Three years after the magnificent Closure come back the Bulgarian Darkflight, duo composed by Ivo Iliev (vocals, guitar, keyboards) and Dean Todorov (bass, percussion). The Hereafter is the fourth full length in about fifteen years, a fairly eloquent indicator of a story that has gone on a bit ‘in fits and starts, with large intervals between the release of various albums. Also for this reason every Darkflight‘s record shows quite evident deviations from the previous one and this last one is no exception: if in Closure the post black post metal component was mostly preponderant, today the Bulgarian band proposes a melodic death doom in which every black influence has completely disappeared to leave space, if anything, to flashes of more lulling and liquid post metal. The result is a much more immediate and less complex work to be received, with a melancholic approach that replaces the desperate tones that cloaked Closure in a thick darkness, and after all the accounts come back if you think that three years ago Darkflight dealt with the fatal moment of death, with all its load of pain, uncertainties and regrets, while in The Heareafter is the exploration of post-mortem to take the field, with the sadness that comes from the acceptance of the inevitable. The result is a rather inspired work, with the best episodes in its initial part (the melodic insights of Crushed and Expiring Soul, led by the guitar lines of the talented Iliev, are really excellent, as well as the painful trend of the beautiful Giving Up), but without the rest of the tracklist going down in level too much, thanks to a remarkable Sans Âme, where ours are assisted by the francophone contribution of Arsonist, creator of the one man band Ars Moriendi, and the painful and evocative closing of Threshold Of Death. Darkflight comes to a markedly doom dimension, doing it with naturalness and obtaining results of a certain importance, but without reaching the emotional intensity released in the previous work: should the duo from Varna decide to give more continuity to their production, it will be interesting to understand which road will be taken on the next occasion.

2017 – Symbol Of Domination Prod.