The Australian outback often evokes thoughts of the late Steve Irwin however; forget the dangerous crocodiles… Less than one year after Australia’s A BREACH OF SILENCE released their critically-acclaimed debut album Dead or Alive, the Brisbane “powercore” quintet are back with a brand new full-length album entitled The Darkest Road.
For this, their sophomore album, A BREACH OF SILENCE brought back legendary Swedish producers Fredrik Nordstrom and Henrik Udd (Bring Me the Horizon, Arch Enemy, In Flames) flying them “down under” to record at Acolyte Studios in Brisbane, Australia.
The masters were later mixed at the infamous Studio Fredman in Sweden. “We wanted to have Henrik and Fredrik produce The Darkest Road because (quite frankly) they’re the best in the biz. They always have awesome strategies and think out of the box when approaching our songs” states guitarist Kerrod Dabelstein.
The band is known for their unique mix of modern metalcore and power-metal vocal breakdowns which many of their fans refer to as ‘Powercore’. Clocking in at over 56 minutes, The Darkest Road delivers fourteen tracks of technical, dynamic “Powercore Metal” that will forever be remembered as the band’s defining moment in music history.
The opening track entitled T.P.N.E. launches out from the river’s edge like a monstrous crocodile to an oblivious calf, immediately grabbing the listener and commanding them to pay tribute to the late Bon Scott of AC/DC.
Next up is the title track The Darkest Road, which begins with lead vocalist Rhys Flannery singing the infectious chorus, “It’s not enough to know I’m breathing, I’ve got to feel like it all has meaning.
I couldn’t cope with the easy path, so I’ll take the darkest road and hope I last”. Bassist/vocalist Blair Layt explains why the band felt this was the most important song on the album, “If you spend your time always taking the easy way out, then you'll never aspire to anything.
The Darkest Road is an anthem to everyone struggling to make it over whatever hurdles they face in life. Keep your head up, one foot after the other, take the darkest road and in the long run, you'll be a better person for it.
” Other standout tracks on the album such as Vultures, and Silhouette showcase the band’s technical abilities as musicians, easily placing them alongside their contemporaries. While the album is mostly intense, overwhelmingly heavy music executed with “glorious” precision, perhaps the biggest surprise on the album is Immortal.
This epic, powercore ballad could easily redefine the metal genre, and is likely the catalyst needed to push the band to new heights of notoriety. A BREACH OF SILENCE was thrown into the spotlight when they won Australia’s prestigious Q Music Award (2012) in the Best Heavy Song category.
Shortly thereafter, the band inked a worldwide, multi-album deal with Eclipse Records, released Dead or Alive (October, 2013) and have toured with bands such as Born of Osiris, Adept, The Amity Affliction, and Upon a Burning Body.
In March of 2014, the band released their controversial Night Rider ‘first-person shooter’ music video which was inspired by their obsession with FPS video games and 1960’s classic westerns such as Hang ‘em High and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
A BREACH OF SILENCE is a band that walks The Darkest Road on a daily basis… Never giving up, they treat their fans like family, and live to play sweet, yet brutal music that reflects positive vibes to all who listen.
‘THE DARKEST ROAD’ was released October 7, 2014.
