Darktribe, Mysticeti Victoria (2012)

Tracklist:

1. Genesis
2. Taiji
3. Roma XXI
4. Black Meteor
5. Lightning Guide
6. Lost
7. Poison of Life
8. Eyes Have You
9. Beware the God
10. From Us
11. Life, Love & Death

Not to be confused with their German black-metal namesake, Darktribe are France’s latest contribution to European power metal.  Founded in 2009 by brothers Anthony and Julien Agnello, their full-length debut, Mysticeti Victoria, comes with the tacit endorsement of such Finnish metal icons Nightwish and Sonata Arctica, whose expertise were recruited in the mixing and mastering process.

No surprise, then, that the basics are all up to scratch.  Darktribe are an accomplished and talented bunch of blokes, and the album is a showcase of some of their best musicianship: drums rivet often complex rhythms; keys dance in the background; vocals soar; a largely disciplined bass every now and then wanders on its own path with flair; and, of course, the obligatory guitar solos.  It is, as they say, the original recipe.  And several decades of power metal legacy surely can’t be wrong, can they?

But the album all feels slightly underwhelming.  In a crowded musical field, it’s probably fair to say Darktribe haven’t done too much to distinguish themselves.  Nothing in their approach is particularly original, and quite a bit feels particularly unoriginal.  Synth keys crackling away in harpsichord tones could be taken straight out of any Sonata Arctica record, while vocals – standard for the genre, in any case – might rightly draw comparison to groups like Thunderstone.

Guitar solos are one obvious point for inspiration and invention, and their vast expanses, in many songs covering up to a minute at a time, provide some of the album’s most expressive material.  Nevertheless, these often feel similarly standardised: the explosion of classic broken-chord riffing in track 3, Roma XXI, might draw the lingering smile of familiarity, but when the effect is then repeated, firstly in track 7, Poison of Life, and then, yet more strikingly, in its successor, Eyes Have You, it all becomes slightly draining.

Offering no little credit to the band, it’s clear from the structure of the album what they’ve tried to do, combining songs of variously uplifting, heartrending, and sinister character in an effort to illustrate “the path of self-destruction to which the human civilization moves by ruining Earth.”  And, bursting forth with an opener, Taiji (the first track, Genesis, is an instrumental intro) to shake the stars themselves – a genuine cracker, both in terms of musical content and organisation – Mysticeti Victoria takes to the stage amidst some real enthusiasm.

But, somewhere around the middle of the album, the excitement of the opening tracks begins to wear thin, as each next song fails increasingly to build on any momentum provided by its predecessors.  One of the overarching problems is that the intensity of the music regularly lapses into pale monochrome.  On the one hand, wailing guitars – though attractive in their own right – frequently drown out the different shades which could offer some variation.  The synths, with the greatest opportunity to provide warmer tones, for their part tend towards the flabby and indistinct: track 7, Poison of Life, as a prime example, is thus incapable of capitalising on an energetic, folksy riff as the keyboard tactlessly smudges the delicate runs into something of a synthetic sludge.

It feels, in large part, like Darktribe haven’t done themselves justice: unquestionably there’s some good material in here; it just hasn’t been handled with the sensitivity and care required.  Where the music does successfully combine to give something like to required depth and intensity, the effect is rewarding, not to say pretty impressive.  But it’s just not there for much of the album.  But for the first few songs, there’s little to draw the listener back for more, and by the time metal rediscovers it’s power in a rousing finale, Life, Love & Death, it’s already lost me. 

Darktribe, without doubt, have the skill to make their project work.  And regardless of what complaints can be had at Mysticeti Victoria, there’s a fair few things to be enjoyed, even if they come a bit few and far between.  Even so, unless their future work does more to challenge the band’s musical and aesthetic boundaries, it’s hard to see how they can keep themselves relevant.

Production: 3/5

Lyrics: 2/5

Album Cohesion: 3/5

Music: 6/10

Percentage Score: 56/100

http://darktribe.fr/band/
http://www.facebook.com/DarktribeOfficial

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