I’m a longtime melodic death metal fan at heart since it was one of the many genres that assisted me to discover the most exciting and accessible bands in the music community. Whether it Dark Tranquillity, Wintersun, Children Of Bodom, Kalmah, Scar Symmetry and Kataklysm, I love the diversity and experimentations when bands start to use technical and progressive musical undertones to make the music more enjoyable and appreciative. Meet Veriteras, a melodic death metal band based out of the Pacific Northwest and to describe their sound is a blend of Scandinavian soundscapes with today’s modern-day production and I feel that every song is extremely memorable well as the detail and creativeness that these members have created is remarkable.
Every track feels different in a sense of pouring every emotion and character in which the craftsmanship, progressiveness and atmosphere is so engaging to the point you’re hearing these wonderfully crafted time signatures well as the compositional work is perhaps one of the highlights on the record. Tracks such as Forever Enslaved, Death Machine, As The Darkness Falls and Slave To Fear have these blackened passageways in which the guitars, drums and vocals are all playing such a predominant role making the layers and soundscapes come to life making you feel lost in the motion. From the soaring keyboard signatures, thundering blast beats, well produced vocal deliveries, structured bass tones and wolfishly attitudes of barbed melodies, this album is all about music from the heart and soul making into which the members from Veriteras have done such a damned good job making the melodic death metal sound alive and running.
There’s even combinations of various types of metal including black, doom and progressive death as these arrangements of diabolical fillers is going to strap the listener into a void so powerful, you’ll be in complete disbelief to hear a local band from my area to be this bloody good. I cannot fully go into the album’s interpretation or context, but the music speaks volume for itself. Shadow Of Death will strongly appeal fans of Insomnium, Mors Principium Est, Arch Enemy, Kalmah and Dark Tranquillity. Do not pass this up.
Overall Score: 9.0/10
Review by Jake Butler
