Arisen like a ghost out of the twilight’s mist… DARKHER left a mystic mark with the debut EP The Kingdom Field in November 2014, followed by a stunning live debut performance at Prophecy Fest 2015. Since then we had to wait patiently for the first full-length, Realms, which arrived, no, not at a magical day but at the hottest time in the year, on August 19. And Realms smoothly picks up the thread where The Kingdom Field was left off.

A gentle intro conjures that kind of mystic atmosphere when the one and the other world juxtapose on Samhain, lining the path to the eerily beautiful Hollow Veil. It starts with just a few but oppressive guitar chords and Jayn H. Wissenbergs wonderful, slightly reverberating voice, before drums and distorted guitars brave the almost ethereal singing. Also Moths begins on soft feet, restrained and acoustically and gains heaviness and drama in the second half of the song. A didgeridoo fades Moths and heralds Wars at the same time. Latter one gets, correspondingly to its title, driven by marching drums. The Dawn Brings A Saviour again is a quiet acoustic piece with blackly threatening sound collages in the background. A cello once again sets accents in the interlude Buried Pt. I, while Buried Pt. II displays certain Candlemass moments that make me (almost) expect to hear singer Messiah Marcolin setting in. This track develops such a fascination that I’m listening as quiet as a mouse. Following Foregone is the only track from the EP that found its way on the full-length and hasn’t lost its magic. Realms closes with the acoustic and folky Lament, which reminds me a bit of Jordan Reynes How The Dead Live.

Instrumentation and structures on Realms haven’t changed that much and make thrill and dramaturgy in the songs predictable. Realms is perhaps a bit earthier and gruffer than the EP. Although songs are quite diversified for the Doom genre the variety gets lost over the entire playing time of Realms and gives room to certain uniformity. It doesn’t narrow the listening pleasure at all but doesn’t make Realms a musical milestone either.
What remains is another hauntingly beautiful any mystic record that perfectly reflects mood and atmosphere of the autumn, like a walk among a fen’s mist-shrouded trees.