First of all, terrific album cover. That cover gets a 1 out of 3 on its own, even if the album inside were 60 minutes of silence.
This album gets its fundamentals down cold. “Nightbound” is one of my favorite tracks of 2020, hands down. The guitars are crystal-clear and shimmering, and the vocalist has great control over his growl. When he sings the chorus, the guitars play a simple scale underneath him with lovely staccato ornamentation. It’s fluid and easy to listen to, yet emotional. It’s easy to believe that this is a band that has been around a long time. They always seem like they are in control of what they want me to hear.
The only reason why this album doesn’t get a perfect score from me is that I think the middle tracks sag a bit. I love the opening, with “The Lament” and “Nightbound,” and the closing three tracks are very good, but most of the stuff in between doesn’t land for me. “Purgatorio”--the quiet, atmospheric track--is banal by the standards of atmospheric music. It sounds like it was composed for a children’s Halloween special. “Lacrimosa” seems loud and thrashy to me...it doesn’t land.
Still, the good in this album is very good, and I think that this album would be fun for anyone who can tolerate metal at all.
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