From Bandcamp, “SHUNYATA takes the listener through the dark passages of the frozen landscapes. Their debut album The Dark Age is a pure testament and a celebration of the Scandinavian sound and the 90s melodic Black Metal.” The album as eight tracks. “Dawn” is the first. Following some opening clean and somber tones, the sound roars forth. It’s akin to how it is describe…an ode to the FWOBM bands. The title track also begins with clean guitars. From there, it’s another mid-tempo song with elements from bands of the past.

“Loss” is a sweet little song, with acoustic guitars, and depressive qualities, as the title would suggest. “The Human Predicament” roars out of the gate with a similar sound as the first two tracks. The band obviously isn’t interested in forging their own path so far, and seem content to rest on what was done in the past. “The Path” is unfortunately more of the same. When so many of the songs have a similar sound, it can really ground an album. “Sweetness and Sorrow” is an all-acoustic song with very melancholy tones, and is really the first song with some variation presented on the album.

“Renunciation” goes the opposite direction, with a return to the Black Metal sounds of the early 90’s. The guttural vocals are interesting however, and as least present some variation. “The Cycle” closes the album, but it’s more of the same once again. Overall, I understand why bands would want to make a throwback album to the past, and why some bands are so adamant about this. But for me, as a reviewer, I have already heard this sound thousands of times, and am only interested in what the future has to offer.