originally written by Jim Brandon
Although they’re not from here, Boston’s Doomriders remind me a lot of living in the Windy City; tradition, ground-level grime, and a whole lot of oily, sludgy groove is what you’ll find on Darkness Come Alive. With Nate Newton from Converge leading the charge, Doomriders have whisked the mix of hardcore and metal together so thoroughly that its impossible to tell where one influence starts and another one ends, and I don’t mind one bit.
Above and beyond anything else, this is an old-school offering that pays homage to the band’s influences without sacrificing their own identity in the process. “Come Alive” pretty much encapsulates everything Glenn Danzig has ever done in one high-powered rocker of a tune that mixes slamming riffs with Newton’s gritty croon, “Heavy Lies The Crown” makes for a good proper opener with a rubbery sort of High On Fire vibe that serves as a great lead-in for the very loud and angry “Bear Witness”, and its cool, off-kilter lead fills. Most of the songs are kept short and ugly, never too fast or too death-by-bonghit either, but the inclusion of “Jealous God” momentarily takes things to a place inhabited by the likes of Neurosis with a very heavy bombardment of crunchy down picked riffs, before the Danzig-like swagger return in full force on “Mercy”. It’s not original by a longshot, but the boots to the ass they lay down are respectable in number.
The album is seventeen tracks long, with some of them being very short tunes (or interludes) throughout the 46 minute running length, so a little time management wouldn’t have hurt since there’s not a lot of diversity going on. But for what it is, Darkness Come Alive made for a great diversion from all the death and black metal I’ve been listening to lately, even after the initial gruff freshness wore off and developed into something that was more satisfying than it was a standout.
