Breathe Deep the Dark

The 90's were for the most part a pretty terrible time for US power metal. Classic USPM bands disbanded or worse, pulled a Dissident Alliance. However by the late 90's there was a mini revival. Jag Panzer's return to making decent albums is of course the most well known example but we also had new bands like Slough Feg and Twisted Tower Dire emerge from the murky waters. Destiny's End was a mix bit of both, a super-group of USPM stalwars with no one else than James Rivera of Helstar fame doing the vocals. Funny thing though is that Destiny's End is only a super-group in retrospect. Back in 1998 pretty much nobody had heard of the rest of the band. Even now most people who know what the band members have done after Destiny's End don't know either of New Eden and Z-Lot-Z the 2 preceding bands. This does not even really matter though because with Breathe Deep the Dark they delivered something that is extraordinary even for James himself. Personally I think it might even be the best thing he ever sang on. Although that is a very hard call to make considering his track record.

As you most likely have guessed by now this album is power metal. Not only is it power metal but this is classic US power metal of the blue collar, riffs-a-plenty sort. This album is actually pretty close to the classic Helstar albums but the riffs are less melodic and are more relentless and gnarly. This is actually one of the least melodic power metal albums I've ever heard. I even am willing to go as far as saying that, if you want to call any power metal album brutal, this one Is it. The tempo is high and while there are certainly plenty of perfectly executed goosebumps inducing shifts and change-ups, the pace rarely drops down to midpace. Only the intro of the final track is sounds gentle, however of course James breaks into one of his classic falsettos and the tempo shifts up again so that the band can give us another dose of pummelling riffs. All the songs are pretty much the same pummelling affair of excellence.

There is very little that is holding this album back from competing with the very very best albums ever made. Even though being so monolithic and pummelling is what makes this album such an incredible grower, I also think they went just a tiny bit too far. The album also closes with an absolute incredible track but while it has the perfect intro for an album closer, I do not think it has the right ending for one. Every time I listen to this album my gut expects and wants another song, not because the album is too short but because the final track lacks a fitting big ending. Even though the song is absolutely incredible based on its own merits. However listening to an album is not the same as listening to all the tracks separately.

These tiny tiny flaws however do not change the true fact that this is one of the best albums ever made. The lack of diversity on this album makes it kind of like a hyper-specialized massive predator that can only catch one kind of prey. Instead of making me think that this animal would be better off if it could catch other prey, I can only stand there like a deer caught in the headlights when it finds me and then with its awe inducing skill, capture and devour me whole.

I didn’t want to give this album a perfect score cause this way it was going to match the one of “Nosferatu”, but I gave it a listen the other day, and couldn’t help it. I didn’t have to listen to it again to get inspired, I know it by heart; but there was this urge to listen to something spontaneously combustible, to breathe some "deep unfathomable darkness"; so I blasted this “dark beast” through the speakers.

You have to give it to Rivera; the man is tireless, and everything he touches turns to gold (not in a financial context, unfortunately). After it became clear that the Helstar team wouldn’t want to carry on after “Nosferatu”, he quickly assembled another group, named it Vigilante, and released two outstanding demos of intricate progressive power/thrash in the early-90’s. He used some of the material from the demos for the controversial, albeit pretty decent, attempt to resurrect Helstar titled “Multiples of Black” (1995). After this masterplan didn’t work out, he finally decided to settle for another act, and he chose the retro power/speed metal sensation New Eden, young upstarts led by the talented guitar player Horacio Colmenares, whose debut “Through the Make Believe” (1997) was the talk of the town, and probably the whole underground, with its nods towards many greats from the 80’s American metal scene including Helstar.

Colmenares and Rivera seemed like the perfect pair to team up and lead classic metal out of the dark ages, into a new dawn… However, what followed remains one of the biggest mysteries in the annals of metal: merely months later the entire New Eden line-up except for Colmenares, of course, had already regrouped under a new moniker, Destiny’s End, with Rivera in the lead. Whether the guys had followed the star willingly, or he had somehow managed to lure them away from this New Paradise, is still subject to debate. What’s known, though, is that this combo is responsible for one of the ten best metal efforts of the 90’s, a full-on speed/thrashing metal attack which at some stage made the prospective Helstar reunion look like a redundant proposition; seriously.

“Rebirth” is one of the most furious openers in metal history, a relentless speed metal attack which hasn’t been experienced since the early days of Helloween. The soaring dramatic tirades of Rivera are as great as ever, and one can only have deep respect for the man for preserving his vocal bravado, all the way to the present day. The guys shred like certified lunatics their raging delivery calming down on the following title-track which epitomizes a more complex, epic approach with echoes of “Nosferatu” and a more overt thrashy rhythm-section on top of superb progressive, also melodic, build-ups. “To Be Immortal” is an open nod to the mentioned magnum opus both with the title and the classical pyrotechnics which start from the get-do and later carry this awesome speedster which also shines with its virtuoso lead sections and the excellent chorus. “Idle City” is an “idle” cut which starts as a ballad before it turns into a cavalcade of gorgeous melodies in the middle, those it their turn replaced by shattering fast-paced passages. “The Fortress Unvanquishable” continues the speedy “assault” the riff-patterns becoming more intricate with steel gallops taking turns with more aggressive thrashing this “duel” spiced with another memorable chorus. Comes “Sinister Deity”, a number already heard on the Vigilante demo, a smashing speed/thrashterpiece with imposing stomping interruptions those smelling sinister deities... sorry, doom.

“Unsolved World” serves heavy mid-paced guitars before the fast-paced crescendos get introduced later both sides taking turns throughout with nice balance achieved between the two, Rivera adding to the eventful rifforama with a couple of hellish, glass-breaking screams. “Under Destruction’s Thumb” begins with a creepy bass-driven section which gives way to seismic thrashy dramatism that logically leads to a nice memorable chorus and several stylish melodic motifs; no attempts at any headbanging outrage. “Clutching at Straws” must have been written for “Nosferatu”: a superb representation of classical-infused speed/thrash at its virtuous best; pure bliss from beginning to end with melodies and sophisticated aggression fighting for domination the ensuing “battle” a feast for the listener. “Where Do We Go?” is an epic, relatively laidback elegy giving a chance to Rivera to display his more lyrical side. An atmospheric balladic section inaugurates the closing “The Obscure” the guys bracing themselves for the final speed/thrashing “skirmish” which is overwritten mid-way by another peaceful interlude; a diverse saga sealed by Rivera’s most attached, emotional performance.

Rivera is greatly helped by the presence of Dan DeLucie, an unrecognized guitar wizard who was also an invaluable addition to the New Eden line-up, and later founded another quite good, albeit also very short-lived, classic speed/power metal act, Crescent Shield. The man is the main composer here, and he’s obviously a big fan of Helstar since his song-writing predilections lead directly to that band’s last two classic works. This is pretty much the ultimate shredfest of the 90’s presenting classic metal in all its glory, and in a very appropriate time, if you ask me; 1998 was the year when the favourites of the 90’s audience reached their peaks: gothic/doom on Theatre of Tragedy’s “Aegis; the second wave of black metal on The Kovenant’s “Nexus Polaris”; operatic, symphonic metal of Therion’s “Vovin”; and technical/progressive death on Death’s “The Sound of Perseverance”. “Breathe Deep The Dark” arrived in the middle of this musical “prosperity” to indicate that it was time for the fanbase to look back at the classic heritage now that all the 90’s genres had reached their culmination; a process that had already been hinted at a year earlier on the two other great works of classic US metal from the 90’s: the already mentioned New Eden debut and Cauldron Born’s “Born of the Cauldron”.

Ironically, neither of these three acts managed to fulfil the promises with their sophomore efforts: Cauldron Born produced a compilation of much more ordinary epic battle hymns on “… and Rome Shall Fall” (2002); Colmenares failed to match the greatness of the debut without the presence of DeLucie on the pretty average “Obscure Master Plan” (1999); and our friends here abandoned their irresistible speed/thrashy intricacy for the sake of a mellower and less extravagant, albeit still quite appealing, progressive power metal style on the aptly-titled “Transition” (2001). Rivera held no illusions about this project’s future, and put an end to it. He had already started another formation, Killing Machine, a year earlier with the drum authority Jon Dette (Slayer, Testament, Iced Earth, Heathen, etc.) and the well-known Juan Garcia (Agent Steel, Evildead) the style being plain classic heavy metal. He gave the Helstar legacy another go with his new outfit Distant Thunder in 2004, which also saw him partner with the Destiny’s End guitarist Eric Halpern for one more spell, with a self-titled debut; needless to add, and with a tell-tale name/title like that, this opus was a tribute to the early days of the band, the ones before “Nosferatu”, and was a fairly decent slab of the good old power/speed metal. By no means does it touch the album reviewed here, but at least was another indication that Rivera hasn’t forgotten about his old “love”…

And eventually they “re-married”, and their “wedlock” of the new millennium has produced four wholesome “children” the last of which, “Vampiro” (2016), is a more than worthy sequel to the Dracula saga started in 1989 (music, rather than text-wise). Helstar are by far one of the most prominent metal stars on the show at present, even more so than in the 80’s, but the metal fans will never forget those vital, forbidden breathing techniques that Mr. Rivera taught them some years ago, and gave them a glimmer of hope that “the dark” would soon be over, and that the old stars would be back before long to lighten the metal horizon once again.

Funny how some random person's opinion on an obscure band on the internet, can lead you to immense, long-lasting joy. It was the review posted on this site for this album that made me check out this band years ago, and it reminds me why I write reviews. So glad I check this album out.

Breathe Deep the Dark is a speed/power metal barrage of classic riffs, with a finely tuned balance between heavy, and melodic. I would put the tracks on this album up against any great power metal ... Gamma Ray, Blind Guardian, or Stratovarius. Yea, I said it - the songs on this album are so classic. If all US power metal was this good, we'd have ourselves a real scene; hell, we'd stand in contention with Europe.

The vocals are fantastic. Dynamic, powerful, everything you need in a power metal vocalist. The guitar riffs are just classic, and the drumming is powerful and well crafted to fit the music so well. And, the hallmark of a well produced album - a nice chunky bass can be heard in the barrage of metal fury. It's unique in that it blends the style of the 80's, 90's and early 2000's and takes the best of everything along the way.

For the genre it is, it's as heavy as it gets. Balls of steel. This album is full of anthems that will make you bang your head, and compel you to kick a hipster in the throat.

The songs are perfectly paced, wisely put together, and the choruses are all so individualized. Put this on top of stellar riffs and great production, and you have yourself a classic album. Everything is so well timed, and so well placed in the music, like the second verse in Sinister Deity, "Black market wealth, richness while their necks are being hung" - breaking down into the most headbang-inducing riff in human history. Perfect.

Not much in the way of flaws on this album, it's pretty damn exemplary of how to put together a classic metal album. Essential!

As most of you already know, James Rivera was once the vocalist for Helstar, and other prominent members of Destiny’s End were once in New Eden. Drummer Brian Craig has also played with Seven Witches. The style of Metal played by Destiny’s End is not that different than Helstar; the music is still fast, energetic, full of riffs, and of course melody.

What Destiny’s End do, they do very well, and that is playing 80’s inspired Speed/Power Metal with a very high degree of musicianship and song writing. Most of the songs take on the moniker of being fast and technical, however, to make things interesting Destiny’s End offers us progressive build-up and some mid-paced tracks as well. Some might prefer a little more variation, but when you play this good fast, why bother to slow down for extended periods? The riffs definitely have that Helstar feel and are very well played, not to mention the leads, which are another highlight. Both Perry Grayson and Dan DeLucie provide us with these leads, which always seem to come at the right time and they also partake in lead battles, which are rather exciting. A lot of harmonization is present as well, often making Destiny’s End sound like Iron Maiden on crack. Those of you familiar with Helstar will instantly recognize Rivera, as he sounds pretty much the same way he did in the 80’s. I know there are some of you who don’t like his vocals, but I think they’re top notch and give Destiny’s End the proper amount of aggression and melody to accompany the music.

I’m not sure if this was done purposely or not, but the production job sounds very 80’s... in a good way. Nothing is over done, the bass is clear, the drums are powerful but do not sound fake, and guitars are distorted and heavy, but not muddy… perfect if you ask me. The lyrics are also very good, not that it matters to some of you. Most songs take a psychological stand point on a particular topic, such as death on “Where Do We Go?” while others portray money driven religions, as found on “Sinister Deity”. Also, there seems to be a slight middle-eastern sound to some riffs, intentional or not, it adds an interesting atmosphere when used. I’ve listened to this CD many times over the last year or so and I can’t find any major faults, I like every song a lot, but some more than others. While I don’t dislike current Power Metal bands, or the current wave of Gothenburg inspired bands, there is always something to be said for Metal like this. One way to put it is that they don’t make Metal like this anymore, hehe. Truthfully, this is the kind of stuff that, for me at least, puts a smile on my face and forces me to head bang whether I want to or not, so fans of no-frills 80’s Power/Speed Metal, check these guys out, I hope you won’t be disappointed.

Song Highlights: All of them, but my favorites are Rebirth, Breathe Deep The Dark, The Fortress Unvanquishable, Sinister Deity, Clutching At Straws, Where Do We Go?, The Obscure.