To be right up front, HAIL DARKNESS is an AI-generated project which was first positioned as a real band with a real human lineup. You can read the “band’s” explanation letter on their Sep 7, 2024 Substack article entitled “WHAT IS REAL? NOTHING IS REAL: The HAIL DARKNESS Experiment - Anno Inferni. Occult Soul of a Machine'” (https://haildarkness.substack.com/). Some would call it a hoax; the perpetrators call it an “experiment”; still others may call it a crime. I guess the verdict is still out on that one. They did, after all, accept real money for their product under false pretense. I should note they ex post facto indicated that “the money generated has either gone to paying for the software subscriptions, video composition tools (such as vintage grain) and the rest is donated to a good cause…receipts of Paypal donations are available or on the projects Instagram.” They go on to state that all future earnings will be similarly donated.

The extent of the experiment/project/hoax was fairly extensive. They created an entire back catalogue which you can listen to and buy on Bandcamp. They even hired a PR firm to promote their product without disclosing to the firm the truth of their endeavor, which also seems way dubious. Independent bands rely on PR firms to support and endorse. Pranks like this ruin it for everyone. They listed their label as Vatican Records, which as far as I can tell doesn’t actually exist. I mean records from the Vatican exist, but not as a record label. I do have to admit though, I had a good laugh when I tried to do a Google search on it. The folks behind HAIL DARKNESS are either pure evil or comic geniuses. Or both. Evil comic geniuses . . . but nowhere in their 2300+ word statement do they use the word comic. They use the word “experiment” 19 times, “project” 12 times, but “comedy,” or any variation thereof, 0.

Here’s how the ‘band’ explains themselves:

“Where to start… because the experiment we put into place, we knew, would not only make us feel uncomfortable, but probably also a whole lot, if not all, the listeners who were charmed by Hail Darkness…

To the people who felt misled, we do sincerely apologise, but in order to test our experiment, we needed to make several decisions that would imply some deceptive moves, we tried to minimise these as much as possible and they will be our little crosses to bear in this experiment.”

I am not sure if the letter was written by AI or an actual person, but they do use British Standard English so apparently HAIL DARKNESS is British—or at least that’s what the matrix wants us to believe. The balance of the letter goes on to expound on their methodology, to posture a bit about ethics and morals, and, oddly, to explain why they chose Doom Metal as their target—beyond the obvious reason which is that most Thrash, Black, and Death metal fans would hunt them down and murder them. Doom fans are likely to take a more existential viewpoint . . . and the music is easier to mimic.

I’m a professional communicator by trade. As in I get paid real money by a real company to communicate things to real employees about real things our company is doing. Writing for Metal Temple is a sideline gig. When AI first became a big thing, there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth in the communications field. Mostly people worried about how they were all going to be shit-canned and homeless in a matter of months. The nimbler ones, though, spent their time mastering AI tools rather than bemoaning them and ended up getting along just fine. If nothing else, the AI debate provided great fodder for podcasts, conferences, and, dare I say it, experiments. My point is, there are always going to be changes to adapt to, new tools use, new fads to beguile, new ways of doing things—best to get over it and move along. The world is not going to stop or even pause for us; although, if you choose, you can always find a cozy alcove and live in the past.

So instead of whining about AI and the ethics of HAIL DARKNESS, I’m going to instead measure their ‘album’ “Divine Death,” which I received a digital copy of for review purposes, on its merits as an actual Doom Metal album. Short review: It sucks.

Sorry, but there is just no way I can objectively review this album now that the curtain has been pulled aside. I could pretend, but fuck that. The music really does sound like an amalgamation of every kitsch Occult Metal band and the lyrics have the cohesiveness of a poetry magnet game—you know, where you randomly pick out words from a bag and scribe modern verse on your refrigerator. 

I do realize that quite a few ‘zines have already reviewed this album and gave it a solid thumbs up. If there is one thing I have learned in communications, it’s that sometimes it’s better to be right than first. And like the whole PR firm debacle, it’s a shame to dupe reviewers who are trying to promote underground and underdog metal bands. It’s hard enough for bands to make it without fecal matter muddying the waters.

Do I think AI-generated Metal should be shunned and reviled much like Nu Metal and NICKLEBACK? Probably not. Should it be elevated to its own subgenre? Probably not that either. As a good American, I’m going to say we should just let it ride and see what the market decides. Metal Archives has already made their stance—no AI generated music shall be allowed on their platform—and I think most metal fans will take the same position. I guess history will tell.