The Texan melodic death metal band are back this week with their sophomore album, and first full-length release since signing to Napalm Records. I have to admit, I’m not too familiar with the band, but they seem to have exploded onto the scene and immediately be on the up and up, so I can’t wait to check this out!
Opener ‘Slowly Light Collides’ builds perfectly through the clean riff into a distorted, sludgy, epic soundscape. It immediately gives off atmospheric black metal vibes, in all the best ways. The screams fit perfectly over the top and sound huge. Halfway through the verse the guitars start to chug, the death metal finally coming in behind everything else. It somehow adds even more to the sound, it all sounding MASSIVE. I’d love to see this live, I feel like it’d be a Gojira-level experience. The solo leading into the final chorus and cleaner, acoustic outro was perfect too. What a great way to set the scene and open an album!
‘Mind is a Shadow’ jumps straight into the heaviness with an almost Killswitch Engage-style riff. The screams again sound great over the top. Again, I would say this feels more black metal than melodic death metal. But whatever it is, it’s fucking awesome. Vincent Jackson Jones (of Aether Realm and Wizardthrone ) lends his screams perfectly to the track too, his low growls adding another awesome level of depth to it all. It’s a fantastic track through and through and easily makes our playlist!
‘How Many Dreams’ starts straight in with an almost gothic rock riff. Think Him, Type O or even The Cure. Honestly, even though the vocals are death metal screams, the clean guitars and stripped-back verse still gives off awesome goth vibes. It all builds into a HUGE, distorted chorus that is both heavy and catchy. It gives me pretty big Lacrimas Profundere vibes (check out our review of them here). That is certainly not a bad thing! Honestly, this is exactly the kind of thing I wanted from this band, and I am LOVING it. Big riffs, awesome screams and a dramatic, dark, epic feel throughout. And a fantastic guitar solo to boot! Another track that easily makes our playlist!
Tracks like ‘Sprit and Matter’, ‘A Tide Unturning’ and closer ‘Taken’ go full on black metal. That is not a bad thing at all. However, the Behemoth-like wall of sound is kinda hard to talk about over and over without it getting a tad repetitive. There are awesome riffs and good screams throughout, and the dynamics of the clean sections and heavy outro on the former is awesome. Also, the 2nd one features the awesome Tuomas Saukkonen of Before the Dawn, which you can definitely tell in some of the playing and vocals. It’s not quite as good as some stuff off his album earlier this year (review here) but is still pretty great!
A short, interesting interlude leads into the first single, ‘Reverse the Code’. It’s another awesome track, with a stomping, sludge pace and some awesome riffing running through it. It’s still HEAVY as well, with a rapid pace through the verses. It has a rather radio-friendly structure too and nothing too out there. It makes it pretty easily digestible (as far as death metal is concerned) so is a good choice for a single. Also, it has a very black metal feel for the most part!
‘Lost to Flame’ is the first time I truly felt like I was listening to melodic death metal on this album. I don’t know whether it’s because I associate the genre with the likes of In Flames and Children of Bodom and this certainly isn’t those, but this certainly has all the awesome hallmarks of death metal. Some incredible riffing, lightening quick drums, and a real feeling of anger and aggression. The riffs actually feel like they have room to breathe at times as well, without the huge wall of sound from the synths and stuff adding more to the background. It kinda gives Amon Amarth vibes, yet obviously less vikingy. Another fantastic solo is tucked away in the middle of this, too. I can already tell they are a criminally underrated guitarist.
‘The Answer’ opens on not only opens on the best riff on the album, but possibly the best riff of the year. It’s another straight-up death metal track, and I can’t get enough of it. Having said that, it still opens up into a huge sound when it slows down in the chorus. I cannot get enough of that riff though, especially when it’s backed by the synth later on. The chorus is awesome, and it’s another song I’ve quickly fallen in love with. A phenomenal track, and another to make our playlist!
Finally, latest single ‘Tryptich Visions’ honestly feels like an amalgamation of every other track on the album. From the awesome death metal riffing of the previous track, to the more subdued, cleaner verses, to the huge, black metal choruses. Oh, and also my favourite guitar solo on the album too. The harmonies in the second half are amazing. It’s an interesting, dynamic and surprisingly FUN death metal track, and another excellent choice for a single.
Overall: This is a damn good album! It has everything you could possibly want in this genre of music: heaviness awesome growls, and some incredible playing from everyone involved. There are some amazing tracks on here and none of them are bad by any stretch. I’m gonna have to go back and check out their previous album. And, I look forward to hearing where they go next!
The Score: 8/10