Fresh Picks: Strife Darko.
Strife Darko – Canterbury, England, United Kingdom.
Based in Canterbury, Kent, Strife Darko are in their own words – ‘a sort of Experimental Hard Rock band‘ and despite normally making my own decision on how to verbally describe bands this sonically interesting and just a little bit weird, I won’t. I won’t because to be completely fair, such a description is indeed on the metaphorical ball.
The band have their debut full-length ready for release in April as a follow-up to their debut EP released back in 2016, an EP that not only shined through its production but also in its ability to keep you interested. In fact in all honesty I will admit that years of listening to up-tempo Punk music has left my attention either easily lost or difficult to maintain on many of slower guitar-driven releases of this contemporary era, a problem indeed but a problem I really didn’t at all have with The EP.
Vocally, you are met with Spoken Word plied with a strong south-eastern accent and melodic clean vocals that are at times more akin to a theatrical delivery both atop heavy metallic and drudging riffs or a simple and quiet instrumental ebb. The band manage to stick to a sound enough that they remain consistent but within this microcosm of said sound they take you to every inch and turn every corner often without warning.
It is indeed very hard to pin down a band so unique but again Hard Rock would be a good foundation. The band experiment with dark and damp tones edging towards the darker and more experimental end of Metal music as well as inclination towards both general Alternative Rock and groove-laden Stoner Rock and even Punk-Rock if you delve into their bleak socio-political lyrics – See ‘A.C.T’.
The structure of The EP is not one to flow smoothly in the conventional sense but does so in its own way and despite the sometimes precarious transition between genre, tempo and most importantly within context – mood – Strife Darko to be blunt, pull-off whatever ambiguous experimental goal they set out too.
If the band’s career to date is to teach us anything, it is certainly that their debut album is likely to take you on an adventure well-worth leaving the Hobbit Hole.
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