Horcrux - The Dark Mark

1. Resilient

2. Wormtail

3. The Dark Mark

4. Home

5. The Outsider

6. Live Through Me

Horcrux have released their debut album titled "The Dark Mark." What is first off pretty apparent, and anyone that followed the craze, that someone in the band is a Harry Potter fan. Being the band name and album title are references to Harry Potter, it's logical to assume. After giving the album a listen, you can hear that this is dark, heavy music, which seems to be the theme for this band. Another thing that gets this album and band a bit of notice is their singer was the screamer/guitarist in the last incarnation of A Skylit Drive, so if you were a fan of those guys, you may want to give this album a chance just based on that. They have a fast paced aggressive, and polished sound that gives a head turn right from the start. When looking at the recording quality of this album, the album has been recorded to a pretty decent effort, especially for a debut. Being that the members of this band have been around, making solidly recorded albums before, it is no surprise that we get this quality right off the bat. The instrumentation is pretty solid. Nothing here will make you go crazy, but the band does have a great, solid, straightforward playing and that is just what they need. Now onto the vocals and lyrics, the vocals on this album are not bad, they are mostly screamed but you can still make out most of the lyrics. He can certainly scream and he does it well. We just wish the vocals were just a little louder and on par with the music. With the lyrics, the band goes for songs about rising up, being confident, fighting against oppression, and just not letting the darkness consume you. These are actually really positive and uplifting lyrics. Although they are a little hard to get as the lyrics aren't quite direct, it's that which makes us really like the lyrical content, making it dark but uplifting if you really listen. If you are looking for a single to this album, the band has made almost every song a single here. We suggest giving the song "The Outsider" your attention as that is our favourite song and first song we heard. Horcrux have made a nice solid debut here. We like the more professional recording on a first album and we like how the lyrics aren't so direct. Hopefully the band can get together more and tour, Ottawa and Montreal are the bands towns, it would be nice to see them venture out, even just within their own province. Pretty solid all in an and we can't wait to see what is next. Listen to this album to decide for yourself what you think of it.

Genre: Metalcore/Post-Hardcore/Progressive

Release Date: February 16th, 2018

Location: Ottawa, Ontario

Label: None