Ethereal and dark new album from Jayn Maiven that comes from UK. “The Buried Storm” is her second album under the name Darkher which is her artistic alter ego. It is actually a one-woman project although this time the drummer Christopher Smith is by her side while Jayn plays guitar and bass, writes lyrics, sings and is responsible for the artwork. It is obvious like most of the solo artists she wants to have total control of her workork and doesn’t leave anything to chance. Oh yes, she is also behind the mix and producing of the album.

“Go to sleep my lonely weep…”

For those who are not familiar with Darkher and her music worth to mention that she describes it as dark folk doom. There are not significant changes with her approach at the debut album and her new work seems like a natural continuation of “Realms” album (2016, Prophecy Productions). On most compositions the bottom line is the creation of dark ambient in an -almost ritual- repetition of the music patterns and the slow building which however doesn’t end in some kind of a outburst or something. I can say that the general picture is kind of minimal and Darkher tries to make the listener see the images in the dark atmosphere. In a way the album looks like an old noir film where the main actors are not the music organs but her voice, a voice that fits nicely here although it’t not unique and doesn’t carry a timber or tone that we haven’t heard before. To be honest at some point I wish there was just a bit variety on the album since the slow, sluggish rhythm are kind of risky because they may be tiring for some listeners. Then again, the use of strings (violin and cello) give some extra color (always on the dark side of course) on some of the compositions and enrich the orchestration. I still don’t see the doom element as much as she describes it but the darkness is there and although less heavy it manages to grab you and at the end closes in on you in the usual nice way we use to love the dark music…