Founded in 2017, Darkness Is My Canvas calls Helsinki, Finland home. DIMC is a Rock band that weaves in and around many additional styles, including Progressive, Alternative, and Modern Rock. With three of the members performing vocal parts, the is a lot of range to the delivery of the lyrics. Sometimes the voice is muted, sounding far away and almost haunted, other times you get an almost angry distortion to the voice. This gives the album a wide array of tones and textures, letting each song stand on its’ own merits. Added keyboards influence the sound, harkening back to the early 80s in some cases. If you are a fan of the arena rock era, you will likely love this album.

https://darknessismycanvas.bandcamp.com

Band Members:

  • Panu Pentikäinen – Guitar/Vocals
  • Pete Erkintalo – Vocals/Guitar
  • Joonas Fellman – Bass/Vocals
  • Juuso Grönmark – Drums

October 27, 2023 – Inverse Records

https://www.inverse.fi/

Tracklist:

  1. Fade Into The White Noise
  2. Drown
  3. Tilted Vision
  4. Inverted
  5. The Game
  6. Salvation (Slava Ukraini)

From the opening notes of “Fade Into The White Noise,” you get a Hard Rock feel. All through this album I hear influences from Hard Rock, Alt Rock, Pop, and Modern Rock. You will hear distinct similarities to bands like Ghost and My Chemical Romance all over this record; so, if that is the style of music you like, this is definitely one for you to check out.

There is a lot of melodic music on this record. The vocals are mostly clean with some grit and gruff thrown in to add character to the voice. Most of the vocals are in chest voice and there is a decent amount of belting adding extra power to the chorus, going lighter in the verses as an offset. The layers and choir sections add even more depth to the lyrics, helping to give the words a more prominent place in the song.

The rhythms and riffs are solid, laying a killer foundation for the lead guitar work. Additional keyboards augment the leads and add tons of texture to the compositions. A great example of this is in “Drown,” one of the heavier tracks on the disc. The keyboard tones hover underneath the main track, adding to the overall sound much like the score in a movie or TV show; it’s there, but you barely notice it. They beef up the rhythm section, giving it a lot more presence.

The closest DIMC gets to a Power Ballad is “Inverted,” a nine-minute track that has some of the best musicianship on the record. The whole album shows tremendous skill, but this one just stands out. The shift in tempo approaches Progressive Rock and includes a bridge that could be on The Black Parade. Fans of My Chemical Romance should immediately fall in love with this song. It is not a copy but has such a similar tone that the two songs could be written for the same album and fit together perfectly. This is my favorite track on the record for several reasons.

That is followed by “The Game,” another track with some great tones and killer guitar work. The layered vocals and added keys drive a lot of passion into the song. The lead work and solo are dynamic and make the song stand out as one that will hit your playlist and stay in heavy rotation. Finally, “Salvation (Slava Ukraini)” closes the album, reminding us not to forget about the war in Ukraine and stand against the invasion.

Darkness Is My Canvas has a ton of catchy tracks on this, their debut album. White Noise is an excellent first offering and is the kind of record that makes you want more from them as soon as you can get it. I look forward to hearing more from this band in the future.

MZ Ratings:

Musicianship:

  •             Guitars – 9
  •             Rhythms – 9
  •             Vocals – 9
  • Songwriting – 9
  • Production – 9

Overall – 9.00