“Dark Intentions kicked off late in 2002-early 2003 in their hometown Breda, the Netherlands. Starting out with writing songs, gradually the style of music evolved into a more modern version of 1980’s-1990’s NY hardcore with slight thrash/death metal influences, resulting in hard, heavy and compact songs.” So far Dark Intentions’ story in a nutshell.

After a dull intro, Dark Intentions immediately shows what it’s worth. The band kicks in heavily with a solid hardcore sound, spiced up a with thrashy guitar riffs. Also the vocals remind you of a typical hardcore band. Quite monotonous, yet convincingly aggressive. Then again, that most of the times means, no real surprise whatsoever.

And when I say no surprise, I really mean, no surprise. It’s basically the story of the entire album. The music sure kicks some ass, but I’ve heard it all before and I’ve heard better before. There’s hardly anything catchy to grab my attention and hold it throughout the album. I mean, if a good album is meant for a special occasion, Destined To Burn is just a background album. The kind you listen to when you’re at work and not really knowing what’s going on except for the fact there’s some heavy ass music in the background. Good enough to keep you entertained every now and then.

So, without wanting to sound extremely negative about Dark Intentions, I wouldn’t want to recommend the album either. I personally have the feeling that they’re a great experience live, punching you in the face with a wall of sound. After all, they finished second in this years edition of the national Metal Battle contest. No doubt there’s a good reason for that! For those who still wanna check out a song of these lads, try ‘When Past And Present Collide’. Worth a try!