Review by Morpheus Kitami for Gloomy Reflections - Oath of the Paladins (2024)

Even at first glance, Gloomy Reflections seems odd for a band attached to the NWOTHM movement. One half is from longtime The Wizar'd guitarist and the other is an apparent mainstay of the Tasmania punk scene and dungeon synth artist. Why are these two people getting together to make...heavy metal/progressive rock?
As could be expected, these guys have an odd sound. While the music is clearly using modern production techniques and things you can only do with modern amps, it's still trying to involve a sense of a '70s heavy metal that could have existed, but didn't. The guitar tone is akin to a '70s borderline metal band than the more familiar sound of Black Sabbath or Judas Priest.
The keyboards/synths are more odd, and on the surface steal the show. It sounds like it's supposed to be old-fashioned even if any time spent around synths will reveal that they're pretty modern. They're just doing some sort of effect over what are probably more mundane sounds to make them fit more in the mystical old metal sound they're going for. But it's effective, it feels far more fitting as the soundtrack to a fantasy adventure than a lot of its contemporaries.
Of special note are the vocals and the lyrics. I'm really not sure what to compare him to. It's not that he's unique, just that he isn't very typically metal. A very generic rock voice trying something serious and grand. But he's not that special in of himself, what's special is the way his singing makes the lyrics feel more than the meaningless low fantasy fluff a lot of bands have. Take The Clock Tower, taken in isolation, the lyrics aren't that impressive. Taken with the vocals, they work; They aren't just meaninglessly sung, they have weight to them.
In short, this is an off-the-wall album from a pair of very clever musicians who really know how to layer instruments and vocals together to make something special. I hope to see more from them.