Now this actually was an album I was highly anticipating. As a big fan of their debut 2015 release Under the Shadows EP, I had very high expectations. The mix of heaviness, clean female vocals, haunting melodies and technical drum work had me hooked and hoped this album would continue the right path and it certainly did that and more. The London symphonic blackened deathcore group began in 2014 and built momentum here in the states with their Artery Recordings signing. After the release of their debut singles “Possessed” and “Eclipse” which both received music videos for, the band gained some major notoriety.
Earlier this month, their debut full length Grimoire was released by Artery Recordings. The album featured two singles, “The Wicked (featuring Scott Ian Lewis of Carnifex)” and “Gloom (featuring Sean Harmanis of Make Them Suffer).” The album feels very reminiscent of their previous sound heard on their previous EPs but stronger and matured. The chilling screams and growls by vocalist Joseph Sinclair are consistently strong, emotionally strained and spine-tingling for any listener. Keyboardist Aimy Miller creates an almost trance inducing and captivating atmosphere throughout the album with her piano work and one of the biggest highlights is her singing as heard in tracks “The Wicked” and “From the Grave.” Her voice soars perfectly through the music and gives a moment of breath before the band ropes you back into the heaviness. A couple of the tracks stand out different from the rest like “Victoria” and “From the Grave” which bleed out emotion and blanket you with a sense of sorrow. The guitars by James Threadwell and Jonny Davies are mind blowing. There are heavy chugs (not overdone or redundant which is a feat in itself), technical riffs, entrancing transitions and patterns and solos that leave you speechless. The drum work on this album by Daniel Ristic is like a train hitting you dead on. His fills and pedal work are spot on and make you almost question if person or machine. Frank Korsair’s bass riffs can be both heard and felt if you play this with the bass all the way up in your car, under the headphones or stereo and they fit into the cacophony of chaos perfectly.
If there was any album to recommend so far for 2017, this one would be my number one at this moment. It has everything a listener could want, it has captivating melodies that are woven into bone crushing riffs, transitions that keep the album from being repetitive and boring, elements of black metal, deathcore and symphonic melodies blended together perfectly and clean vocals that are hauntingly beautiful. There is really nothing negative or bad I can even say about this album (after listening now atleast fifty times on repeat). I can not wait to see what else comes from this young and immensely talented band. I recommend this album to any fan of symphonic black metal, deathcore, metal in general…fuck it, make your grandmother listen to this and watch her bang her head to it!
My rating:
5.0 / 5.0
STAFF PICK!
