Darkened is a rather nondescript band name and it's the artwork that caught my eye and made me keep reading, otherwise I'd likely have skipped this promo. Who said artwork isn't important? ;) This is an international cooperation, but the album really comes off like the result of a well-oiled machine with members having worked closely together for years. Kingdom of Decay is filled with heavy, muddy-ish, mid to fast-paced death metal that can probably be described—in part—as the bastard child of New York and Swedish death metal. It's dark and a little bit on the dark and doomy side and contains a heavy dose of melodic moments in between the heavier, crunchier metallic parts, which cranks up the dark aspect even more with a melancholic vibe. There really isn't anything new on this album; chances are you've heard something very similar before. But when it's this well executed, well... crush on.
