Blinded Colony - Divine
2003 - Scarlet Records
By Philip Whitehouse
Go to the Scarlet Records website.
More melodic aggressiveness from those fairly reliable bods at Scarlet Records - this time from a troupe of Swedes marrying melodic death metal to more aggressive, less fret-wank-happy power metal stylings. The vocals recall Darkane's 'Rusted Angel' while the music sounds like mid-era Soilwork coupled with energetic, almost upbeat lead work and power metal harmonies.
Generally speaking, each song is a satisfyingly punchy, catchy slab of metal - 'Legacy (Slaves in the Name of Christ)' thunders along happily with some memorable rhythm guitar riffage, while 'Kingdom Of Pain' is a speedier, thrashier number. However, this is more of a collection of songs than an album in what I call the 'real' sense - there's not much in the way of ebb or flow on the album - it's all crunchy guitars, twinkly melodies, harsh/clean vocals and punchy drumming, all the way. There's no ebb and flow, no sturm und drang.
However, forgive them that slight misdemeanor and what you have is a well-written collection of satisfyingly heavy Swedish melodic death metal. Definitely worth checking out if you're one of the many Soilwork or In Flames fans annoyed at their recent output.
7/10
2003 - Scarlet Records
By Philip Whitehouse
Go to the Scarlet Records website.
More melodic aggressiveness from those fairly reliable bods at Scarlet Records - this time from a troupe of Swedes marrying melodic death metal to more aggressive, less fret-wank-happy power metal stylings. The vocals recall Darkane's 'Rusted Angel' while the music sounds like mid-era Soilwork coupled with energetic, almost upbeat lead work and power metal harmonies.
Generally speaking, each song is a satisfyingly punchy, catchy slab of metal - 'Legacy (Slaves in the Name of Christ)' thunders along happily with some memorable rhythm guitar riffage, while 'Kingdom Of Pain' is a speedier, thrashier number. However, this is more of a collection of songs than an album in what I call the 'real' sense - there's not much in the way of ebb or flow on the album - it's all crunchy guitars, twinkly melodies, harsh/clean vocals and punchy drumming, all the way. There's no ebb and flow, no sturm und drang.
However, forgive them that slight misdemeanor and what you have is a well-written collection of satisfyingly heavy Swedish melodic death metal. Definitely worth checking out if you're one of the many Soilwork or In Flames fans annoyed at their recent output.
7/10
