Hailing from the south of France, Darko’s Aufhebung is a trio that performs shoegaze with a smattering of post-rock, goth and alternative influences. With their second full-length, Loud Attempts for the Relieving of Death, the band delivers their unique blend of shoegaze on the first part of what will be a diptych exploring the idea of life in the wake of death. What it means to rebuild and reinvent after loss and trauma. The beautiful resilience of life is inspired by the inevitable, and it truly does feel alive. From the manic drums and chunky guitars to the fragile soundscapes surrounding the soaring melodies of their two vocalists, Loud Attempts contains a breadth of experience that makes you feel exhaustingly enlightened by the end of its 54-minute runtime. With only 8 songs, and one being a 2-minute intro, each cut is a weighty portrayal of a unique human experience, explored expertly through the use of surrealist soundscapes evoking a sort of life review.
Chrysalide de l’air strikes the listener from the very beginning with its groove-heavy guitars leading the song with their hypnotically rambunctious riffs. Darko’s Aufhebung have a knack for incorporating a sense of drone within their music that pairs with their explosive performances to result in unique sonic atmospheres in which each song feels full of honest living. Human passion contrasts with the mundane beauty of the parts of life that don’t sit in the front of our minds but make so many other moments special. After enveloping the listener in a wall of sound, vocals appear drenched in reverb tickling a focal point, leading the listener like a shepherd, amongst a hurricane of accent-heavy rhythms and dynamics.
On track number 5, Odilon Redon, No. 1, the album hits a beautiful second wind after several sonic leviathans. As guitars buzz into the void, a beautiful vocal performance by Marion Laine emerges as the song grows, evoking comparisons somewhere between King Woman and Deafheaven. Ever so masterfully the song gently builds to an eruption in its second half that feels so transitional and impactful, serving as a beautiful contrast against the song’s earlier hypnotic droning. Pulling out from me a desire for movement and expression. A true example of life born from the nearness of death. I cannot overstate how powerful and important the drums and percussion are on this album. Yann Roudil’s performances and writing expertly shape the melodic aspects of the soundscape and provide an astounding amount of energy and movement at crucial moments, and at times even becoming the focal point during several climactic sections throughout the record.
Following that masterpiece is the delicate and understated Haemorrhage of Wishes, which, one: is easily one of the best song names I’ve heard this year, and two: is in an incredibly tender moment predominantly featuring Jason Jolivet-Bassi as the lead vocalist with Laine doing backups. Jolivet-Bassi’s warm vocals expertly match the delightful fragility of the piece as the slapback delay on his words forces lyrics to worm their way into your subconscious, The constant and human feel of the drums under a patient acoustic guitar feels welcome within a sea of cacophonous abrasion and blood pumping rhythms. Illustrating that as much as life is change and movement, basking in the calm is likewise just as incredible, and necessary an experience.
Closing out with a rhythmic juggernaut, Teenage Vibes is an extensive tour de force of what the band offers. A combination of explosive, hypnotic and uniquely melodic moments leaves the listener on a high note with a sticky lead guitar riff on loop in their head as it bounces between the drums. Showcasing perhaps the strongest vocal performance of Laine for the entirety of the album, this gargantuan closer absolutely demands your attention. Ultimately, the melancholic soundscape will leave you itching to play it again from front to back to get lost in the world of flawed human experience and reinvention.
I am looking forward to the companion piece that should be arriving later this year and how together they will create a fuller picture of life amongst death, life despite death, and life because of death. Diving into the surrealist realm between the two, the oniric stasis brings into question what separates one from the other. I am sure Darko’s Aufhebung will not disappoint in delivering another heady, hearty, and human experience in the second part of this diptych. Loud Attempts for the Relieving of Death is rambunctious, punchy, and enveloping. It flows from song to song naturally, letting the listener get lost in its daze of euphoric melodies in cacophonous form. All the while it feels incredibly human, encompassing the beautiful, the ugly, and the space between.
Written by Lando Flakes
