The Darkest Road – A Breach of Silence

The Darkest Road – album overview

For their sophomore album, ‘The Darkest Road‘, A Breach of Silence brought back legendary Swedish producers Fredrik Nordstrom and Henrik Udd (Bring Me the Horizon, Arch Enemy, In Flames) flying them “down under” to record at Acolyte Studios in Brisbane, Australia. The masters were later mixed at the infamous Studio Fredman in Sweden. The Darkest Road delivers fourteen tracks of technical, dynamic “Powercore Metal” that will forever be remembered as the band’s defining moment in music history. The opening track entitled T.P.N.E. launches out from the river’s edge like a monstrous crocodile to an oblivious calf, immediately grabbing the listener and commanding them to pay tribute to the late Bon Scott of AC/DC. Next up is the title track The Darkest Road, which begins with lead vocalist Rhys Flannery singing the infectious chorus, “It’s not enough to know I’m breathing, I’ve got to feel like it all has meaning. I couldn’t cope with the easy path, so I’ll take the darkest road and hope I last”. Bassist/vocalist Blair Layt explains why the band felt this was the most important song on the album, “If you spend your time always taking the easy way out, then you’ll never aspire to anything. The Darkest Road is an anthem to everyone struggling to make it over whatever hurdles they face in life. Keep your head up, one foot after the other, take the darkest road and in the long run, you’ll be a better person for it.” Other standout tracks on the album such as Vultures, and Silhouette showcase the band’s technical abilities as musicians, easily placing them alongside their contemporaries. While the album is mostly intense, overwhelmingly heavy music executed with “glorious” precision, perhaps the biggest surprise on the album is Immortal. This epic, powercore ballad could easily redefine the metal genre, and is likely the catalyst needed to push the band to new heights of notoriety.