Arkaea - 'Years In The Darkness'

What if Linkin Park (or in this case Threat Signal) ‘roided up with the juice of Fear Factory?

While their Fear Factory brothers (past and present) are off doing side projects, Christian Wolbers and Raymond Herrera have stuck together to nurture their own offspring, Arkaea. Full of the rhythmic hydraulics characteristic of Fear Factory, Arkaea’s debut Years in the Darkness is nads-out heavy yet surprisingly chocked full of ear-friendly cadence.

Originally seeking out the bass services of Limp Bizkit’s Sam Rivers and then entertaining the possibility of Mudvayne’s Ryan Martinie, enter final contestants Pat Kavanagh and Jon Howard of Threat Signal and now Years in the Darkness is a reality.

Arkaea’s marriage between blunt force and near FM-ready tunefulness is easier to digest than you think. As a fair chunk of these songs were originally penned for Fear Factory, expect to hear said shades in “The World As One,” “Break the Silence,” “Locust,” “Rise Today” “Gone Tomorrow” and the title track.

Then hold onto your skulls for the blistering carnage of “Awakenings” as Arkaea annihilates their recording equipment with abusive riffs and flagellating beat patterns. Even a song this brutal still manages to cough out a soaring chorus from Jon Howard, who shifts from aggro snarls to uplifting rasps.

Howard’s uncanny resemblance to Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington for much of the ride may be a put-off for some listeners. Still, this is a very smart vocalist; Howard knows when to toughen up in response to his band’s punishing volume and when to play foil with near-clean croons as Arkaea lightens their tones.

Make no mistake; this is no pop metal album since Herrera, Wolbers and Kavanagh pour everything they have into making Years in the Darkness an ear-splitting endeavor, but they’re brave enough (like Fear Factory on their past couple albums) to consider the possibilities of shrewd harmony within their amp-thumping context.