Dark Suns
Existence

THE REVIEW

Surfing from one site to another, I stumbled upon a site with an incredibly long list of band names and genres. Browsing a bit in the "Progressive" section, a rather strange band popped up... the name of the genre they played was "Ambient-Goth-Prog." The second thing that left me speechless was their nationality, "German"... and already here comes the question, how do these Germans manage to play ambient-prog? But the third thing that amazed me the most was that the singer is the drummer... which might work in an ambient context, considering that it's not particularly difficult to play and sing simultaneously... but in a Prog context?!?

Anyway, I burn the CD, click play... (I skip the first track because it's a pretty silly intro!) and this extremely harsh, almost Doom-like riff starts, with uneven time, classic prog... I started to think that the person from the site where I discovered the band is really into heavy drugs! I then continue with the listening... and pure magic!

...I try to explain the journey that Dark Suns made me embark on in this album: In the first 3 tracks, "A Slumbering Portait," "The Euphoric Sense," and "Her And The Element," you enter this dark and frightening forest, interspersed with this network of grim riffs and a keyboard, eerily ever-present throughout the CD, that accompanies you until at a certain point snow starts falling. With "Daydream," the next track, serenity appears on your face, and you are catapulted in front of a window in the middle of winter, where snow is falling outside... and feelings of tremendous calm envelop your entire body. Then "Anemone" begins, one of the most beautiful pieces on the CD, where you can especially feel the power of the keyboard that adds character to the piece, particularly in the chorus...

The other tracks that follow are intertwined with a concept of malice and melody... perhaps this is why they each last from 7 to 12 minutes... and then they complete the mental journey! This CD and this band, like few others, have particularly struck me. After such a cinematic description, all that's left to do is listen to it!!!

An ambient-prog concept I had never really listened to! Recommended for an audience with a good ear for melody mixed with malice! For those who hate melody, there's always Cannibal Corpse. Certainly, the German band Dark Suns is not for you!