Album Review: Darklore - The Great Elven War
Reviewed by Dan Barnes
Out of Brisbane, Australia come Darklore, a band who live and breath the Fantasy elements that dominate their musical output. Blending blackened symphonic metal to the works of J.R.R. and George R.R., these Aussies are back with the sophomore album, The Great Elven War, six years on from debut, The Evils of Man, back before the pandemic.
At seventy-minutes this album is as epic as either The Lord of the Rings or A Song of Fire & Ice, evoking the image of darkened hall, lit only by crackling fires around which tales of heroic deeds are recounted. It’s the kind of fare that the old school Bloodstockers would brandish plastic broadswords and quaff ale from huge drinking horns, having a whale of a time while doing so.
To set the scene, opening chapter, The Hunting Grounds begins with lashing rain, cracking thunder and a howling wolf, before building dark chords and blackened riffs, in the vein of Cradle and Dimmu. It’s the widescreen nature of those bands that Darklore seems to emulate, with the vocals of Raiven Dark adopting the icer tones of Scandinavian forests than the metropolitan bustle of Brisbane.
The Beast of Bauclair takes time in its nine-minute plus run time to add an ambient passage, breaking the lush tune just long enough for a full-bloodied shredding solo, courtesy of Luna, otherwise seen as Slaves of Anubis’ bassist. The North Remembers goes in for some serious power metal vibes while maintaining the overall feel of grim and frostbitten vistas; Horns of Buffira even manages to include a jiggery feel to its huge bluster.
Descendents of the Pale Moon was released as a single late last November, and acts as a sequel to the debut’s The Raven’s Return, expanding on that track’s revenge-driven resurrected knight’s quest for justice against a duplicitous king. Rather than being the normal, run-of-the-mill single fodder, at nearly eight-minutes in length I cannot imagine it getting much repeated airplay on commercial stations. That said, the swirling riffs are fast and furious and dancing keys give a drive and dynamism here and throughout.
Second single, Servants of Sauron, begins with a scream before the keys lay down an orchestral platform for some meaty riffs and, maybe, something of a Celtic feel as the tune wends to its conclusion.
The closing pairing of the title track and The Wrath of the High Heaven both top the ten-minute mark and bring this mythical saga of heroism and bravery to a close.
Like all the best Fantasies, Darklore’s recounting of The Great Elven War is long and multi-layered, with stories of valour and sacrifice a plenty. And, as with all the best Fantasies, it can be over-long at times, and I occasionally found myself wondering whether the extended run-time was wholly justified. But I probably have that thought when tackling literary Fantasy too, so maybe that’s a failing on my part.
The production is faithful to the subject matter, being big and powerful throughout, giving Darklore’s world-building narrative the tools to be as huge as the titular war itself.
In my limited experience of the Fantasy genre, I suspect this is not the last we’ve heard of said Elven War, with the scope to produce many a follow-up story. Just a bit quicker than Mr Martin’s The Winds of Winter, if you please.
