Jesus, who isn’t going back to the late 70s for some Thin Lizzy-action? Darkblack certainly are on Midnight Wraith, a 5-song EP that covers all the necessary proto-metal terrain, rounded out with the usual array of fantasy lyrics, soaring (but not the heights of Maiden) twin guitar harmonies and adequately-sung clean
vocals. These bands don’t die, they multiply, although Darkblack has been kicking around for quite some time, so we won’t attack them for coming late to the party.
The best thing Darkblack has going for themselves is twin guitar
interplay, and in all five of these songs, there’s at least one stroke of fancy guitar melody-action going down. The best was saved for the last song of the bunch, “Broken Oath,” where guitarists Anthony Crocamo and Rob McConlogue set sail with an array of dashing melodies and big, expansive chords. The duo have clearly done their homework on all things Murray/Smith.
Vocalist Tim Smith doesn’t have a commanding voice, so it ends up taking away from the would-be bombastic nature of these songs. And without that dominant presence on the mic, Darkblack is left to fall back on the deluge of guitar harmonies, which on a short EP manage to hold weight, but probably wouldn’t on a full-length.
(This content originally appeared on Blistering.com)