. The song also marks kind of a break between the first and the second part of the record.
While the first six songs were released as singles, the remaining four were not. ‘Dying In The Night’ is one for the Gothic dance floor, getting you back to your early 2000s Goth days, great bass riffing and a great guitar melody, but they really could have left the keyboard out. ‘Something Real’ is more up-tempo with an almost haunting guitar riff and a very 80s prone soundscape, a great one for the Goth dancefloor during the upcoming festival season. ‘Sundown’ sounds mor the songs the band worked on with US-producers in the past and sounds more like more like a radio prone Rock song, or if you want: a filler. The album ends with the amazing ‘Outlaws’, a spheric intro, a great guitar line underlining the lead vocals. Jyrki’s unique voice getting you goth, while there is plenty of space for guitar and bass parts as well. Somehow it reminds me of old PARADISE LOST songs with this dark and intense chorus.
All in all, ‘Death of Darkness’ is a very versatile album; with some twists and turns you might not have expected. Somehow it reminds me a bit of THE 69 EYES release ‘X’ that came with many styles as well and suffered from too much co-writing. ‘Death of Darkness’ consists of songs that are great coming to vocals and music, but somehow the whole album doesn’t fit together. The album is for those who love the bands early releases as well as for those who love the more Rock prone ones. Check out the videos for the singles, the band really made effort to find a perfect story for every single release.
Tracklist
01. Death Of Darkness
02. Drive
03. Gotta Rock
04. This Murder Takes Two [feat. Kat Von D]
05. California
06. Call Me Snake
07. Dying In The Night
08. Something Real
09. Sundown
10. Outlaws
Line-up
Jyrki 69 - Vocals
Bazie - Lead guitar
Timo-Timo - Guitar
Archzie - Bass
Jussi 69 - Drums
Website
www.69eyes.com / www.facebook.com/the69eyes
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 8
Sound: 8
Total: 8 / 10
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