DARKO UK – DETHMASK3 ALBUM REVIEW

14th February 2025 0 By Laura Jane

Darko US is a band that was formed from the collaborative talents of Tom Barber of Chelsea Grin and Josh Miller of Emmure back in 2020 and remains to be pushing forward and testing the boundaries of what can be achieved with a heavy breakdown, guttural vocals and in general a big whiff of creativity.

Following on from their recent EP release on December 30, 2022, Dethmask, Pt. 2 it is with great joy and anticipation that they have finally released Dethmask3. The album contains 8 tracks and has a full run time of 27 minutes 17 seconds making this album a fairly short listen for those who may not have much time to invest into a full listen through of a release.

The album shows their true experimental capabilities without losing the core essence of the genre infusing both electronic elements alongside deathcore qualities.

Highlight track of the album for me would have to be ‘Supra‘ there’s just something about this song that slaps hard, the full track feeling somewhat of a futuristic acid horror trip. Other notable tracks on this album would be ‘Mallet Pulse‘, ‘Blood Host‘ and ‘Gizmachi‘, if you do find yourself limited with time I would highly suggest checking these out for an overall feel of what the album has to bring to the table.

Maybe me being bias but I’ve always adored Darko US so having now listened to this album multiple times and digested it truly, I’m in love with it and honestly from a musical perspective can not fault this release. The question I always ask in my reviews is “Will everyone like this?”, once again the answer is a solid “No” but for anyone who finds themselves in admiration of a good deathcore bop will find this album more than a pleasurable audio experience.

Overall, I rate this album 10/10 an absolute solid release, my only negative and it isn’t about the album but the fact that Darko US never and will never tour (seemingly) which is an absolute shame as I would love to witness these releases live and in the flesh. Oh well, maybe in the future this ‘band’ may get the tour it should do for now… blissful enjoyment of Dethmask3 is enough to subside the negative of no live music.

Score 10/10