Follow Me Dark impress on high energy & memorable self-titled debut record
Review by Austin Sher
Finishing up the year strong, Follow Me Dark have just put forth their incredibly powerful self-titled debut record, Follow Me Dark. We are loving it! Please read along with us for our detailed thoughts on the album, in addition to a background on the band.
With nearly no surprise at all, COVID changed the music industry as a whole for musicians; ultimately putting them in an introspective position to create art during a time when nobody is playing shows. These changes directly led Follow Me Dark to focus on finishing their album right in time for the changing of seasons. Their sound encapsulates psychedelic grooves, with glimmers of metal that would attract fans of bands like Muse, Alice in Chains and Deftones.
Follow Me Dark are made of Stephen Kozak (vocals/guitar), Sean Batinic (guitar), Elliot Grove (bass) and Jim Boots (drums). Together they’ve entered the scene with a serious bang, in the sense that they’re taking an alternative approach to blending genres, writing compelling lyrics, and ultimately delivering a refreshing sound that is beyond necessary. Truly, there’s nothing worse than listening to a record in full and being able to accurately guess what’s going to come next. That’s where this band is doing things different, they’re creating intricately exclusive sounds for a listener that is looking for true experimentation.
Coming in at 11 songs, spanning a little over an hour, Follow Me Dark are keeping things fresh as can be. Featuring soaring guitar riffs, bombtastic drumming, groovy basslines, and a vocal delivery that made our jaws drop; this is the type of music that is begging to be witnessed in a live setting. As soon as that option becomes available, let it be known right now, we’ll be there no matter the distance.
While it would be quite difficult to pick out a favorite from Follow Me Dark, we were certainly partial to tracks such as “As She Feeds”, “Flight Risk”, and the 8 minute epic, “Ancient Ones”. That’s not to say the others were lackluster, because they were not, but just like any listen you tend to have songs that just plain stand out. With that being said though, this is a cohesive listen, so we highly recommend and suggest listening from start to finish as it was intended.
At this point though, we hope we’ve got the point across that this is a record worth taking the time to listen to. We’ve included all the important links below to listen, follow along with the band, and more. Enjoy!
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