The Seattle post-rock trio Darto sure wrestle with some wild energies on their new release In Difference, out now on Malia Alexander‘s Echolalic Records. Post rock and shoegaze meet for a volatile fusion on the album, and while the band trades heavily in noise drenched sonics, melodic underpinnings and monster riffs make all six tracks on In Difference a stellar listen! Stand out cuts include the record’s opener, “deacon“, where the band pries open a hole to hell with their bare hands, only to shove a flaming guitar down it’s gaping maw, while directing their death ray into the infernal depths. At about the half way point this track slows almost to a stop, before reconstituting itself from howling strands of drone and a plangent, revolving guitar line. The band follows with “mother image“, which explodes out of the speakers with electric sparks as it attempts to skid into an ear-splitting stop, and when it’s forward motion can’t be halted, it stumbles ahead on a knuckle dragging bass line and slow boiling drums. Later in the track, reverb drenched female vocals peer from behind the music’s dark folds, and every time you think you might have a bead on them, they disappear into the noisy and shifting sonic veils like an eery apparition. The band has drawn comparisons to several 90’s-era art rock bands, but on “highrise” they definitely remind one of Slint, as the track displays it’s sparse, down-turned guitar lines, syncopated rhythms, and alternating quiet to loud dynamics. In addition, fans of Unwound, Sonic Youth, Drive Like Jehu, etc., will find a whole lot to love on In Difference! Darto has two upcoming live dates in Seattle, so don’t miss ’em below!
Darto Live In Seattle:
nov 15th
@
black lodge
w/ screaming females, upset, big crux
dec 7th
@
heartland
w/ pony time, chastity belt, american cream
