Finnish rock icons The 69 Eyes once again attempt to marry their Nordic goth roots with their affinity for the California Sunset Strip on the new album Death of Darkness. It’s a tricky combination to navigate as evidenced by the styles clashing throughout these 10 tracks, some of which were released as long as a year ago along the writing process. Nonetheless, you gotta give the Helsinki vampires points for originality and experimentation.

The title track opens the coffin appropriately, being a moody goth toe-tapper with a haunting guitar lead. Vocalist Jyrki 69 surprisingly works in a few aggressive screams early on to break up his signature baritone delivery. Although his tone has been compared to Elvis, I find his patterns and voice are more reminiscent of David Bowie’s. The modern rockabilly banger “Drive” follows, which was technically the release’s first single, dropping in September 2022. It then became the title for the EP, whetting appetites for the full-length.

“Gotta Rock” gets the blood pumping with its flowing bass line by bassist Archzie, and is a respectful nod to the Finnish band Boycott. Jyrki 69 aces the playful yet seductive lyrics, notably during the chorus of “Don’t give me jive, give me rock n’ roll!” The morbid vibes return with “This Murder Takes Two,” a gloomy country song that was written for a collaboration with Johnny Cash’s son which didn’t manifest. Kat Von D from the reality TV show LA Ink lays down a passionate guest vocal on this doomer.

The full-length then takes a wrong turn for a while, starting with “California”. By wrong turn I mean it brightens up, sounds repetitive, and really pays homage to the band’s glam side. Although “California” lyrically taps into the bleak and seedy side of Hollywood and has a howling guitar lead, its surfer energy falls flat. The next four tracks disappointingly follow suit until the closer “Outlaws” rights the ship with its dark and triumphant chorus.

Perhaps The 69 Eyes’ strategy of releasing material as they went along writing Death of Darkness backfired a bit; the LP awkwardly comes off as a tale of two EPs. However, there are plenty of highlights and songs of strong character pouncing from the shadows. And again, give these 30-plus-year veterans props for finding ways to be unconventional. Grab their concoction when it releases on April 21 via Atomic Fire Records.

Buy the album here.

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