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Makes Most Melodic Death Broke Dick - 89%
Yes, I can’t stand most Gothenburg nowadays, too. However, back in the day between At The Gates, Dark Tranquillity, and In Flame stood a band better than all three combined (no joke). Their style resembles more of the classical / baroque approach of other bands in their league like Without Grief or hell even early At The Gates / Dark Tranquillity. Despite this similarity, this band really, really kicked it up a notch, slaying any expectations you dove in with and setting the standard high for anything else in the genre. Shit, I can’t even listen to over half of the melodic death genre anymore because most of it sucks compared to these guys.
Musically, this album is very dark; it’s more natural than studio dark, since everything feels like a gust of the outdoors: the washing distortion, melancholic acoustic / clean lapses, and Svensson shrieking like the earth letting loose all of its rage. Michael Andersson on the first few tracks has some throaty growls that, while competent, don't stand a chance against Daniel’s monstrous vocals. Most of the album encompasses his mutilated black metal screams, but his demonic roar of a growl is where the ferocity meets the right balance of intricacy.
I mean FFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUU…
He should be growling for In Flames! Not like In Flames uses growls anymore (Anders hasn’t actually growled since The Jester Race), but god damn it’d be a step in the right direction. The vocals are very balanced in the mix (as is the whole album) and are the final layer on the cake that makes this music much less watered down and way more lethal than most any other melodic death band. Not only that, but his drumming is far better here than with In Flames: precise, blistering, finely produced (no stupid hollow drums), loads of catchy double bass and catchy rhythms… holy shit, I actually prefer the drumming in some cases than the leads themselves.
Now that’s a ballgame of its very own – the leads. The distortion isn’t killer, but it plays a fantastic role in drowning the listener and throwing them in a tornado of demolishing riffs and superbly crafted melodic leads. Every song flows like a written orchestration, but without sappy violins stealing the show. There are classical tinges everywhere, and most of the songs run without losing their intensity. It’s a heavy and fast album, but there never seems to be a dull moment. My one complaint is that they didn’t write an epic monolith of a song, but I’ll suffice with what they offer. What seems so innocent in even the last track (an acoustic instrumental with some strings accompanying) just sounds so awe-striking without even showing off.
One album out of the blue and they annihilated Dark Traquillity's, At The Gates', and In Flames' entire discography. It’s not even a contest - Sacrilege flat out win. Add the second album, and they just took over the Gothenburg scene.
