‘In Darkness We Remain‘ by Destroyers Of All is one of those albums that take you by surprise. And by you, I mean me. And by surprised, I mean “Well, shit. I didn’t expect it to be that good.”
Formed in 2011, the Portuguese Progressive Thrash/Death Metal Bastards released their first EP, ‘Into The Fire‘, in 2013, before unleashing their debut album, ‘Bleak Fragments’, in 2016. Then in 2019 they set ‘The Vile Manifesto‘ upon the world, a record so hard and heavy that it might have been responsible for the shifting polar ice caps.
And now their back, with ‘In Darkness we Remain‘ and the gloves are truly off.
This is a record that is brilliant. In fact it is so brilliant that there was a case to be made that it would be the first 5 out of 5 in our new rating system. But… well… I shall get to that.
From the outset, ‘In Darkness We Remain‘ hits different and establishes Destroyers Of All as a band who aren’t afriad to take chances and follow the music where it goes. It is the progressive part of Destroyers Of All that intrigues me the most, as the band lean into it with such gusto and originality that you can’t help but be impressed. Like, jaw on the floor impressed.
It would’ve been easy for Destroyers Of All to just slap out a standard Thrash/Death Metal album and sat around waiting for the kudos to roll in, but they don’t take the easy route and instead come across like a possessed Jethro Tull – minus the flute – in places.
They wear their influences on their sleeves, but this doesn’t hold them back. In fact, it adds to the glorious experimental wall of madness that flows out of each groove on ‘In Darkness We Remain‘.
Technically, it is superb. With musicianship that wouldn’t be put of place in any Prog, Thrash, or Death Metal band you care to mention, and the whole album is a moment of utter exhilarating from beginning to… welll… the end of track nine, ‘Reliance‘.
Then there’s track ten…
The cover version of ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps‘ is, in my opinion, a misstep.
This is probably a failing on my behalf, truth be told, but it just seems so out of place on the album that I can’t figure out why it’s there. And the worse thing is that if you listen to the song as a standalone track, then there’s nothing wrong with it at all. It’s actually a really fucking good version of the Beatles classic and takes it to levels I doubt George Harrison would have ever rhought possible. But for me, it just doesn’t fit ‘In Darkness We Remain‘ at all.
I hope it goes on to be a huge fucking hit for them – it really is that good – but I wouldn’t have missed it if it wasn’t on the album.
Having said all that, I like this record, a lot, and if you fancy some Thrash/Death that isn’t afraid to push musical boundaries, then ‘In Darkness We Remain‘ by Destroyers Of All should be high on your shopping list.
