Album/EP

Darkmatter - The Anatomy of Violence (EP Review)

Walladmin

Heavy Metal Wordsmith

Jan 11, 2023

7 min read

Darkmatter - The Anatomy of Violence
Released: January 12, 2022

Lineup:

Jack Bell // Unclean Vocals
Josh Martin // Guitar & Vocals
James Glover // Drums
Jourdan Kestel // Bass

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If you're a sucker for local heavy music, you'll have been salivating since the inception of Darkmatter from Perth, WA. On the back of ‘Binge‘, the Western Aussies dropped Project Darkmatter and then got stuck into their 2022/23 era of The Anatomy of Violence. We recently premiered their ‘Claustrophobia‘ music video and learned more about what the boys have been up to, including this EP which is out this week.

The three-track EP starts with 'Bladerunner' which is about to be paired with a spankin' new music video, and it'll knock your socks off. The four-piece metalcore group blend in modern flavours of mumble-rap behind low tuned ferocious riffs. Darkmatter alternate between low and high energy sections to accentuate the ruckus and they master their craft using drums as an accelerator and riffs as a steering wheel.

Next up is 'Overdose' which is deliciously over-engineered to layer suspense into the industrial textures created. Between Jack Bell's and Josh Martin's unclean/clean respective vocal structures, Darkmatter deliver a thwarting range of diversity across this track. The closing sections are not for the faint-hearted with tuning viscerally low and closing elements of djent adding another plane; the real deal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvZZAcVN2WA

Finally, the best in the west close out this delightful release with our favourite tune 'Claustrophobia'. The three-minute track finds a higher rhythm compared to 'Overdose' and is a crunchy metalcore pow-wow. For me, it's the the disorganisation, shrieks and squeaks between chaotic riffs that spell out explosive mania. Vocally, the emotion is palpable in this track and is the ultimate crescendo to close out this elevated EP.

Darkmatter find themselves skating between metalcore and nu-deathcore on this release, and they've got the barometer right on what heavy music fans are spinning. It feels like they're erring to heavier and heavier territory, so bring the bit that comes next.