Makin Waves
Record of the Week:
Dark Sky Choir
by Bob Makin
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Initially a metal tribute band,
Dark Sky Choir’s collective resume
is quite impressive: Wizards of
Winter, Exxplorer, Lords of Mercy,
and Anvil. After amassing a large
fan base, the hard ‘n’ heavy four-
piece began to incorporate origi-
nals until they became the focus,
resulting in an excellent self-titled
debut LP meticulously produced
by guitarist Fred Gorhaus at the
fabled Trax East.
That South River recording studio
has assembled works by a who’s
who of Jersey hard rock: Skid Row,
NJ STAGE 2017 - Vol. 4 No. 5
Atomic Bitchwax, Godspeed, Sol-
ace, God Forbid, Deadguy, Dill-
inger Escape Plan, E-Town Con-
crete, Misfits, Nudeswirl, Senses
Fail, Vision, Symphony X, Mega-
force and more. In the annals of
Trax East lore, “Dark Sky Choir”
proudly can stand alongside
those works in part because of
the strong production by Gorhaus
and engineering by former studio
owner Eric Rachel. But there’s also
menacing yet tasteful, at times ex-
quisite playing by Gorhaus, drum-
mer Mike Sakowski, bassist Joe
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