D-A-D – "Speed Of Darkness"
[Insert Flogging Molly joke here]
If you belong to that supposedly exclusive club of people who've read every word on this website (hi mom!), you'll know that this signature, being a native Dane and all, tends to hella fangirl over this little Danish hard rock ensemble, name of D-A-D. If you're also familiar with the band, you'll know that this fangirling of mine is not without its merit.
And while this time I won't get carried away, I will say up front that all respect is due. Aside from the fact that the band has managed to sustain a career in a puny little country like Denmark, 2024 marks that they've been doing it for 40 goddamn years. And to celebrate this occasion, they wrote no fewer than 40 fucking songs and picked 14 ad hoc for "Speed of Darkness".
Compared to its predecessor, 2019's virile "A Prayer For the Loud", D-A-D's 13th full-length effort is a notch more leaned-back, collectively. Opener "God Prays to Man", for example, is chord-based, midtempo plain ol' Rock music with a capital R and a slight southern touch – the latter mostly in that it's so nonchalantly dragging as is the case. Not a big, spectacular, ambitious, or even very memorable opener, but rock solid rock music as could be expected. Which – spoiler alert – is all very representative of what's to follow.
In contrast, its follow-up, "1st, 2nd, and 3rd", is a bouncy, uptempo blues shuffle, splendidly showcasing lead singer Jesper Binzer's equal parts impudent and impressive hard rock wail. "Powerful" would be an understatement, his frenzied cries sometimes almost transgressing into black metal territory. But to contrast this, his delivery is equal parts deep and heartfelt in those often melodic verses, themselves contrasting the heavy riffs and harder-hitting choruses – one songwriting feature among several for which D-A-D remains criminally underappreciated.
In further contrast, then, lead guitarist Jacob Binzer's ever-country-tinged twang has never sounded as yearningly cold and desolate as in lead single "The Ghost", simultaneously throwbacking to a classic like "Grow Or Pay" and slightly touching upon a sonic expression as immense and paradoxically bleak as the band has ever only dared sound on "A Hand Without Strength" from 1997's "Simpatico" LP. Fucking beautiful. And with its masterfully melancholic lyrics to top, this is the lead single for good reasons solely. To get it outta the way, the album peaks right here.
D-A-D sound like they're nowhere near done anytime soon, and like they don't give a whole lotta fucks about either conquering the world or what anyone these days thinks about this lil' ol' thing called Rock music.
Thereby not saying that this is one of those albums that fizzes out. On the contrary, in spite of its 14-song durance, "Speed of Darkness" manages to keep up momentum (see what I did there?). The slow, heavy pathos of "Strange Terrain", for example, smelling like the band's own classic shout-along "Rim of Hell" from the beginning, will plant that equally shouty chorus hook of "SO MUCH MO-O-OOOORE!" in your head after 2-3 spins. (And if you're a decent human being, you'll appreciate it.) And, being crammed in between the deliberately casual "Keep That Mother Down" and the equal parts snooty and impossibly legato verse riff of "In My Hands", this is, indeed, songwriting from a band with not only 40 years of experience, but also nothing to lose.
To be fair, unless maybe you're a punk band, 14 songs is a bit much. And while these 14 songs may have been superior to the remaining 26 from the writing sessions, a few around midway and towards the end could've been scrapped, making for a more concentrated whole. Apart from this, the songwriting here is very classic and basic. While the single tunes are good in and by themselves, none are exactly very intrepid, and they don't evolve a whole lot. It would've been interesting to hear the band making some more bold moves – and, for that matter, rocking a bit harder overall, like they did on "A Prayer For the Loud".
What does keep up aforementioned momentum towards the end, then, is the uptempo little riff-based energy pill "Waiting is the Way", its killer chorus gang vocals echoing the band's classics – paving the way, indeed, for the slow, dusty, and open-spaced conclusion "I'm Still Here". The ending this time features some of Jesper Binzer's most poignant lyrics to date, and that's saying a lot:
I'll write a letter to my future self
In my childhood room with the globe on the shelf
You'll learn your lessons, but you'll learn them late
At least no men in white coats will ever drag you away
Yes, this veritably is written by a band with 40 years of experience. And they sound like they're nowhere near done anytime soon, and like they don't give a whole lotta fucks about either conquering the world or what anyone these days thinks about this lil' ol' thing called Rock music with a capital R. Those qualities are worthy of example.
Tillykke med de 40, gutter.
(Oh, by the way, about that headline: Flogging Molly released an album with the same title in 2011. And D-A-D's cow skull mascot is called Molly. See if you can get a joke out of that setup. I couldn't.)
Rating: 4.5 out of 6
Genre: Hard rock / plain ol' Rock music (capital R totally intended)
Release date: 4/10/2024
Label: AFM
Producer: Nick Foss + Jacob Hansen