DARK PHANTOM - Nation of Dogs

One of the things which keep me close to metal music, is the fact that this musical style never stops to surprise me. Either I discover an old band, which hardly has reached my ears now; either I am on the same wavelength with an innovator metal new wave; either I've managed to see some bands on stage, a fact which 10-15 years ago I couldn't even dream about doing it in this life; or what I already knew brings me the most beautiful experiences, feelings and memories. And the fact that today I have reached to discover a metal band coming from Iraq, is something that, of course, keeps me near the metal phenomenon, the thing which made me today to be what I am as a human!

Kirkuk is the name of the city where Dark Pantom comes from, and the establishment of the band took place in 2007. The boys play a heavy/thrash/death style, correctly executed, with force, a lot of energy, with the whole thing, and although a little part of originality exists, I can say that all we hear on Nations of Dogs (2016) is something that I've already heard in multitudinous cases. In spite of this, the production is very good, with an excellent sound. Of course, there's room for improvement, but even so we have an album which offers us very good conditions to be listened to. Speaking of music, the things which I liked the most are the guitar solos - the chapter where the Iraqis are doing a formidable job. Moreover, the angry voices alternate with the clean moments in Serj Tankian style, giving the album an oriental aura; the detail which makes Dark Phantom to not sound the same as the influent bands from the occident. From the instrumental point of view, we can realize immediately that we are not dealing with amateurs, but with persons who give a very high importance to their passion. I have favorite songs too: Nation of Dogs, which could be considered a veritable hit of the album, O! Holocaust and On Brink of Terror.

In another train of thoughts, we don't have to take Drak Phantom as an eccentric thing (it would be pretty strange, since we Romanians are almost outsiders on the international metal scene ourselves), because their music shows that, no matter where you are from, what is your ethnicity, your sexual orientation, your religion and so on, the art can reach some high odds if it's made rightly. Dark Phantom being in their turn a band which deserves all our attention, firstly for what they are offering, a very good quality of music. The rest are rumors.

Fantotzii Nota: 8

Gabriel Szünder Nota: 8