French heavy metal outfit Darkness Dynamite formed in Paris in January 2007 as a trio before expanding to a quintet for its debut EP Through the Ashes of the Wolves. The recording landed the group a distribution deal, as well as numerous shows with the likes of Job for a Cowboy, the Chariot, and the Horizon. As their popularity began to grow outside of their French homeland, the band began work on its full-length debut. The resulting 2009 Metal Blade release, Astonishing Fury of Mankind, a simultaneously crushing and melodic slab of metalcore, thrash, and old-school power metal, drew comparisons to everyone from High on Fire and As I Lay Dying to Pantera and Sepultura. ~ James Christopher Monger