Darkwave |Evanescent Horizons |Independent

Darkwave is the solo band of Hungarian composer Zsolt Némethy, who writes, plays, records and mixes everything himself. The band started in 2021 with "Hexapla" and has barely paused since, with "Missa Innominata" in 2022, "Thanatology" in 2023 and "Horror Sacri" in 2025. "Thanatology" made it into the Metal Has No Borders readers' album of the year rankings, and "Horror Sacri" got praise from Metal Digest and Rock Hard Italy. Musically, the band draws on the orchestral bombast of Fleshgod Apocalypse and Septicflesh, the progressive sweep of Ne Obliviscaris and Persefone, and the classical madness of Mekong Delta.

"Evanescent Horizons" is the fifth album. Once again Némethy wrote, arranged, performed, produced, mixed and mastered all of it alone. It's a concept album in eleven chapters about a soul wrecked by unrequited devotion, moving through grief, anger and acceptance until it reaches a faint, stubborn glow of hope. Blast beats and tremolo riffs crash into strings and brass, the song structures take progressive turns, and there are moments of fragile orchestral calm. The production is big and cinematic. When the arrangements pile up, the orchestra swells over everything, pushing the guitars to the back and turning the kick drum into a blur during the fastest blasts.

For one man working alone, the scale here is impressive, and the heaviest moments crush. The growls stay locked in one deep register across most of the eleven tracks. That dulls the emotional arc the concept promises, because anger and acceptance end up sounding the same. The Septicflesh and Fleshgod Apocalypse blueprint shows through in the orchestral hooks more than once.

The progressive detours sometimes stack one idea on top of another until the flow stumbles. When the guitars stop blasting and lock into melodic lines with the strings, climbing toward those rare glimpses of hope, Némethy sounds like his own man and the concept finally bleeds. This is a big, heartfelt and ambitious album, held back from greatness by a mix that swallows its own guitars and vocals that never change color.

|8.0