Life Force is the third release under the Darkyra brand. The album a joint venture between Drummer and Producer Garry King (Jeff Beck and Joe Lynn Turner) and Singer / Songwriter, Gina Bafile, (aka Darkyra / Darkyra Black, (she also is the new lead singer of Anfitrite). The friendship between the two dates back a full decade and this is the third album they have worked on together this time co-produced and arranged by them both and Garry has Mixed and Edited everything at ‘La Foret Studio’, in the Southwest of France. The Darkyra sound is quite diverse combining Cinematic Metal, Epic Metal, Gothic Rock, Art Rock, Opera Metal and Progressive Rock. Blending both soaring operatic vocals and rock vocals. Memorable melodies, World class production and world class musicianship.
Singer / Songwriter, Gina Bafile, “Darkyra has always been about uniting musicians from across the globe and we have continued this on Life Force . Over the years while Darkyra has been away from the music scene (last 8 years) the world has gone a little crazy, like the darkness is somehow starting to overshadow the light. Rather than creating a musical body of work that reinforces dark subject matters it was really important for us to balance the light with the dark. Metal music today seems to be all about doom and gloom. Although a good amount of the subject matter on this album is quite personal for Gina, having gone through her own health struggles and losing loved ones. We have tried to emphasize the upbeat and playful side of this album. “Life Force” the title track sums up the playfulness and friendships forged from creating music and it is only fitting that this too was the title of this album. We hope everyone enjoys this new direction we have chosen and perhaps it’ll shed a little ray of light for those that have fallen on dark times.”
Peter Kotevski, President of Battlegod Productions, “With Gina we have been in contact about working together for this album for some time now. It’s a band that is different to what Battlegod Productions normally releases but also it is quality music on a high level. It is great to have more variety on the label roster with a good professional band is all that is needed. The tracks are fantastic, each track has its own signature and grows on you with every listen. Highly recommended for people who adore their female fronted Rock/Metal.”
Darkyra has many influences, some of these being Kate Bush, Devin Townsend, Tarja Turunen, though preferring not to be pigeonholed into any one category but rather letting the mood predict the outcome and the voice narrate the many characters within each song. A few things are different on this album, the vocals are set further in the mix to give it more of a rock style edge and the music is less dominated by keyboards and synth. Part of their aim was to capture the essence of 80’s rock and combine it with gothic and progressive rock but emphasize the bass and low tuned guitars to still keep a semi metal sound. Lots of vocal layering.
So What’s the album about?
Life-Force is a collection of songs based around both the light and dark aspects of human nature. It is a walk through an eclectic mind, cinematic storytelling driven by the push pull of good and evil, the inner and outer demons, slaves to a virtual world yet there are those still willing to give it all for a Celebrity Smile. “Life Force” we see it fade slowly in the sick as they slip away, we feel the vibrancy of the youth who have time and energy to play and within our memories the fallen forever loved, sometimes felt as if they remain. “Life Force” it flows within us all. It is the unity of friends across the globe, the creation of magic in the form of music. The spirit within that speaks volumes…. after all, …THE WORLD IS A STAGE!
The album hashes out some real personal things. All in Good Time – Autism in Early Childhood, Breathe – Learning to pick yourself up after Cancer, Tested the Water- Seperation, Take Me Far Away – looking for closure and somewhere to lay down roots, One Foot in the Grave – the elderly waiting for what seems to be an eternity to join their fallen loved ones, Tomorrow Without You – Watching a parent fall ill and pass away and trying to come to terms with the grief. Life Force – a reflection of the friendships formed through music stemming back a decade and Quiet the Mind – a mind that just won’t stop to rest.
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