Death Of Darkness is the thirteenth album from the Helsinki vampires The 69 Eyes. The Finnish five piece have been knocking out their smooth style of gothic, glam rock since the early 90s and have managed to deliver stunning unique and catchy albums every single time. This up coming eagerly awaited album Death Of Darkness is no exception. Featuring 10 tracks of the band at their sultry best. It includes the three tracks from their 2022 EP Drive as well as their previously unreleased cover of 80's Finnish rock band Boycott "Gotta Rock" and a track featuring guest vocals from Kat Von D!
The feeling of Death Of Darkness is one of slick 80s goth rock meets new romantic glitz complete with sex appeal, leather jackets and topped off with a pair of snazzy sunglasses. I have always been captivated by The 69 Eyes especially Jyrki 69's incredibly addictive voice. The four minute long opening title track "Death Of Darkness" sets the album up in dramatic style with an awesome, haunting piano driven intro, an incredible electricity and a very catchy chorus. I love how The 69 Eyes boldly incorporate other styles yet still remain true to their own sound. In some of the tracks I get influences from bands like The Cult, Yes and even Lordi. Their single "Drive" was first released in April 2022 and really sounds like a song Billy Idol would have been proud to call his own back in the day. Their cover of "Gotta Rock" is a far cry from the original mainstream fun- rock tune from Boycott which in reality was just a bit of a plod along song. The 69 Eyes version gives this song what it needed from the beginning... real punch and a proper 80's vibe. Next up we have their take on a southern gothic murder ballad called "This Murder Takes Two". This song was originally conceived as a potential demo track when John Carter Cash (Johnny Cash's son) approached the band to record an acoustic EP with him. The EP never came to fruition but the idea of this song stayed strong. Feeling that a murder ballad needed a female touch they enlisted the help of none other than Kat Von D as guest vocalist and created a truly haunting track that really stays with you. It has a country twang to it and is written from the point of view of two love struck killers which lends itself to dual vocals. Also this is the first time I have really heard Kat Von D's voice and I've got to hand it to her, she really can sing! With little let up "Call Me Snake" rocks up with references to 1997, the world going to shit and the one badass that will save us all... I'm assuming they are referencing Snake Plisskin and Escape From L.A or at least I really hope that's who the song is about anyway. The remaining four tracks are classic sounding tracks from The 69 Eyes, and I think after the strong first half of the album, the last half kind of pales in comparison as nothing massively sticks out for me however they all have some key aspect to them be it a cool keyboard riff or smooth solo and final track "Outlaws" brings an epic close to the proceedings!
The 69 Eyes formed at the end of the 80s, their style has evolved from their young punk rock sound of Bump N Grind (1992) and Savage Garden (1995) of the early days and they settled into their familiar more gothic style from the awesome Blessed Be (2000) and beyond. Death Of Darkness shows the mature progression the band have reached after all this time and they still all look drop dead gorgeous! If these vampires turned up on my doorstep it would definitely be hard not inviting them in!
7.5 / 10 — Sarah Jane • April 19, 2023
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