Dark Lord - Ex Tenebris Lux Kilian 2018

Dark Lord is a great leather scent and that's pretty much where its similarity to Guilty Absolute pour Homme ends. Dark Lord opens with a little whiff of the bergamot but the leather quickly makes its appearance and dominates for the majority of the life of the fragrance. I did not get any rum at any point after applying.

Dark Lord's leather is dry and very realistic while Guilty has a leather scent that's also combined with other things that make it more than just a leather scent. Guilty has a more obvious gasoline component and Guilty overall, while not sweet (and neither is Dark Lord), is rounder - almost juicier, in a fruity way. Guilty also strikes me more animalic than Dark Lord. I applied Dark Lord to my neck and chest and a half spray of Guilty to my wrist. Guilty definitely was stronger and dominated, even with only a minimal spray.

If you are looking for a nice, dry, masculine leather scent, Dark Lord will definitely fit. If something like Falcon Leather Extrait de Parfum (another superb leather) turns you off because of the touch of oud and smokiness, give Dark Lord a try. (Unfortunately, Dark Lord is even more expensive, ounce per ounce than Falcon Leather Extrait dP.)

Performance-wise, projection was moderate, which was kinda disappointing. As I mentioned above, a small spray of Guilty Absolute was able to dominate Dark Lord. Longevity was long lasting - about 10 hours.

As for my preference, I still rank Guilty Absolute on top. It's masculine, slightly animalic and quite rough around the edges - sorta fits me best. For a straightforward, high quality leather scent, Falcon Leather Extrait is above Dark Lord. Don't let my rating it #3 give the impression that it's subpar. It isn't. It's quite good. If you are looking for a good leather scent, be sure to give it a try.

Morillas' first innovative formula, used in Gucci Guilty Absolute, revitalized with a dreamy jasmine and warm spices.
From my point of view, Gucci Guilty Absolute was an experiment for Morillas, and an extremely successful one!
As the master is extremely perfectionist in his ideas, I consider Dark Lord to be the perfection for the basic idea started from GGA. Morillas reached the absolute in perfumery with this creation! It remains one of my signatures! An absolute masterpiece!

Looking at the notes I was really surprised to see rum in there. A By Kilian isn’t finished until some form of booze is added I guess. Well I don’t get any of that.

What I do get is this animalic leathery scent in the first couple of hours. It’s quite heavy, anyone who’s ever smelled Gucci Guilty Absolute knows the horse-stable smell I’m talking about. It’s nicely combined with peppery spices, taking the edge off a little bit.

After an hour or two it slowly starts to reveal woody notes. Images of pencil shavings come to mind and I absolutely love that. And things evolve even further, getting a bit more airy, lighter, the vetiver takes control.

The animalic nature of the fragrance makes it hard to pull off in formal occasions. But it’s an absolute pleasure for the nose.

This is truly niche in the sense that this is hard to pull off...or rather requires a specific vibe to pull off correctly. You must embrace the aggressive & polarizing nature of this perfume and not care what people think you smell like. Those around you will be challenged or sometimes offended if they catch a whiff and the wearer must take glee in this. It is not bad, especially in the opening/mid it is a nice Jasmine, spicey, leather blend. It takes the wearer to a dark place of indifference, nihilism, but holds a unique power of individuality. Bitter dark leather is the dry-down. The wearer stands alone.

If you check the fragrances Guilty Absolute pour Homme and Dark Lord - Ex Tenebris Lux , you'll see a VERY large amount of votes in the "similar fragrances" section. People love to compare these two, and I totally understand why:

- both fragrances are made by the same perfume, Alberto Morillas
- Guilty Absolute pour Homme came out one year before Dark Lord - Ex Tenebris Lux and Kilian as a brand does have a tendency of getting "inspired"
- both have a very similar leathery vibe (?)

As an absolute (haha) lover of Dark Lord - Ex Tenebris Lux , I am aware that it's expensive - and that's why I rarely wear it. I've been on the hunt for a leather fragrances that captures that unique feeling that I get from Kilian's fragrance... and all paths seem to lead me to Guilty Absolute pour Homme . But are they the same? And is Dark Lord - Ex Tenebris Lux just a "scam"?

After owning both fragrances and testing them back to back, here's my verdict: Nope, they're not the same BUT they have SOME similarities.
Dark Lord - Ex Tenebris Lux is like a black dark leather jacket: it's still a new polished jacket, smells a bit like gasoline but there's a subtle floral touch to it that really gives it some elegance and mystery - it's so intriguing!
Guilty Absolute pour Homme has a leathery vibe that is SUPER close to No Limit$ - they probably use similar leather ingredients because here I really smell a similarity. That leathery vibe is different in Dark Lord - Ex Tenebris Lux - it's more cold. The leather accord of Guilty Absolute pour Homme is warmer! It's much more woody and is rather linear in it's performance: it does one thing well, leather AND woods!
Dark Lord - Ex Tenebris Lux starts more classy masculine: bergamot in the opening, jasmine-esque florals bring some life to the composition and that leather binds everything together!

But here's the kicker: as Dark Lord - Ex Tenebris Lux dries down, it gets closer and closer to Guilty Absolute pour Homme !
Let's finish this off by mentioning that I enjoy both fragrances! Dark Lord - Ex Tenebris Lux has a special place in my heart, as it was my first big niche fragrance that I fell in love with, so at the end of the day, nothing can really compare to that ;)

But Guilty Absolute pour Homme is essentially a "warmer drydown of Dark Lord - Ex Tenebris Lux ", that's what it feels like. Definitely more woody and warmer, it's more cozy in it's take on leather in perfumery - which I find awesome, as a lot of leather perfumes tend to go in that "new polished black leather jacket" vein. And of course, that price difference is immense. Whether it's worth it to you or not, noone can really say. You have to try them for yourself.
My preference is clear, I have a favorite. But if I want to get a similar feeling AND I want it woodier on a particular day, I'd go with Guilty Absolute pour Homme instead.