🎶 Darklon
🌎 Athens, Greece
📀 Mind Reaper
® No Remorse Records
📅 28/11/2025

Madness, paranoia, incessant headbanging…I think these three words can briefly describe what the listener experiences of “Mind Reaper”, the third full-length album by Heavy Metallers DARKLON which is released in a few days. I already feel very familiar with it though, since I have listened to it in various circumstances. First time in a hurry as I usually do to see if anything will stick out to me, second time in the prelistening gathering of the album (read more here!) with greater attention and analysis and many more time track by track at home to pay attention to the details.

There is something that you can discern easily each time you listen to “Mind Reaper” and that is the fact that this is a mind reaping album with a pure, U.S. Heavy Metal sound that stands out for many reasons. For the voice of their new singer, Bill Chrepas, who adapted like a chameleon to the demands of the band, quite different from those of WILDFIRE. For the unimaginable riffing of Kras, which is also the soul of DARKLON or the merciless, beastly drumming of Giorgos Kanakidis (Geor Kana). And of course, for Savvas’ bass who comes to tie all of the above together (for basketball fans, the Gerian Grant – call me the glue guy – of the band). The production of the experienced Stathis Pavlantis is simple, uncluttered and vintage as he himself revealed. Something that tends to become a habit in productions lately, to the delight of metalheads everywhere who resist the overly polished, over-perfect studio sound that when played live it’s something different from the studio version. And since we are talking about live show… I can’t wait for the live presentation of the album in January since I’m sure it will be a crazy party. From the first second of “In The Abyss”, the music grabs you by the throat and doesn’t let you breathe until the last second of “Phyched Out”, the eighth and final song on the album. In between, my personal favorite “The Mad Messiah” with its addictive chorus or the showcase (as the first single) “Mind Reaper” or “Shockwave” whose guitar opening hits you like a shock wave.

“Mind Reaper” is a new chapter in the book of DARKLON’s career. You can tell that it is from the same “author” but it is another story, more raw and “in your face”. Different from the beloved and more epic “Redeemer”, something that may initially feel weird to DARKLON’s fans. However, when you start judging “Mind Reaper” for what it is, then you understand that you have in your hands a rare diamond of U.S. Heavy Metal that aims to remind us that music is fun, it is liberating, it is food for you soul…

P.S. Madness in music, madness on the album cover too, starring Jackie Estacado – The Darkness.

★ 8/10
✍🏻 Kostas Boudoukos