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/:: Artist :: The Halo Effect ::\
:: Album :: March of the Unheard ::
:: Year :: 2025 ::
:: __ _ _ __ ::
-:--\\-----------------------------------------------------------------//--:-
:: \ / ::
:: . Genre :: Death Metal Source :: CD . ::
:: Label :: Shinigami Records R.date :: 2025-01-27 ::
_::__ Cat.nr. :: NBSR414 S.date :: 2025-01-10 __::_
::// \\::
::/---------------------------------------------------------------------\::
:: ::
/: Encoder :: LAME 3.100 -V0 :\
..: Bitrate :: avg. 276kbps :..
. Quality :: 44.1 kHz/Joint Stereo .
. Size :: 113.52MB .
. .
__ __ _ . : _ ____ _ _ ____ _ : . _ __ __
.\\\\------- : | ---\ /---------------------\ /--- | : -------////.
+/ -\------- | | ----\ tracklist /---- | | -------/- \+
/: . : : . :\
/:: ::\
:: 1. Conspire to Deceive 3:57 ::
:: 2. Detonate 3:58 ::
:: 3. Our Channel to the Darkness 3:28 ::
:: 4. Cruel Perception 4:04 ::
:: 5. What We Become 3:46 ::
:: 6. This Curse of Silence 2:00 ::
:: 7. March of the Unheard 2:59 ::
:: 8. Forever Astray 3:40 ::
:: 9. Between Directions 4:28 ::
:: 10. A Death That Becomes Us 4:07 ::
:: 11. The Burning Point 3:47 ::
:: 12. Coda 3:53 ::
:: 13. Path of Fierce Resistance 3:39 ::
:: 14. The Defiant One 3:11 ::
:: 15. Become Surrender 3:34 ::
:: ::
:: ::
:: ------- ::
.. >> 54:31 ..
__ __ _ . : _ ____ _ _ ____ _ : . _ __ __
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/: . : : . :\
/:: ::\
:: ::
:: "March Of The Unheard" is a great showcase of a band trying to ::
:: come up with new ideas whilst still sticking to the old ::
:: "Gothenburg" sound as we knew it years ago. It's so brave and ::
:: open-minded, as if it wouldn't have a problem showing a middle ::
:: finger to specifically one era of In Flames, yet they are not ::
:: so arrogant as to try to reduce it to their level. One part of ::
:: the band is In Flames, and the other part of the band is Dark ::
:: Tranquillity. I donÆt wonder if people are calling the band ::
:: names like "Dark Flames" or "In Tranquillity," because while we ::
:: have some melodic, old-school In Flames riffs and drumming, on ::
:: the other hand, we have MikaelÆs empowering vocals and ::
:: synthesizers or electronics, which are very common for Dark ::
:: Tranquillity. ::
:: ::
:: Guitar riffs are awesome. We have here the founding member of ::
:: this band, Niclas Engelin, and the legend named Jesper ::
:: Stromblad. They're creating more and more close "guitar" ::
:: relationships between them, and they are not as close-minded as ::
:: on THE's "Days Of The Lost," but they play everything as safely ::
:: as they can. The riffs are In Flames-like, melodic, sometimes ::
:: even progressive, and in some songs the certain parts are very ::
:: well consistently presented. "Days Of The Lost" had a very ::
:: progressive direction; however, even though you can feel the ::
:: progressiveness, there's much less of it than on the debut. I ::
:: like it; everything is melodic, played as it should be, yet ::
:: it's very safe and vigilant. Great guitar compositions can be ::
:: heard in "Cruel Perception" or "Detonate." ::
:: ::
:: Mikael Stanne is for me the vocalist of the year, and he should ::
:: be the one awarded. How can one sing in 4 bands in a row while ::
:: still remaining as good as he never ever was? I don't know; you ::
:: tell me! I love his vocals; he always sounds fresh, and with ::
:: his pretty wide vocal range, he never disappoints fans. Yes, I ::
:: do agree he doesnÆt use as much of his clean vocals as he used ::
:: to on their debut, but guess what? There's more room for his ::
:: crazy-good harsh vocals, which means more "old-school" fans of ::
:: melodic death metal will like this album (hopefully)! Lyrics ::
:: (composed also by him) are much more leading the Dark ::
:: Tranquillity, yet after they posted certain videos about the ::
:: background of the title of the album "March Of The Unheard," I ::
:: changed my mind a bit about that. I think Jesper was the one ::
:: who was talking about it, especially about his view on it, and ::
:: he took an example of him growing up in high school and being ::
:: bullied because of his "satanic" looks; it is because he was ::
:: the only metalhead at that time in that school. Lyrics are far ::
:: more interesting because of this; there are more varieties of ::
:: them. ::
:: ::
:: And finally, we have drums here played by the most unique ::
:: drummer in melodic death metalùDaniel Svensson. This guy's a ::
:: beast; I always liked his drumming in IF, yet he does not ::
:: disappoint in The Halo Effect also; more like, he's just ::
:: getting better and more consistent. Unfortunately for fans of ::
:: fast-paced drumming (blast beats, etc.), it can be a bit ::
:: disappointing, but in the end, it's a "Gothenburg death metal" ::
:: band, so this should be already known. ::
:: ::
:: Many of the haters of this band also do dislike that this is ::
:: just once again a "sequel" to the "Clayman" release, but that's ::
:: not particularly true. Yes, some songs lead that way, but on ::
:: example: "What We Become," which is leading the more "Reroute ::
:: to Remain"/"Soundtrack To Your Escape" era where there were ::
:: also electronics and this stuff. We also have certain songs ::
:: that lead to the older era of In Flames ("The Jester Race," ::
:: "Whoracle"), but for those who didnÆt listen to this release ::
:: yet, theyÆre not absent, and reading this review, I wonÆt spoil ::
:: more things; experience it on your own! ::
:: ::
:: Sadly, we somehow got to the end of this review, and sharing ::
:: with you a few words on summing up this whole album would be ::
:: great. If you awaited something more progressive than "Days Of ::
:: The Lost," then you're wrong. It's less progressive, focuses ::
:: more on the things it already knows, and also, the album tries ::
:: (and certainly doesn't fail) and expands the melodic ::
:: "Gothenburg" sound and shows you newly opened branches of ::
:: sounds, riffs, and atmospheres. StanneÆs vocals proceed to not ::
:: fail once again, and harsh vocals are mainly pointed out on ::
:: this whole album also. Prepare for a variety of Svensson's drum ::
:: performances, and be sure that this album will, once in a time, ::
:: be named "the legend." "This is the fire and there is no end, ::
:: we turn to our anger to burn out the pain"... ::
:: ::
:: . _ _ . ::
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