It takes some fact-checking to figure out that
Takida are from Sweden, because the music certainly does not show it: the band is a dead ringer for
Foo Fighters on the more positive tracks and
3 Doors Down on the angstier fare. This blend of post-grunge has a lot in common with old-fashioned arena rock, which
Nirvana was supposed to kill, but which
Dave Grohl salvaged in the late '90s and
Nickelback then honed to primitivistic perfection. Darker Instinct is about as subtle as a lumberjack's axe to the head, but it's also just as hard to ignore, although in a better way: the only reason to play this sort of music is for the hooks, and there
Takida have all bases covered. In a couple of places, the band seems to tether on the brink of an abyss of dullness, churning out by-the-numbers power chords, and it runs low on ideas toward the end of the record -- "Trigger" even has a hair metal solo -- but these are only fleeting moments.
Takida are on the roll throughout most of the album, always coming up with ways to make combinations of slick but
AC/DC-level simple riffs and repeated lines like "I will speak of you gently/Even after the fight" send shivers down the spine. This is radio rock in all its kitschy glory -- blunt, unoriginal, and serious like a freshman in a philosophy class, but also too catchy to ignore, even if only as a guilty pleasure. ~ Alexey Eremenko