Besides any initial disappointment that it’s not a cover of, UK boy band, Five’s “When The Lights Go Out ” – something not as out of the ballpark as it seems, given Fozzy originally started as a covers …

This Helloween line-up consciously attempted to add “darker” elements to the relatively bright power metal formula on The Dark Ride (2000), a release that essentially modernized the tonal aesthetic of …

A lot of the songs on this record lean toward the darker side. Depression is a constant theme here, as well as religion, and its influence, but also how it is a negative.

The darker side of the story is that the group has suffered a tragedy after guitarist Glen Barrie suddenly passed in 2015. Such events can break a band, but also enhance them with creative power.

Where the voices vanish and the strings play a more prominent role, so does the darker underlying tone of the track. The other instruments come in and feel like you’re being dragged down in a sense from …

Indeed, the grittier and rawer stylistic template employed by German conceptual storytellers and Grave Digger offshoot project Rebellion is an ideal context for a darker realism pertaining to the topic of …

Yeah, I’ve definitely noticed that, compared to The Last Stand especially, where it was a lot more victorious and heroic, the overall mood in The Great War seems to be a bit darker and almost dooming.

The psychological nature of the theme is not unprecedented in the band’s catalogue, but does invoke a darker, more unsettling tone. Finally, this record’s greatest asset lies in its structural diversity.

The bass adds a lot to these tracks too, adding heaviness and a nice deep tone that makes the tracks darker than they were before. The vocals are a highlight as well, with Harvey’s signature, but the use …

Defecto released an excellent debut album last year and their singer Niklas Sonne also fronts Theory, whose darker, heavier and more modern outlook on prog power is sure to rise to the top on the back …