photos by Michelle Nisbet
This Friday, Creator-Destructor Records will release The Seventh Circle, the debut from Oakland, California melodic death metal trio, DARKNESS EVERYWHERE. No Clean Singing is now hosting the album for exclusive streaming leading up to the record’s unveiling.
DARKNESS EVERYWHERE unites vocalist/guitarist/drummer Ben Murray (Light This City, Wilderness Dream), guitarist Cameron Stucky (Crepuscle), and renowned producer engineer Zack Ohren on bass. The Seventh Circle refers to Dante’s Seventh Layer Of Hell, where acts of violence in life are punished in death. The endless torture inflicted upon human souls for their past sins of hatred is an all-consuming reality in the lyrical themes of the seven songs on the band’s debut EP.
The Seventh Circle was recorded in late 2020 at Sharkbite Studios in Oakland, engineered and produced by Zack Ohren, and completed with cover artwork by Samuel Nelson. Additionally, The Seventh Circle features guest vocals from Laura Nichol (Light This City) on “Survival Of The Sun,” by Xavier (Upon Stone) on “The Seventh Circle” and by John Henry (Darkest Hour) on the “The Grand Impact.”
With the record about to be issued into the public, Stucky reveals, “The Seventh Circle is the kind of album that Ben and I have been wanting to hear for the last twenty or more years. We both are very fond of the 1990s and early-2000’s Scandinavian melo-death scene, and before we ever sat down to write songs there was a clear vision to recreate the magic of that era as best as we could. Riffs, harmonies, and straight-to-the-point song structures are the hallmarks of this record, and I can only hope that fans of the genre will be satisfied.”
No Clean Singing writes with their exclusive stream of the record, “The band’s chosen name provides a clue to their vision, but the EP’s title, The Seventh Circle, is an even more vivid signal. There they point to Dante’s Seventh Layer Of Hell, where acts of violence in life are punished in death through endless torture and agony. Souls are immersed in rivers of boiling blood and fire, imprisoned in gnarled trees where harpies feed, and abandoned on scorching plains. DARKNESS EVERYWHERE take us to this hot and unhappy place through the paths of seven tracks… For fans of ripping, high-octane melodic death metal, this EP will be a fantastic discovery.”
Hear DARKNESS EVERYWHERE’s The Seventh Circle in its searing entirety first through No Clean Singing now at THIS LOCATION.
The Seventh Circle will see CD and digital release this Friday, February 25th through Murray’s Creator-Destructor Records with a vinyl version to follow shortly after. Find preorders at Bandcamp HERE and the label webshop HERE.
The band filmed a video for one of the tracks from the album over the weekend. Watch for that to post shortly.
DARKNESS EVERYWHERE has also just announced their first live performance. The band will take part in Creator-Destructor’s Two Nights Of Terror double-show weekend booked for April 1st and 2nd at X Bar in Cupertino, California, joining Crepuscle, Spinebreaker, Scalp, Cartilage, Slowbleed, Extinguish, Upon Stone, Doomsday, Mutually Assured Destruction, and Outta Pocket. Watch for additional live news to post over the months ahead.
DARKNESS EVERYWHERE Live:
4/01/2022 X Bar – Cupertino, CA @ Two Nights Of Terror
DARKNESS EVERYWHERE formed in late 2020 with the goal of writing songs heavily influenced by the classic mid-1990s Swedish melodic death metal sound. This isn’t the individual members’ first round around the block when it comes to melodic death metal, as Murray is a founding member of Bay Area band Light This City, and Stucky is a member of symphonic melodic metal act, Crepuscle. Ohren recorded and produced all of Light This City’s albums throughout the past twenty years and continues to be one of the leading metal producers in the industry, having worked with Machine Head, All Shall Perish, and many more.
The glory years of early In Flames, At the Gates, and Dark Tranquillity are what largely inform the sound and aesthetic of DARKNESS EVERYWHERE. The core of the band is built on the feel of those legendary records, while offering a refreshing take on the no frills melodic death metal sound akin to the output of modern outfits The Black Dahlia Murder, Darkest Hour, and The Haunted. The band wastes no time in getting to the point of melodic death metal riffing and driving, thrashing tempos.
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