The 69 Eyes – Death of Darkness

Releasedate: 21 April 2023  
Label:  Atomic Fire Records

Intro

A band like The 69 Eyes needs no introduction. Helsinki Vampires have been around for more than 30 years and their latest and 13th album “Death of Darkness”, is out. The band already released some singles such as “Drive” and “Call Me Snake” a while ago so the fans already got a glimpse of “Death of Darkness”.

Once the new album announcement came out, I was curious about whether the band was going to repeat their sound or surprise us. I am so glad the latter turned out to be the case with “Death of Darkness”. The 69 Eyes goes back to the roots with this release but also brings a modern touch to their sound, perfecting their signature style and sound. “Death of Darkness” is dynamic and will make you dance and even headbang for sure. However, this does not mean that the band completely repeated their old sound. There are surprising melodies mixed with the classic The 69 Eyes sound we are familiar with.

Highlights

There are some personal highlights that were love at first sight for me. The first song “Death of Darkness” is definitely shining bright and shows how the band went back to their roots this time but also introduced that modern sound. We get that “Paris Kills” vibes and I am here for it! A twist is the growls which were surprising for me!

Another highlight is that typical murder ballad “This Murder takes Two” featuring Kat von D. – the uniqueness of this song lies in the duality of the vocals – Jyrki’s deep vocals vs. Kat von D’s complementary vocals. I gotta admit I am not a big fan of KvD on a musical level but they work well together in this song with Jyrki dominating the song way more.

Another highlight I keep playing over is “Gotta Rock”, BOYCOTT cover. This song was my highlight when I saw the band live a while ago and the studio version is just as good.

“Death of Darkness” proves how The Helsinki Vampires manage to stay around for so long with their unique and modern sound. Definitely recommended to the fans of the band and this genre in general. 

Line up:

• Jyrki 69 | lead vocals
• Bazie | guitars, backing vocals
• Timo-Timo | guitars
• Archzie | bass, backing vocals
• Jussi 69 | drums

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