DARK EMPIRE — From Refuge to Ruin (review)

DARK EMPIRE — From Refuge to Ruin album cover Album · 2012 · Power Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Time Signature
What men call metal...

Genre: power-thrash

I've always thought that there should be "power" in power metal, and one of the reasons that I am very critical of the genre (which I otherwise love very much) is that a lot of power metal tends to be cheesy and even goofy in a sort of happy puppy way. The American power metallers in Dark Empire's music is free of power metal cheese, and full of "power" all the way through.

Stylistically, I would say that we are dealing with power-thrash than pure power metal, which is underlined already in the opening track 'A Plague in the Throne Room', which might even be described as more thrash than power metal. Dark Empire not only make use of elements from thrash metal; like Cage and Iron Fire, Dark Empire also incorporate elements from extreme metal into their style, and this is one feature that I welcome. Thus, Dark Empire make use of additional growled vocals, provided by guitarist Matt Moliti, which go well together with main vocalist Brian Larkin's more traditional US power metal vocals. Larkin has a powerful and a kind of raw voice which suits the style of "From Ruin to Refuge" very well.

Dark Empire call their own style 'dark power metal' and that is a quite fitting label, because, although there are thrash, melodeath, and other extreme-metal elements aplenty, the core sound is undeniably power metal, and the genre-defining features are there, such as the grandiose and epic catchy choruses, and an overall epic atmosphere that actually goes well with the album's more aggressive sides. As with Symphony X's brand of power metal, there is progressive twist on "From Refuge to Ruin" in the form of some odd time signatures, the use of some alternative song structures, and some neoclassicisms. However, Dark Empire's style is much more aggressive and less progressive than Symphony X, so do not expect a "Paradise Lost" or an "Iconoclast".

"From Refuge to Ruin" is definitely a great power-thrash album that is rich in dark atmosphere and aggression, yet contains all the elements that make good power metal.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Antibeauty Hardcore Punk
SNOWING IN PERU
Buy this album from MMA partners
Mana Earth Hardcore Punk
SNOWING IN PERU
Buy this album from MMA partners
Intimate Isolation Hardcore Punk
GOOD FALL
Buy this album from MMA partners
Dark Future Sludge Metal
PAIN CHEMISTRY
Buy this album from MMA partners
Violent Delights Hardcore Punk
GALLEONS
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Galleons - Electric Emotions
GALLEONS
Bosh66· 19 hours ago
Galleons - Elsewhere (Official Lyric Video)
GALLEONS
Bosh66· 19 hours ago
Galleons - Neon Dreams (Official Lyric Video)
GALLEONS
Bosh66· 19 hours ago
Galleons - I Travel East As Fievel Goes West Pt. 1 - Official Lyric Video
GALLEONS
Bosh66· 19 hours ago
FREEHOWLING - SCARS FT. AARON MATTS (TEN56.) [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]
FREEHOWLING
Bosh66· 19 hours ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed