What an album title was my first thought when I got my hands on the CD of the Austrian band DARK REFLEXIONS. There is hardly a better title that describes the masses' departure to rebellion than these four words. You can see how something like that can become reality in the film "V for Vendetta." You can currently see it in so many countries around the world, yet here we remain calm.
While listening to the album, I think to myself, this is exactly what the five people from Austria want to change. Twelve songs where the lyrics pull no punches. The lyrics are dark, but not hopeless. They tell how the world really is. They manage to do this despite all the ruthlessness in a way that one does not lose hope. The band wants to change something. You can feel that in the lyrics, but especially in the 12 songs. They are bursting with energy. It is hardcore of the newer school, combined with influences from metalcore and some melodic hardcore parts. There is no mindless blasting here, where you think the band must be processing some inferiority complex. Here, there is powerful hardcore with melody and thoughtful arrangements.
I am more of a fan of the old hardcore school, but I must say, what the band has captured on this CD is impressive. It also pleases the old veterans, and if the energy that comes across while listening can also be delivered live, then the band can succeed in standing out from the swamp of the currently existing young hardcore bands. DARK REFLEXIONS have potential and, in my humble opinion, are pretty much the best thing that the Müllverstedter label STF-Records has released in a long time.
