Fuck, it is essential for this band to get a new vocalist immediately. Musically this is pretty typical melodic Swedish death metal from Denmark, but the songwriting is fucking great and these cats churn out some fucking slick riffs that are based more around moderately paced melody and heaviness than tremolo picking or anything like that. They also have a few creative twists and turns working in their favor and making them more musically interesting than the vast majority of these bands that are out there today (think early Arch Enemy). But the vocals... god damnit, they're awful. I hate to be a jerk about it, but the vocalist is total shit and he is absolutely destroying an enormous wealth of potential that this band has to offer. His style shifts from growls to sneering screams to singing, and it's all pretty terrible. The singing is of course the worst, but everything just sounds forced and cheesy in relation to the music, which is really memorable. And they've got a good recording too, especially for a self-released effort. I've heard worse coming from significantly large metal labels that have decent budgets to deal out. The guitar tone is nice and effective, the drums sound pretty good, it's all thick and clear, etc. I could stand for more bass in the mix, and the vocals are criminally loud for as horrid as they are, but... whatever, I'm trying to ignore the vocalist anyway. The layout's so-so. The front cover looks pretty good, and I do like the consistent color scheme, but the imagery that repeats on the pages of the booklet is uninteresting, and despite a really clean typeface the text is hard on the eyes because of the color choices used. Lyrically things are pretty bleak, nothing shocking. "It all seems so dark, A mournful elegy has just begun, The desperation shows, A critical state of life..." Damn, no shit, I'm not fucking around, this band could probably get signed if they had a better frontman. I really hate to keep harping on that fact, but I can't help it. I really fucking like the music, and I'm actually pissed off at how shitty the vocals are, because I can't enjoy the music as a result. If this band is truly serious about what they're doing, they have three choices: 1. get a new vocalist right away, 2. force your current vocalist to practice his ass off 24 hours a day until he can get his shit together, or 3. become an instrumental band. The third choice shouldn't be a legitimate option, and I would honestly recommend flat out looking for an all new band member to handle the vocals... but whatever the case, don't let your musical talents go to waste just because your singer can't cut it. I'd easily give this a 7/10 if they had a strong vocal presence. I'd almost go so far as to say that some of these riffs are the best I've heard from this genre in a year or two.
[self-released]
Running time - 21:45, Tracks: 5
[Notable tracks: The Sound of Tomorrow, Encaged]
Pitch Black - [email protected]
