"Lurking in the Darkness" is an obscure EP that dropped in 1997
and turned out to be the bands final release. I don’t know much about the band,
other than a few of its members have played in a few other bands over the
years, but that’s about it. As for the music, Dark Oasis play some old school
death metal with some touches of melodic death worked into their sound. The
guitars on this album are down-tuned and remind me of the sound of Fleshcrawl
creates with their guitars. The guitars on this EP are pretty catchy and create
some nice harmonies along the way. At times they almost sound like black metal
riffs, while others they provide a classic chugging required for some good old
death metal. The drums are pretty average, nothing to write home about. As for
the vocals, they too are a bit bland, for death metal that is. I would say
that, Tom Sprouse’s vocals, if sped up, would be better suited for a classic 80’s
thrash sound. That being said, they certainly don’t take away from this EP, but
they don’t elevate it to greatness either.
I’m not sure where I picked up this EP, but I’m glad I did.
This is one of those, take a chance on the artwork releases and hope for the
best and let me tell you, this turned out to be a diamond in the rough. Nothing
groundbreaking, but it offers plenty for any death metal fan to sink their
teeth into. I believe this is now on Youtube, so go give it a listen, I think
you’ll enjoy it for what it is.
Highlights: “Banished” “The Eleventh Commandment" "The God Scam"
Rating: 3.5
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