Band : Darkseed
Album title : Poison Awaits
Label : Massacre Records
Distributor : Suburban
Release date : 23/07/2010
Release : CD

After five years of absolute silence, the German Goth Metal veterans of Darkseed are back in business and sixteen years after their rising, they’re delivering their sixth full album to the world. Their task? I guess all they have to do is fill the world with darkness. And after all these years, they still succeed pretty well in doing so.

Once again, the band proves that they’re one of the purest examples of catchy and grooving Electronic Gothic Metal, maybe even outdoing Him on this brand new album entitled Poison Awaits.
It’s for the first time we hear Harald Winkler, one of the founding members of the band, who took over the vocals after the departure of singer Stefan Hertrich. Now it’s up to him to prove the world the band is still alive and kicking and yes, they’re more alive than they’ve ever been. Though that might be a wicked thing to say, since the songs on this album are all filled with pure melancholy and darkness.
With Poison Awaits, the return of one of the most original German Dark Metal bands is a fact.
Let’s have a closer look at the songs on the album, because with an album lasting over an hour, it’s important to know where all this quality is coming from.

With “Roads”, Darkseed immediately sets out where they’re heading to: dark beauty in its purest form. There’s no everlasting prelude or intro or anything of the kind. We’re immediately welcomed into a world of dark Gothic Rock/ Metal by Harald’s warm voice. “Incinerate” is the hit song of the album. It’s very melodic and powerful, which makes it perfect to be spread around the world. In “Poison Awaits”, the title track, we are lead into the song by the drums taking the lead, combined with bittersweet melodies and an incredibly stark voice! “Seeds of Sorrow” is a perfect example of a stunning Goth Metal ballad. With Harald’s amazing voice, we drift away on a cloud of beautiful darkness. “All is Vanity” is once again a very catchy song with beautiful lyrics, though it’s quite clear that this song is more aggressive compared to the other tracks on “Poison Awaits”. A nice change, that’s for sure.
When it comes to “Black Throne”, “A Dual Pact” and “No Promise in the Heavens” I can be quite brief: these are very strong songs, there’s an enormously high quality in their nice variations and good use of different melodies. “Torn to Shatters” has a whole different style. We’re welcomed by a piano and shortly after that, keyboards and bittersweet and romantic vocals are added. This song is slower, but nevertheless, it’s still some pretty impressive work! When it comes to Striving for Fire”, “Timeless Skies” and “King in the Sun”, I can once again be quite short. All songs are catchy, but there are no new real surprises to be discovered. The songs are not bad, far from that, but they don’t add extra quality to the album either.

It goes without saying that with Poison Awaits, Darkseed have undoubtedly created the most variable album they’ve ever made. They really prove how much they and their music have matured over the years. With this incredibly catchy album, Darkseed show us how beautiful darkness can be. Just make it catchy enough and success is guaranteed!

85/100

Tim Tronckoe.