by Kenneth Morton

If Pantera and Guns N Roses were to have a bastard child, the resulting spawn would surely be the wild collective known as Darkness Dynamite. Hailing from Paris, France, these guys have unleashed a uncompromising collection of tunes entitled The Astonishing Fury Of Mankind on Metal Blade Records. One of the most exciting bands to emerge on the world metal arena, we decided to check into the explosive world of Darkness Dynamite...

Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Darkness Dynamite, and how long the band has been together.
Hey, I’m Julien “Power” Granger, I play drums in Darkness Dynamite. The band’s been together for about three years now. But there’ve been several line-up changes. This one is the best and the one the world’s gonna get to know real soon!

Where is the band based out of and what is your local music scene like there?
I can’t tell you how our local music scene is like because I don’t give a damn about it. I do not think in terms of scenes. We’re from Paris, France and we’re really proud that people listen to our music all over the world. Darkness Dynamite is part of no scene. We play metal that’s all, and try to do it as loud as possible.

How did you wind up signing to Metal Blade Records?
Long story short..... A few emails and the very next day we were signed to this legendary label. These people know how to work on our material. They know how to deal with it and who they can deal with to spread the word about it.... We’re glad to work with Metal Blade.

If you had to describe your music to an elderly relative, what would you say?
Darkness Dynamite. What you can hear on our record is Darkness Dynamite. A music outside of the “scenes” and labels. Something that can evolve; a music that you have to call Darkness Dynamite instead of another generic word. This question is a compliment to me. Because it also is a way to say, we can notice influences but we can’t say you’re part of a scene..... We like that!

Describe a live Darkness Dynamite show for those of us who have yet to see you play.
Energy, power and a massive amount of pure sound! We like playing live. The things we share on stage between the five of us is something special. It’s something we want to share with the audience. Yes, people should expect to be part of something.

You recently played a show with Korn. How did that go and did you get to meet and hang out with them?
Yes, these dudes are pretty cool. They were cool with us and enjoyed our show a lot. That was awesome. The venue was packed. The sound was huge and the audience was on fire. What else could we have expected? We enjoyed playing onstage and after two hours in a row signing session we had a big party.... Not so bad.

Is there any story or concept behind the CD title The Astonishing Fury of Mankind?
Well, Darkness Dynamite is not a message band. We’re not here to say to people what they have to think and what they have to do. Though there’s something behind the CD title for sure. The fury that we have inside of ourselves is what keeps us alive and what slowly kills us. And sometimes makes us kill people. It’s like a coin, you always have two sides of it; we know that our energy kills us in a way. Now that you know it, take it, think what you will about it.

Any chance of Darkness Dynamite coming over to the States to play some shows? Have you been over here before?
We’ll come to the States real soon for sure. Our agent keeps his little secrets, but one of these days I’ll get a phone call in the morning telling me to go to the airport as fast as possible. The next day we’ll be playing for you guys.

Are there any Darkness Dynamite groupies wandering around the streets of Paris or beyond?
Hum.... There are a lot of groupies that are wandering and this can go far beyond the streets of Paris. We’re glad. Darkness Dynamite generates passion sometimes. It’s something we’re not having a hard time to deal with.

What would you like a listener to remember the most after hearing your CD for the first time?
That they’ve got to come and see it live - music is meant to be performed live.

Darkness Dynamite is invited to appear on a Dimebag Darrell tribute compilation. You could contribute one Pantera or Damageplan cover. What song would you do and why?
Pantera is my favorite band ever. I even got the CFH on my leg. Dimebag is a genius and I would absolutely be proud to cover any song he has ever written. And if I had to chose... Slaughter because of the kick drum trick at the end. I enjoy playing it!

Any messages for people reading this now who want to check out your music?
See you on the road real soon. Ladies, we love you!

DARKNESS DYNAMITE links

Darkness Dynamite on Myspace: The Official Myspace Page for Darkness Dynamite!
The Highwire Daze Home Page: Return to the Main Page!

Counter