Finland’s Shade Empire have come quite long ways to create albums not only incredibly intelligent but also taking their considerate time to craft imaginative imagery within their music. Four years later, we got a new album called Poetry Of The Ill-Minded and is the follow-up to 2013’s Omega Arcane which still this day is the band’s most essential albums in their catalog. But did Poetry Of The III-Minded retained the symphonic black/death and industrial-esque sounding landscapes we all know and love or did the band decided to take on a different approach to the music? Honestly, this album features a beautiful landslide of crafted symphonic death metal sculptures and have upped their level games in both consistency, musically, lyrically and progressively.
The emphasis of guitars, bass, drums and vocals are not entirely repetitive but some of the songs uses atmospheric tones to tend on focusing traces of brutality while keeping the traditional Shade Empire sound we are used hearing. When you take tracks such as Drawn to Water – The Path, Map Of Scars, and Treasure (In Liquid Dreams of Mirror Universe) these songs not only are extremely addictive to listen to but the members each have their counterparts are delightful, delicate and rhythmic. Perhaps the album’s secondary half of the album welcomes some additional touches as it penetrates experimentation and variety to be revealed on a monstrosity where these fascinating epic soundscapes are truly amazing as the lyricism and songwriting are dynamic within the album’s context. Overall I was heavily impressed to see what lies next for this Finnish outfit to use symphonic black with industrial and death metal compositions alongside a emotional, uplifting and magnifying albums they’ve done in recent memory. Definitely check this out if you’re fans of Septic Flesh, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Dimmu Borgir and Graveworm.
Overall Score: 8.5/10
Review by Jake Butler
