I absolutely loved this album. Everything about it was just ecstasy to the ears. I loved how symphonic and unified every song was and how much effort was easily heard. The work put into this album shows by creating a masterpiece I will be looking more into.
There are lots of different vibes throughout the album. Shade Empire is not just great at combining these vibes into a complete song, but they also make these songs musically advanced and thorough. Each song, even with track lengths exceeding 6 and a half minutes regularly, sounds like they had spent hours and hours putting together parts to make a whole. Sunholy is more than just a compilation of songs, it is an effort and a triumph.
It is easy to compare them to other symphonic metal bands, however I think Shade Empire stands out with two things: the clean vocals as well as the embrace of modernity. The clean vocals on this album are mesmerizing. They are similar to Tim Charles of Ne Obliviscaris in the best possible way. Both singers have skills exceeding the metal genre as a whole and entering the realms of top vocalist ever. Sunholy also uses their resources to make unique music, they have symphonies, saxophones, choirs, and almost DJ like sections. This isn’t just a cop-out to make a more ‘wall of sound’ album, each part is working like a machine, building, and creating a beautiful song.
I would 100% recommend this album to someone. I showed my roommate a few songs to see if my feelings were shared on Sunholy, and he (as someone who does not listen to metal) was blown away. Sunholy is going to be a breakthrough album to them, and I hope they come to the States so I can see them play live. 10/10
Primordial - How It Ends (Metal Blade Records)
I enjoyed this album more than I thought I would. It is an interesting blend of genres and makes for a unique album which I have not really heard anything like.
My first thoughts were that this album put me into places that aren’t real. It transported me to a cult-like sermon. It was also just muggy enough to feel swampy. Imagine a cult in the middle of a swamp in the summer and you have this album. Primordial has an excellent atmosphere because of its ability to transport me but that does not mean the whole album is just atmosphere, it is built on skilled musicianship.
The standout to me is definitely the vocals. It is as if Bruce Dickinson was into singing black metal. I liked most how the vocals combined screams and cleans to make a harsher clean. It was easier on the ears to have this style than a traditional black metal vocal. I think Primordial wants to do away with tradition in favor of what sounds good, and they do an excellent job at that.
The music itself was, like I said before, swampy. It was as if the producer put the musicians underwater and made them play. This gave the album a fresh sound that is hard to find without extreme effects. 7/10.
Shining - Shining (Napalm Records)
There are lots of stories and rumors about Shining from Sweden. As someone who had only seen two things from the band, one of which being a live show where the creator of the band, Niklas Kvarforth, was cutting himself onstage, and the other being the same man getting a head tattoo in a music video, I expected this album to be cutthroat to say the least. What I didn’t expect was beauty.
I haven’t been blown away by an album in a while and this did that. It completely shattered all expectations I had about this album and this band. I think everyone who doesn’t know this band or just knows the stories will be shocked to hear the professionalism this album exudes.
Each instrument is absolutely perfect. The way that every part works together is a storm of sonic power. There are traditional black metal parts with blast beats and ripping riffs, however my favorite parts were when the album slowed down and had piano at the forefront. The eye of the storm is the Erik Satie cover, Attahundratjugo, which is a beautifully performed piano piece. I also loved how well the drums worked with the guitars to make each part of a song feel like it flowed excellently. Nick Barker has over 30 years of experience in this scene, so it makes sense that he is still kicking ass.
The vocals for me were amazing. I’m not entirely sure what I expected, maybe something so brutal it hurt, but what I got was breathtaking. Niklas, of course, has an excellent screaming voice which emotes so well and is recognizable as hell. However, his clean vocals are so unique sounding. I loved it when he would sing cleanly over what may seem to be a heavy riff. 10/10
Harms Way - Common Suffering (Metal Blade Records)
This album was the epitome of low and slow. It felt like there were multiple times where the BPM fell beneath 40. But, they could bring up the BPM and make it sound great too. Either way, the feeling was never lost. Harm’s Way perfectly combined groove and doom with hardcore.
I think this album was carried by the guitars and bass. They were so crunchy it was like walking on paper. The riffs these guys were able to churn out made my head go fuzzy. I loved how low the tuning was to make a deep, hefty sound all throughout the album. Starting right off the bat, the album started with a crazy fast song that set the tone for thick and chucky riffs.
Personally, I needed some more out of the vocals. I loved what the singer can do but I feel like he wasn’t using his full range. There were times when I thought he would go into a high or a low scream but remained in the mid-range. Saying this, holy crap are his mid screams absolutely brutal. The rasp he gets hurts just thinking about as well as how clear his words are.
I think they could push themselves into something mind-blowing. 7/10
There are lots of stories and rumors about Shining from Sweden. As someone who had only seen two things from the band, one of which being a live show where the creator of the band, Niklas Kvarforth, was cutting himself onstage, and the other being the same man getting a head tattoo in a music video, I expected this album to be cutthroat to say the least. What I didn’t expect was beauty.
I haven’t been blown away by an album in a while and this did that. It completely shattered all expectations I had about this album and this band. I think everyone who doesn’t know this band or just knows the stories will be shocked to hear the professionalism this album exudes.
Each instrument is absolutely perfect. The way that every part works together is a storm of sonic power. There are traditional black metal parts with blast beats and ripping riffs, however my favorite parts were when the album slowed down and had piano at the forefront. The eye of the storm is the Erik Satie cover, Attahundratjugo, which is a beautifully performed piano piece. I also loved how well the drums worked with the guitars to make each part of a song feel like it flowed excellently. Nick Barker has over 30 years of experience in this scene, so it makes sense that he is still kicking ass.
The vocals for me were amazing. I’m not entirely sure what I expected, maybe something so brutal it hurt, but what I got was breathtaking. Niklas, of course, has an excellent screaming voice which emotes so well and is recognizable as hell. However, his clean vocals are so unique sounding. I loved it when he would sing cleanly over what may seem to be a heavy riff. 10/10
Harms Way - Common Suffering (Metal Blade Records)
This album was the epitome of low and slow. It felt like there were multiple times where the BPM fell beneath 40. But, they could bring up the BPM and make it sound great too. Either way, the feeling was never lost. Harm’s Way perfectly combined groove and doom with hardcore.
I think this album was carried by the guitars and bass. They were so crunchy it was like walking on paper. The riffs these guys were able to churn out made my head go fuzzy. I loved how low the tuning was to make a deep, hefty sound all throughout the album. Starting right off the bat, the album started with a crazy fast song that set the tone for thick and chucky riffs.
Personally, I needed some more out of the vocals. I loved what the singer can do but I feel like he wasn’t using his full range. There were times when I thought he would go into a high or a low scream but remained in the mid-range. Saying this, holy crap are his mid screams absolutely brutal. The rasp he gets hurts just thinking about as well as how clear his words are.
I think they could push themselves into something mind-blowing. 7/10
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