BUCK∞TICK – darker than darkness -style93- Review: Legacy Evolved
When a band has been defining the Visual Kei landscape for over three decades, a new album isn’t just a release—it’s a cultural event. BUCK∞TICK’s darker than darkness -style93- arrives in 2026 as proof that Sakurai Atsushi and company remain vital forces in a genre they helped pioneer, delivering a record that respects their legacy while refusing to rest on it.
The “style93” subtitle is significant. It signals a deliberate return to the industrial-gothic textures that characterized BUCK∞TICK’s most influential era, yet filtered through the sonic sophistication they’ve accumulated across their four-decade journey. This isn’t nostalgia—it’s evolutionary archaeology. The production is dense and layered, with synthesizers cutting through distorted guitars in ways that feel both retro and urgently contemporary. There’s a claustrophobic intimacy to the mixing that makes even the album’s most explosive moments feel introspective.
Sakurai’s vocals remain the album’s gravitational center. His range—from whispered vulnerability to guttural intensity—continues to showcase why he’s considered one Visual Kei’s most distinctive frontmen. The instrumental work across darker than darkness is equally compelling. The rhythm section drives with mechanical precision, while the guitar interplay between compositions balances dissonant atmospherics with moments of genuine accessibility. This tension between avant-garde ambition and catchiness is where BUCK∞TICK has always excelled, and they haven’t lost the formula.
What’s particularly striking is how the album doesn’t attempt to chase contemporary trends. In a 2026 landscape where Visual Kei has fractured into countless microgenres, BUCK∞TICK’s refusal to soften or modernize feels rebellious. The production is polished but never slick; the darkness is genuine, not performative. There are moments that don’t entirely cohere—some tracks feel slightly overstuffed, ambitious to the point of self-indulgence—but this is the sound of artists still pushing boundaries rather than maintaining them.
The album’s deeper cuts reveal substantial songwriting beneath the theatrical surface. This isn’t music designed for casual consumption. It demands repeat listens, rewards attention, and reveals new textures with each encounter. For longtime fans, darker than darkness -style93- validates their continued devotion. For newer listeners curious about Visual Kei’s elder statesmen, it’s an ideal entry point into BUCK∞TICK’s enduring vision.
In an era where legacy acts often coast on catalog, BUCK∞TICK has delivered something rarer: a record that feels necessary. darker than darkness -style93- is darkly ambitious, sonically rich, and utterly uncompromising. Essential listening.
Rating: 8/10