Album review: DYNAZTY – The Dark Delight

AFM Records [Release date 03.04.20]

Dynazty’s first three albums culminated in the stirring melodic rock of “Sultans Of Sin” in 2012. By 2014, they had radically recalibrated their sound, trudging through the bland power metal of “Renatus” (2014) and “Titanic Mass” (2016). Then, out of the blue, in 2018 they signalled a further, if less radical change in direction into Melodic Metal with “Firesign” (2018), a distinctive piece of work that stood tall on its own, but also showed promise that this band had much more to offer.

Its sophisticated and elaborate successor, “The Dark Delight” has emerged so fully formed musically, so majestic, so confident, that it sounds very much like a band truly at ease with itself, at last.

The songs are better structured, full of different notations and complex motifs… ‘Presence Of Mind’, ‘The Black’ and ‘Heartless Madness’ are slick yet spontaneous. But listen hard and you can hear Nils Molin’s vocal agility and Rob Love Magnusson’s short bursts of spiky, tuneful axework constantly refreshing the page, confirming the chemistry that holds it all together.

They toy with convention here and there, but generally play by the rules, marrying the classical and the modern, creating a keyboard driven symphonic/melodic metal concoction that just bursts with hooks, energy and invention. ‘From Sound To Silence’ and ‘Waterfall’ display that best. Two uplifting melodic metal anthems, compact, substantial tracks that work so well because they have jettisoned the bloated baggage that usually comes with the genre.

Elsewhere, the operatic ‘Paradise of The Architect’ and ‘Apex’ gallop through the darkness, illuminated by explosive choruses and philosophical observations. Both songs negotiate labrynthine arrangements, full of hooky hairpin bends and clattering rhythmic disturbances, but equally, both straighten out in time for a relentless rush to the finishing line.

“The Dark Delight” is exactly how Melodic Metal should sound. ****

Review by Brian McGowan

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Power Plays w/c 28 October 2024

THE RASMUS Rest In Pieces (Better Noise Music)
THE PLAGUE What Else Can I Do (FiXT)
STAR CIRCUS Turn The Tide (indie)
DEFENCES Breathe It In (Long Branch Records)

Featured Albums w/c 28 October 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)