Astonishing Fury of Mankind

Personnel: Junior Rodriguez (vocals); Nelson Martins, Zack Larbi, Nelson Angelo Martins (guitar, background vocals); Cris De Oliveira (bass instrument); Julien Granger (drums).
Audio Mixer: Remyboy.
This French band doesn't sound French, which is kind of a bummer, because France has been producing some pretty incredible metal records in recent years, from Gojira to Antaeus, Spektr, Monarch!, Blut aus Nord, and Deathspell Omega. Each of those groups reshapes a subgenre (technical thrash in Gojira's case, doom for Monarch!, and arty black metal in the case of Antaeus, Spektr, Blut aus Nord and Deathspell). Darkness Dynamite aren't reinventing anything. They offer anthemic choruses inspired equally by Killswitch Engage and Disturbed and downtuned riffing straight from the metalcore fakebook. None of those are bad places to borrow ideas from. The album's last two tracks stand out for their originality. The first is an instrumental that calls to mind Pink Floyd's driftier early 1970s moments, creating a mood that sustains into the first minute or so of the latter track, before the big riffs and double bass drum fills come roaring in again.