Even though Darkness Divided are considered a metalcore act, there is far more ‘metal’ than there is ‘core’ in Written In Blood.
Not only are some of their riffs delightfully thrashy as fuck but frontman Gerard Mora has a bloodcurdling scream that would make Dani Filth wilt. That isn’t to say that they never fall into the same generic traps that have hampered many of their peers, though. The whole ‘screaming verse/clean chorus’ dynamic they use in almost every song has been done to death already, and by bands of a higher calibre. It’s a frustrating mix, because when they get their heads down and rage through a song like Eternal Thirst, Darkness Divided sound like they could be a force to be reckoned with. Unfortunately, those moments tend to be bookended by something totally unremarkable, like the aimless Withering Kingdom. This being their debut album, you want to give them the benefit of the doubt; the follow-up will be the acid test. Twenty-first-century metal torchbearers or a bunch of ‘core’ chancers? The jury is still out.
Via Victory
