Xephyr's Forum Replies

Amorphis - Elegy (1996)

I finally broke the writers block on this one from years ago to continue one of The Infinite challenge lists, and it ended up being just as unfocused as I thought it would be. Definitely not one of my succinct reviews, Elegy just requires a lot of background to understand why it sounds the way it does and why that's such a big deal. Sadly I still can't quite get behind this album, and I still can't quite give a simple answer as to why, but hopefully the ramblings in the review paint a little bit of a picture as to where I'm coming from. This is one of those instances where I know I'm in the minority, but I can't get my ears to hear what everyone else is hearing when it comes to all the elements of this admittedly complex album. I did end up bumping my score up a half a point from before, though, as I found myself a bit less taken aback by the songwriting as I remember.

( 3 / 5 )

Full Review: 

I’d consider myself a big fan of Amorphis for a long time now, after I originally discovered the band in 2015 with the incredible Under the Red Cloud. Obviously Amorphis’ career and legacy started way before this as they are one of the most consistent and prolific bands on the Progressive side of Death Metal, and 1996’s Elegy was a massive turning point in that career. With the release of their 15th album Borderlands in 2025 it’s no secret that Amorphis have found the sound that they are comfortable with, seemingly content to release similar albums for the past 20 or so years. However, that wasn’t always the case as the band went through rapid changes and evolutions in the 1990’s, morphing from a doom and gloom Death Metal band on The Karelian Isthmus into exactly what a listener of today would expect on Tuonela. Within this stretch, Elegy stands as a strange transitional piece that distinctly pushes the envelope of Amorphis’ sound in a way that they most likely never will attempt again, given their track record. 

I was a very seasoned Amorphis listener before checking out Elegy, or any of their earlier material honestly. My listening rotation consisted of Skyforger and beyond for years and my curiosity was never piqued enough to go back to their humble beginnings. Because of this, I ended up listening to Tales From The Thousand Lakes and Elegy basically back to back, and it was a bit shocking. I was instantly drawn into Tales… because it was a heavier and dirtier version of the Amorphis that I had loved for years. Elegy then proceeded to blindside me with a fully Progressive Metal album that I still find very strange, no matter how many times I come back to it. It feels consistently and faintly familiar as a bunch of the tropes that are present in their later albums are here in full force, like the folky melodies layered on top of double bass and chugging rhythms as well as the oriental-like minor scales utilized on the opening “Better Unborn”. Despite these familiarities, this album continues to stump me as the whole thing feels a bit too wonky as Amorphis commits to a whole lot of ideas that don’t end up being cohesive for me. 

Even though it’s been a little while since my first time through this album, I still remember being taken aback by the vocals in general. Amorphis’ current vocalist Tomi Joutsen doesn’t join the band until their 2006 effort Eclipse, so harshes are done by rhythm guitarist Tomi Koivusaari as they were in Tales… along with cleans done by newcomer Pasi Koskinen. While I think Koivusaari’s groveling, early Death Metal vocals work well on their first two albums given the darker and heavier tones, having the same delivery on an album with a brighter, borderline psychedelic tone is uncanny to me. It can feel at home on tracks like “On Rich and Poor”, but the fact that it’s so one-note completely derails tracks like “Against Widows”, especially when combined with Koskinen’s expressive, almost gothic deliveries throughout the album. Maybe it’s because I grew up with Joutsen’s masterful middle-ground between harshes and cleans, but the two extremes of the vocalists on Elegy really take me out of the whole experience. For whatever reason, both vocalists just fall flat for me throughout and, in turn, makes the album a strange experience for me to sit through no matter how many revisits I give it. 

The addition of scratchy, 70’s prog guitars and the electronic noodlings is what gives Elegy it’s unique character as all these elements are intertwined with wisps of Amorphis’ normal riffing, which would become synonymous with their modern style. There’s a notable amount of parts being crammed into each track, with the lead guitar work being especially impressive in tracks like “Cares”, but sometimes these interesting parts are difficult to decipher due to being pushed back in the mix. There’s also a few very strange grooves that are attempted that really don’t land throughout the album, like the main melody in “Against Widows” or the incredibly alternative radio rock coded synths of “The Orphan” alongside Koskinen’s cleans. With Amorphis trying so many different things in this album, it’s almost a shock when a more straightforward track like “On Rich And Poor” comes on, to the point where I think it doesn’t quite fit with what Elegy is attempting. 

I think I’m the one who’s simply confused on what Elegy is trying to do. It’s strange, because this album should be exactly what I’d be looking for as a fan of the band that has been beaten down by so many similar sounding albums. Objectively, Elegy is a fascinating and truly creative album that is still unique to this day with its blend of so many opposing influences. Gravelly harsh vocals amidst glittery synths, melodic folk passages atop Death Metal inspired chugs, and a distinctive atmosphere that jumps between gloomy gothic and bright psychedelia offers so much to explore, but those parts never manage to coalesce for me. In many ways, this album is Amorphis’ most important album due to how many ideas they tried before turning into a band that refuses to stray from their established sound. There are moments in the back half on “Elegy” or “Relief” where I think the creativeness of this album still shines, but Elegy remains a puzzle I personally can’t piece together.

Hey Xephyr, it is good to see you back.  Sorry to hear work became a drag for you.  I have been there, acting out of my pay grade and my comfort zone and it is not pleasant.  It is good to hear you have found somewhere that will appreciate you more and allow you to have some quality work/life balance which is so key.  I am typing this whilst sat in a hotel a few hundred miles from home as I am meeting clients up in Scotland.  I have gotten to a point job wise where I am more or less my own boss and I am therefore often pushing multiple people or departments to get things done.  The plus side is that I do feel the salary reflects the effort - for the first time in over 30 years of working - so the hit I take on my personal time is dampened somewhat.  

Looking forward to seeing some more reviews from you as you get to enjoy your free time more.

Thanks Vinny, from watching my old office's principals/partial owners I know what it looks like to be abhorrently busy so I'm glad you at least have some solace in the pay. Travelling for work always seems like an awesome deal to us newer, 9-to-5 office guys at first, until it just becomes an annoying and uprooting part of the job. 

Hey, Xephyr, I am so glad to see you have been able to get a more balanced position. Hope things work out just great for you. I understand what its like to work under more pressure than you signed up for and that is why I took my retirement early. The money wasn't worth the time and the damage to my mental well-being, so I took the plunge.

Your old company's loss is our gain and it is great to see you active on here again.

Thanks Sonny, thankfully my position wasn't filled with overtime or other ridiculous office culture horror stories you sometimes see online, but it was enough that I felt like nothing positive was happening. With all your reviews I've been seeing pop up on RYM recently I'd say you're enjoying the music portion of your retirement time pretty well!

I really hope this new management team works out for you, and we're all glad to have you back in the game with us!

Thank you Rex, I'm pretty confident it will considering every single person I've talked to has had good things to say. It'd be impressive if all 5 or 6 people were lying straight to my face!

Figured I'd finally throw an update in here since it's been a very busy few years.

I try to be a very busy guy with a bunch of varied hobbies, so the time commitments caught up to me when my career started to further in a way that I both wasn't and was prepared for. It was a good problem to have for a little while, since I was getting some serious experience and carving my own little niche into the projects I worked on, but after a while it became concerning that things weren't getting easier. I'm a young-ish civil engineer who became my office's most senior design guy just by trying to do a good job and keep all the younger designers on track, not necessarily because I wanted any sort of title. That turned into way more stress than I figured, since I began to have to manage our managers to keep projects running in a way that made sense and didn't have us younger guys staring down missed deadlines or shoddy coordination. A lot of the work I did with music, whether that was listening or review writing, happened in-between stuff at work and I just couldn't keep up after a certain point. I still kept listening, but in a much less critical or focused way than I had done in the past. 

All that to say, I finally hit the point where I'm swapping jobs, hence why I'm back in action a bit more around here. I've been taking a month off between positions to reset a bit and catch up on some much needed stuff with friends, around the house, and with life in general. I'm headed to a company where everyone has only had good things to say about their management team, so I'm pretty confident that my day to day will open up a lot more and allow me to go back to being a bit creative here and there with less worries swirling around everywhere. I miss actually giving a shit and really diving into music, albums, and the scene in general, and I think I'm setting myself up well to be able to do that again. 

I even got back to my first show in over a year, seeing Callous Daoboys with one of the weirdest show billings ever. It was a blast, considering I Don't Want To See You In Heaven turned out to be my 2026 AOTY. Looking forward to being back in action!

Myrath have been on a downturn from me as someone who was very into their stuff around Tales of the Sand and Legacy, and I did check this one out last year and never really went back to it after it left zero impression on me. I'll be revisiting it this month with a more discerning ear since I agree, Myrath have always needed a bit more recognition, but I'm not quite sure it's because of their newer material yet. Maybe I'm a bit jaded because I've kept up with them for so long, so I'll have to see!

I'm eventually going to look to get back to The Infinite - 2nd Decade once I get things more organized on my end. I remember doing a few reviews and getting stunlocked by Amorphis' Elegy because it was so incredibly different than the Amorphis I was so used to. I just couldn't find the correct words no matter what I tried, so it'll probably be one of my first ones to revisit to clear the block. 

If I were to try to do one or more a week it'd have to be in the beginning of July, currently enjoying some time off between jobs. I would really like to get to 4 Clans to add The Horde, only feels right at this point. I'll let you know once I get closer to getting a more consistent schedule for work and overall. 

Purifying Blade was actually one of the first War Metal albums I had to...experience at the time and I definitely didn't "get it" at the time. I think I rated it a bit low and tabled it for a while, kind of confused on why everyone seemed to be making a fuss about this one. It wasn't until Antichrist Siege Machine's followup to this, Vengeance of Eternal Fire, that got me a bit more hooked since that one is much more in my wheelhouse. I wanna say at some point I revisited this one and definitely came around to it more, Siege Machine just has something to them that appeals to me more than the other big War Metal acts like on your list. Like you said, great band that does what they do very well and doesn't mess around trying to do anything else. 

Thanks Vinny, maybe theatrical is too strong of a word for the synth-y interludes because they are very well done and not very self indulgent to my ears, even when the album ends on a full-on Dungeon Synth-y track with just a bit of strings at the end. It's a little bit of a bold choice but I think it works really well.

Archvile King - Aux Heures Désespérées (2026)

French Black Metal has a surprisingly strong scene with legends like Blut Aus Nord and Deathspell Omega alongside strong supporting acts like Aorlhac, Les Chants de Nihil, and especially Véhémence recently. I'd like to add the one-man project Archvile King to that list as the awesome cover art drew me in and the rawer, darker, and triumphantly medieval music kept me coming back. There's a noticeable attention to atmosphere on this one, with the synth breaks having a more unique kind of character to them than your average Black Metal album. They really sell the gloomy, medieval fantasy world that the cover gives off in a way that fits in with the rest of the album, especially when more layers are added on top of them like the beginning of "L'Excuse". Even though the album starts off with a ripping opener filled with blast beats, it quickly slows down a bit and continues on in more Melodic Black Metal territory. Thankfully, it never really loses the energy or the edge since the guitar work is masterfully layered and there's a ton going on if you start to dissect it. Whether the leads are going for satisfying tremolo chord progressions or switching it up to more melodic riffing, Aux Heures Désespérées does a great job of bouncing around to different ideas without losing the whole cohesive theme. The vocal performance is similar to Véhémence in that it's all French and not entirely indistinguishable, but I think Archvile King has a more satisfying bite to the delivery that goes into the more fried screams and darker growls compared to Véhémence's more triumphant and choral approach. I've been consistently coming back to this one for 3 months now, so I'm looking forward to seeing where it stacks up at the end of the year. It might be a bit theatrical and slow for some Black Metal fans, but this is my kind of stuff for sure. 

I have a friend at work who's really into Shoegaze so I've been pitched a lot of albums, but I never was able to get into the genre straight up. I always seem to make time for Parannoul and other bands in that scene that combine more Noise/Post Rock influences, but never the heavy hitting classics of the genre.

I've wanted to dive into Soul and more specifically Funk, I'm always drawn in by the more jammy grooves and looseness of it all but have only listened to a handful of common classics and probably zero deep cuts. There's a Soul show on the public radio station I turn on in my car so I'll hear bits and pieces driving home late on Saturdays, so maybe this year will be the year. 

Hi Andi, you can add me back on to the Feature Release schedule for The Guardians, The Infinite, and The North starting in June.

Thanks!

Thank you! It's going well, a lot of life and job stuff happened the past 2 years but I'm making some pretty big changes for the better. Nothing was ever dire, just a lot going on in my professional and personal life. Since I keep myself pretty busy inside and outside of work, the energy wasn't there to keep up with music like in the past, but it's looking like that's going to change for the better here soon.

Glad to see everyone's still here and kicking.

When I was committing to looking into the 1990's Black Metal roots for the first North Clan Challenge this was one that I somehow organically came across that felt very different from all the others. I think it was because of the Rotting Christ connection, since most early Hellenic Black Metal acts are going to have at least one tie to them somehow. I wasn't aware of the double bass guitar but, after starting to give it another spin to remind myself, it totally makes sense why their sound is very unique. I had about the same experience as you though, where I don't find myself going back to the album all that much and have zero interest in pursuing the rest of their discography.

I still think it's a great album that can stand alone even today in terms of creativity, though. There aren't a lot of other albums that sound like this, and I think that's a testament to the sheer amount of risks taken and songwriting decisions made throughout the album. The use of symphonics can either sound suitably evil or incredibly shoehorned, and the amount of Heavy Metal you mentioned does feel like it can bog down the overall idea they were going for. However the Heavy Metal elements are what is distinct about the Hellenic style at the time, and I don't get as hung up on them as others might. I do agree with you though that there's a bit of a disconnect in the album from "Devilskin", where the album never quite gets back to those heights in terms of their Black Metal writing. I still really like "Scarlet Witching Dreams" as they drum up the intensity again, but I think the album plays itself out pretty quickly towards the end. 

I'll never forget getting absolutely blindsided by "Flight of the Valkyries" at the beginning of "Opus II", which to this day I still can't understand. It serves zero purpose and just awkwardly fades out to continue the album like nothing ever happened. It always makes me chuckle, but critically I just don't get it. 

Hooded Menace - Ossuarium Silhouettes Unhallowed (2018)

I've been poking around some bands that I had found in previous years but hadn't necessarily checked out more of their discography and Hooded Menace stood out as I've only heard good things about their consistency. This 2018 album has a much denser production than than The Tritonus Bell and is much more Death Metal inspired with its riffing than the more freewheeling Heavy Metal ones that I'm used to. Ossuarium comes out swinging with 10 minutes of high quality Death Doom that showcases Hooded Menace's signature mid-tempo riffing that sits comfortably and directly in the middle of Death and Doom Metal as the sub-genre name should imply. Their strong lead guitar melodies are still in full force here, especially on "Charnel Reflections" where they offer a fantastic contrast to some of the heaviest chugging on the album. The rest of the album is a pretty standard Death Doom affair that is probably one of the strongest generic examples of the genre I've heard, and I'm not trying to use generic in a negative light here. I enjoy Death Doom enough, but it seems to only capture me when other bells and whistles are added to enhance it a bit. Hooded Menace show that the genre can more than stand on its own as Ossuarium is probably a haven for people looking for that standard Death Doom experience, but it mostly bounces off of me in the end despite some pretty exciting high points in "Smpiternal Grotesqueries" and "Charnel Reflections". It's a consistently great album that doesn't try to overextend itself, and I can respect that, but it leaves me wanting a bit more. The Tritonus Bell's addition of more hard rocking melodies and riffing is much more memorable and interesting to me, despite my admittance that this is probably the stronger Death Doom experience. 

3.5/5 

Absolutely massive year for The Infinite for me and it looks like most of mine have already been mentioned. Cave Sermon was my #1 pick for 2024. A few other shoutouts would be: 

• Opeth (of course) - The Last Will and Testament
• Caligula's Horse - Charcoal Grace
• Amiensus - Reclamation
• Dvne - Voidkind
• DGM - Endless
• Ihsahn - Ihsahn

I liked the Civerous but it didn't absolutely move me the same way it has for others, so it's pretty far down compared to the other Death Metal albums from this year. Very strong year to be honest. 

Blood Incantation sits at the top for me, followed by Ulcerate. 

Some others that are definitely more my taste would be Piah Mater's Under the Shadow of a Foreign Sun for some Prog Death Metal, Dark Oath for its early Wintersun like tendencies, In Vain's Solemn for some Melodic Death Metal, and the Cavern Womb EP Stages of Infinity for a glimpse at a hopefully strong upcoming Tech Death band. A lot of my Death Metal is sandwiched between different clans so the initial 3 are probably good as is.

Crypt Sermon, Savage Oath, and Judas Priest pretty much wrap up the high placing ones for me. 

Lower quality than those three in my opinion, but Traveler's Prequel To Madness and Writhen Hilt's Ancient Sword Cult are the only two others I can think of. Really weak year for Power Metal this year overall, apart from Savage Oath and even then, they're not exactly my style. 

The first three are exactly my picks. Crypt Sermon got so, so much playtime this year and I really came around to Thou's Umbilical in the end. High On Fire was just rock solid through and through. 

Some other deeper cuts that I found interesting is the Ashbreather & Serpentine Cerberus album Mouth of the World for a mix of Deathy Doom and Progressive Sludge, and Gnome's Vestiges of Verumex Visidrome for some of the best Stoner riffing I've heard with the whole album having some fun, very unserious tones to it. 

The only other one I came across was Heriot's Devoured By The Mouth Of Hell, which wasn't for me but I'm pretty sure the more Metalcore inclined listeners might get a lot out of it. The vocal contrast is pretty amazing. 

I'm willing to offer up:

• Krallice - Inorganic Rites
• Aquilus - Bellum II
• Bríi - Camaradagem póstuma 
• Black Curse - Burning in Celestial Poison

Really strong year for Black Metal yet again in my opinion, with Krallice and Paysage D'hiver taking my top 2 spots. Very hard to decide which one I liked better, since each one has a very distinct atmosphere that hits differently depending on the day. 

The ones that topped my list were Dissimulator, Mayhemic, and Cavalera. I'm in agreement with Saxy that the Critical Defiance album didn't hold up for me even after all the chances I gave it. 

The only left-field one I can conjure up is Vulture's Sentinels which is a more Speed/Heavy Metal album masquerading as a Thrash album that doesn't top the three I listed above but is a really fun album in its own right. Provides some variety, at least.

Insomnium - Shadows of the Dying Sun (2014)

Insomnium are one of the most consistent bands in Metal, whether it's under the Melodic Death Metal subgenre or not. Over the course of 22 years and 9 albums they haven't missed yet, although they have a pretty set in stone style that has only begun to morph with their most recent release Anno 1696. Insomnium encapsulates the if it ain't broke, don't fix it mentality as Shadows of the Dying Sun continues their winning formula with extremely slight variations compared to previous albums like Across the Dark or later albums like Heart Like A Grave. I'd say this one sounds a bit more sentimental with its more blanketed production as most of the leads come in a bit less hot than their previous albums. It smooths out the edges to create an even cleaner sound than was present on Across The Dark, and that was already a pretty spotless album overall. There's still some punch at key moments like the riffs during the verses of "Collapsing Worlds" or the closing "Out To Sea", but this album shows Insomnium moving ever so slightly more towards their modern polished sound as the guitars and drums layer seamlessly with the backing synth and orchestration for a subtle rounding out of the mix. 

And honestly that's kind of where Shadows of the Dying Sun ends for me since I've been listening to Insomnium for years now. All the normal stuff is here, like the pretty acoustic intros that serve as the melodic basis throughout the track for when the rest of the band comes in or the hypnotic drumming that uses more toms than cymbals in the softer sections to create their signature atmosphere. The vocals are solid as always and Shadows of the Dying Sun offers way more variety than their previous albums, opting for more cleans and gang-vocals before getting back to Sevänen's harshes. The piano on "Lose to Night" and "The Promethean Song" is a very nice touch as well and layers beautifully with the dark but reflective style they're going for on this album. The title track especially stands out to me, although again, this is just business as usual for Insomnium. I don't feel particularly drawn to this album over Across The Dark or Above the Weeping World in terms of song quality, but it's still incredibly good and I can't find too much to fault it for. It's by the numbers, but who cares with Insomnium at this point.

I've got two more albums to go through before I've gone through their whole discography, 2011's One For Sorrow and their 2002 debut In The Halls Of Awaiting, which I'm pretty sure I've listened to before but just in passing so I didn't rate it. It'll be interesting to see if there's any actual dip in quality for me since I still really enjoyed this album despite it being basically the same thing I've heard 3 or 4 times from them. 

4/5

Got to see Blood Incantation recently, fantastic show with incredible sound compared to what I'm used to out of this venue. Either the band is very picky with their live setup, or they have a stellar sound guy who goes to bat against the venue sound guys. They legit walked onto the stage, played "The Stargate" in its entirety, got up on the mic and said "Alright here's the rest of the album", played "The Message" in its entirety, and said "Well guys that was our new album I hope you enjoyed it". Absolute legends. 

I never realized how much the crowd needs those 30 second or a minute breaks in between songs though, this was the most tired pit I've ever been around. People were STRUGGLING, given they played three 20 minute songs in total I think? 

This was easily one of the best, if not the best, technical Metal performances I've seen, the entire album was stellar and the Metal parts hit so much harder live than on the album that it made the conflicting 70's prog vs the tech death metal that much more enjoyable. It's definitely reinforced Absolute Elsewhere as a massive album for me personally, these guys know what they're doing.

Ooohhh boy, the Infinite is a big one this year. 

1. Cave Sermon - Divine Laughter
2. Blood Incantation - Absolute Elsewhere
3. Caligula's Horse - Charcoal Grace
4. Krallice - Inorganic Rites
5. Oranssi Pazuzu - Muuntautuja
6. Thy Catafalque - XII: A gyönyörű álmok ezután jönnek
7. Brii - Camaradagem Postuma
8. Hoplites - Παραμαινομένη
9. Æthĕrĭa Conscĭentĭa - The Blossoming (2024)
10. Amiensus - Reclamation
11. In Vain - Solemn
12. Dvne - Voidkind
13. Anciients - Beyond the Reach of the Sun
14. DGM - Endless
15. Frail Body - Artificial Bouquet
16. Ihsahn - Ihsahn
17. Hail Spirit Noir - Fossil Gardens
18. Inter Arma - New Heaven
19. Alcest - Les chants de l'aurore
20. Intervals - Memory Palace

I don't think this is anywhere close to final on most of these placements, but damn, insane year for Infinite stuff. That's seven 4.5's at the top of the list for me, with Cave Sermon ruling the year with a monumental effort. The rest of the albums on here are no slouch either, with Blood Incantation's 70's Prog fusion continuing to impress after I thought it would get old after a few listens. The newest Krallice was also a surprise for me, as I've struggled with most of their stuff in the past, but the dark electronic atmosphere has really hooked me this year. I could go on forever about this list of 20 albums, so this might be the year that The North gets dethroned from my year end list. 

I listened to it about 3 times over on release day, I'm personally extremely happy with it but it's going to take some more time to see where it lands in my head compared to their last three albums. Sure, it's nice to have some of the heavier Metal stuff back, but it's still a far cry from Watershed or older. At the moment I really like the usage of the harsh vocals and the heavier riffs from a writing and storytelling standpoint, even though I'm with you in that nothing really blows me away about it. Hopefully it'll all come together in the coming weeks and I'll have some more thoughts. 

I've listened to pretty much zero Gateway stuff this year, sadly. This is the best I got: 

1. Devin Townsend - PowerNerd
2. Graphic Nature - Who Are You When No One Is Watching? 
3. Evergrey - Theories of Emptiness
4. Flagman - Tastes Incredible

Both Devin Townsend and Evergrey were disappointments, even though PowerNerd isn't exactly a bad album by any means. I think it just failed to do anything really spectacular and the simpler song styles that he went with don't stand out compared to past singles in his discography. The Flagman album was a shot in the dark that I hated, early 2000's Alternative Metal with a funk/punk-ish leaning is absolutely not my bag. 

Glad you could check this one out Sonny, looks like you enjoyed it even more than me! It's been in a pretty consistent rotation this year for when I want classic Black Metal sound, but as you said about the riffs they have a knack for writing melodies that provide some modern, extra charm on the back of their old school influences. I don't think it has the standout tracks of A Diabolic Thirst for me, but I think it's a stronger overall album and it may be because I've been spending more time elsewhere this year. 

The newest Bongripper album Empty is pretty fantastic in my opinion. Purely instrumental and suitably crushing. It's much more Death-Doomy than the band name would lead you to believe, but the overall package falls into that grimy-sludge territory. 

The only Ufomammut album I've had time for was the collab with Lento, which was also a MA recommendation or feature if I remember correctly. From there, their newest stuff didn't grab my attention as I only listened to their 2024 album once and decided it wasn't worth anymore of my time. I did end up going back to their supposed best, Snailking, and thoroughly enjoyed it but never went further. 

I needed something to get me in the zone for work this morning and this was a fantastic choice, this thing is absolutely massive. The payoffs for all the repetition are masterfully done, which is what an album like this lives or dies by. Glad I checked the site this morning to find this. I still really enjoy Snailking but this feels like such a complete package that it's hard not to say it vies for that top album spot.

I hit random on my full library to try and get myself through a writing rut, and landed on this more recent Lacuna Coil album. Review below. 

A Harsh Duet

Lacuna Coil have turned into one of those bands from my early music listening that I've come to regret somewhat. It's not that I was ever a massive fan or anything, it's just that their 2002 album Comalies gave me a bit of false hope that persisted for much too long. Comalies still holds up to me as an interesting and dreamy set of Gothic tinged Metal that has a very unique feel and atmosphere to it that, while not superb, hasn't been replicated too often. From then on, however, Lacuna Coil have wandered down the straight and narrow Alternative Metal path which is filled with straightforward songwriting and generic djenty chugs that have been done a million times over. Starting with Dark Adrenaline in 2012 they've found their formula and stuck with it to a ton of commercial success, but I can't say it does much for a seasoned listener who still insists on checking to see if this band decided to go back to their original, more unique sound.

Despite frontwoman Cristina Scabbia being the main draw for most, Black Anima is much more of a duet between her and bassist Andrea Ferro as they trade back and forth much more often than in previous albums. Ferro's vocals are also much more harsh centric, with his growls not sounding half bad with Lacuna Coil's heavier and more chug-centric approach this time around. While he's known for his awkward and divisive crooning, Black Anima has sidelined it to a few short moments in "Sword of Anger" and "Veneficium", replacing it with surprisingly inoffensive growls and fried cleans that compliment the heavier riffing style much better than his old standard. Scabbia proves to still be a Swiss army knife in the vocal department, swapping between forceful Power Metal like leads on "Sword of Anger", a more classic and gothic delivery on "Black Anima", and even tries her hand at a more screamy angle on the chuggy "Now or Never". Lacuna Coil were definitely going for a heavier album this time around so the bouncing between harsh and clean works in its favor, something I'm all too familiar with from other female fronted bands. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the two work together given how rough Ferro's vocals have been in the past, so that shows some massive growth for the band, especially this late in their career. Despite generic nature of the harshes, the interplay between the two is easily the highlight of the album as they do a great job of carrying the energy of each track.

Sadly that's about the only positive thing I have to say about this album, as the rest of the package falls in some sort of gray area between acceptably generic and downright boring. I can respect Lacuna Coil for trying to dial up the heaviness by incorporating djent-y chugs and even some Metalcore sounding snippets in tracks like "Now or Never" and the beginning of "Layers of Time", but most of the riffs end up falling flat due to being simple and unremarkable or just buried behind the wildly mixed drums and bass. It's just a guess, but it seems like they wanted to have a super punchy and rhythmic mix, but the unison chugs are about the only thing that sound cohesive on the album. The kick drum and bass are blown out to the point where they overtake pretty much every riff, with the bass being scratchy and overpowering in more sweeping sections like on "Now Or Never". Don't get me wrong, I'm a bass enjoyer, but even I was a bit taken aback when the djent chug was completely taken over by the bass throughout most of the album. I can commend Lacuna Coil for taking their style to the more extreme end as I don't think this album is entirely bad, but it leaves much to be desired apart from the admittedly interesting vocals. I'm glad that Ferro stepped up his game in order to be a worthy duet to Scabbia, but it feels like the rest of the band didn't catch the memo as the entire album consists of tracks that are varying degrees of fine and somewhat interesting for a few sections. 

2.5/5

December

Aklys - "Sister Silence, Brother Sleep" from House of the Black Geminus

Furia - "Ptaki Ida" from Nocel

Necrowretch - "Dii Mauri" from Swords of Dajjal

December

Chaos Divine - "Landmines" from Colliding Skies

Devin Townsend - "Goodbye" from Powernerd

DGM - "From Ashes" from Endless

Altesia - "Mouth of the Sky" from Embryo

November 2024

01. Iron Maiden – “Remember Tomorrow” (from “Iron Maiden”, 1980)

02. Iron Maiden – “Killers” (from “Killers”, 1981)

03. Black Sabbath – “The Sabbath Stones" (from “Tyr”, 1990) [Suggested by Karl]

04. Cirith Ungol – “Heaven Help Us” (from “Paradise Lost”, 1991) [Suggested by Karl]

05. Crimson Glory – “Lady of Winter” (from “Transcendence”, 1988)

06. Vulture – “Realm of the Impaler" (from "Sentinels", 2024)

07. Xandria – “No Time To Live Forever” (from “No Time To Live Forever”, 2024)

08. Nightwish – “Spider Silk” (from “Yesterwynde”, 2024)

09. Eternal Champion – “Cowards Keep” (from “Ravening Iron”, 2020)

10. Rata Blanca – “Los Ojos Del Dragon” (from “Guerrero Del Arco Iris”, 1991) [Suggested by Karl]

11. Tierra Santa – “Dracula” (from “Legendario”, 1999) [Suggested by Karl]

12. Crystal Viper – “Heading Kadath" (from “The Silver Key”, 2024)

13. Riot City – “Beyond the Stars" (from “Electric Elite”, 2022) [Suggested by Karl]

14. Traveler – “Take the Wheel” (from “Prequel to Madness”, 2024)

15. Edge Of Sanity – “Blood of My Enemies” (from “The Spectral Sorrows", 1993) [Suggested by Daniel]

16. Blazon Rite – “Troubadours of the Final Quartering” (from “Wild Rites And Ancient Songs”, 2023) [Suggested by Karl]

17. Judas Priest – “Bloodstone” (from “Screaming For Vengeance", 1982)

18. Pertness – “Lost in Time” (from “Frozen Time", 2012)

19. Loded Diper – “Can You Smell Us Now” (from “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules”, 2022) [Suggested by Andi]

20. Manowar– “Ride the Dragon" (from "The Triumph of Steel”, 1992)

21. Maule – “Bring the Hammer Down” (from “Kill 'em MAULE”, 2024)

22. Blazon Stone - "Watery Graves" (from "Down in the Dark", 2017)

23. Lost Horizon - "Again Will The Fire Burn" (from "A Flame To The Ground Beneath", 2002)

24. Edenbridge - "Hall of Shame" (from "Shangri-La", 2024)

25. Manilla Road - "Return Of The Old Ones" (from "Out Of The Abyss", 2024)

Let's see what mine end up being so far, I don't think I've had too many Fallen albums that have caught my fancy this year. 

1. Cave Sermon - Divine Laughter
2. Crypt Sermon - The Stygian Rose
3. Spectral Voice - Sparagmos
4. Bongripper - Empty
5. Thou - Umbilical 
6. High On Fire - Cometh The Storm
7. Civerous - Maze Envy
8. Coffins - Sinister Oath
9. Ard - Untouched By Fire
10. Inter Arma - New Heaven
11. Slimelord - Chytridiomycosis Relinquished

Hmm, a lot of these ended up being Fallen by subcategory, not main category for sure. I still have a few from your list to go through Sonny, very interested in the Scald record after giving their profile a peek. The Stygian Rose is the massive winner for Doom Metal for me this year without a doubt.

This album was actually one of the more formative ones for me, coming early in the lifecycle of me listening to Metal with any sort of harsh vocals. At the time, I was really into the idea of bands bouncing between clean and harsh vocals, no doubt because of the heavy Opeth influence I was under. After stumbling on Chaos Divine, their style was a perfect meshing of the slightly harsher Metal I was dipping my toes into and the Progressive Metal that I enjoyed so much. Was I aware of other more established (and probably stronger) bands that still had this sort of style that I would have loved? Absolutely not, so I ended up buying this CD and it lived in my car for a very long time as I took long drives to college and wherever else. I wanted to revisit this for a deeper look as not only was it one of the first reviews for an album that I wrote, but for a bit of a nostalgia hit while trying to be extremely critical of an album that I think is good, but maybe it's not all that special. 

And honestly? It isn't really anything that special in the grand scheme of things looking back, but I still find myself immensely enjoying this collection of songs. Chaos Divine's claim to fame, for me at least, is their balance between harsh and clean as their name so aptly alludes to. Most of the album has lead vocalist Dave Anderton doing soaring leads that I still think are great to this day; he really sells the big chorus moments and has some solid verse delivery as well. His harshes, however, leave a bit to be desired. I've definitely grown away from the rasping, strained, and somewhat weak sounding growled vocals as I have a better baseline of what I think powerful sounding harshes in Progressive Metal can be, whether it's examples like Wilderun, Ne Obliviscaris, or even a safer choice like Amorphis. That being said, Anderton's harshes are used sparingly and well on choruses and big moments like the opening "One Door", the climaxes of "The Ringing of the Sirens" and "Chasing Shadows", and a nice opening hook on "Invert Evolution". The rest of the band does some solid work in my opinion, with each riff having a ton of movement as Chaos Divine loves to write whirling background scales for their lead guitars alongside slightly more complex than normal chugging rhythms. "Beautiful Abyss" has the best example of this as it's one of the more catchy and groovy songs on the album as it does a fantastic job of building upon the starting motif with tons of transitions and different layering without falling back on the harsh vocal crutch for any of the choruses or climaxes. The final 12-minute epic also really takes its time and is a great atmospheric payoff that feels like it fits right into the flow of the album, although the final 4 minutes of it really drags on and ends the album on a more somber and reflective note instead of a massive, satisfying climax. 

Even though I set out to get rid of some nostalgia this month, I think I still really like this album. It's easily Chaos Divine's best work to date, as Colliding Skies and Legacies just didn't have the staying power or memorable moments for me. I think the album has such a satisfying flow to it and while it may lack the aggression and grit of some heavier hitting Progressive Metal albums, I really enjoy the more contemplative and spacey atmosphere that this album has. The overall songwriting has stood the test of time and many, many listens to the point where it's still pretty impactful for me, which is impressive after all these years. Even though it's still definitely a nostalgic comfort alum for me, it's a more than decent diamond in the rough for Progressive Metal fans looking for something a bit softer around the edges or to expand their knowledge of Australian Metal bands. 

4/5

I have both di'Anno albums rated highly, both 4/5 from when I did my original Maiden marathon, but I find myself not finding time for them for whatever reason. That'll have to change this week for a few revisits, is a shame how none of the tracks from the first two Maiden albums seemed to stick around in the popular eye. 

RIP 

DGM - Endless (2024)

DGM are one of my top bands that no one seems to pay attention to, and while their lineup seems to be constantly in flux, these Italians provide extremely consistent, uplifting Progressive Metal with Power Metal-esque vocals and flairs. I've been hooked ever since The Passage back in 2016, but cracks began to show with the release of their 2023 album Life. Sadly their consistency started to get the best of them, as Life felt like a sorry knockoff of their previous, very strong album Tragic Separation. I was extremely hesitant when I saw Endless pop up on my radar as it felt way too soon for another project after the rut that Life seemed to find itself in. However, DGM surprised me as they delivered an album that hearkens back to the classic Prog Metal albums of the 1990's and 2000's whether it be Dream Theater, Green Carnation, or Disillusion. Although DGM has always been firmly a Progressive Metal band, they've never really been a Prog Metal band, opting for energetic and succinct riffing and song structures in lieu of the overly complex and erratic tendencies of some of the genre's giants. 

Not to many people's surprise when it comes to Progressive Metal that is more Prog than Metal, Endless feels a bit dated in its approach. At the same time, I'm a big fan of that approach, so the question needs to be asked; how good would this album have been if it was released alongside the rest of the 2000's Prog Metal albums it draws from? Honestly, I think it holds up pretty damn well as it doesn't completely lose itself in crazy transitions, has a satisfying album flow from the opening track setting the stage perfectly all the way through the epic 10+ minute finisher, and has enough additions to DGM's base sound that it really feels like they stepped into a new area of their sound instead of just tacking some extras on. I think it lacks some memorable moments overall as DGM's riffing style hasn't really changed in 20 years, but the more drawn out songwriting and concept album structure really makes the ones that catch your ear pop out. I love DGM's style overall so this one was a pretty big win for me after I thought they were going to start becoming redundantly boring instead of consistently exciting. 

4/5

Music is such a comfort thing for most people, whereas I think we're in agreement that we find some kind of fun in constantly discovering what else is out there and finding new sounds to keep us occupied instead of eternally going back to the same classic rock radio station playlist. I've always said that people who say that the Most Popular artists are their favorite of all time just haven't listened to enough music yet in order to find their specific taste. Sure, I'm guilty of having Opeth as one of my all-time bands, but that's stood the test of time after hundreds/thousands of other Metal albums, whereas it sometimes seems like you can't even get a Red Hot Chili Peppers fan to turn on a Deftones album to see what happens. Or even a Primus album to really get the low-hanging connection between two well-renowned bassists.

It's strange to think that there's always a period of.....10 or 15 years? That people are exposed to the music that's currently around them and one day it seems like it's a hard "Nope! That's it! This is what I like, this is what I grew up with, there's nothing else!". I'm definitely derailing this more but it's kind of a shame that the cycle is like this because the most interesting music of any generation that becomes "classic" generally comes from THE YOUTH that are in their late teens to late 20's? Maiden was on average 24 when their self titled came out, The Beatles were basically all 20 when they started their run, everyone but Bon Scott of AC/DC was around 20 when T.N.T. came out...the list goes on. There's some sort of disassociation where people think that THE YOUTH of their generation is the end-all-be-all and...people can't make good music anymore? Every one of their favorite bands started at the same point as all the other 20-somethings nowadays going on small tours at bars and trying to shill their newest nasty Tech Death album, why don't they still deserve the same chance with older listeners as they gave to their fledgling bands years ago? I guess I can only hope that I stay curious and don't end up like that, I don't think I'd enjoy it too much haha

It's interesting because you're right, it's very obvious, but it's still neat in how consistent it is across most things. Not just music. 

I don't drink a whole lot of whiskey but this sort of experiment reminds me of some videos I've watched comparing the "Most Popular" bottles to the "Best" bottles. "Best" obviously being a consensus between the Whiskey Nerds of the world, I guess; much like the Fallen Clan specific rating! What you tend to find in the whiskey/spirit world is that there is an invisible threshold between 'This tastes good!" and "This tastes interesting!". Most people just want it to taste good, a small select people want it to taste interesting to extend/challenge their palettes, and somewhere in the middle there's a common ground between the two. People who are into whiskey may tell you to go grab an Islay Scotch and enjoy the complexity of smoking, rotting peat moss and salty sea rocks, and your average dude will say he likes Jack Daniels because it goes down smooth, mixes with Coke, and vaguely tastes like peanuts to him. So, the most acclaimed bottles for people on the spectrum who care about rating stuff tends to be not the lowest hanging fruit, but just up the ladder enough that the diehards will have good things to say about it but it still offers something palatable to the average person. 

Pretty much the same thing is shown here, even with a smaller sample size, which is really cool as it's pretty much working as intended. The entry-level and well-known Doom albums are still obviously strong as they've stood the test of time, but for people who have researched past those, they've found stronger albums for them that push more boundaries. The Site Ratings also, like you said, contain more well known albums that are generally more tossed around in recommendations as albums that someone just has to listen to if they haven't. The Clan Rating is zeroed in on longer, more atmospheric, and in generally "doomier" releases that exemplify the subgrenre itself. 

As for your overall experiment with Opeth and the like dominating, it's 100% more of a popularity contest between historically strong albums and bands. People who post on RYM are an extremely small percentage of listeners, and even they care tenfold more than your average person about what they're listening to. The percentage of people who listen to full albums in the first place is probably astronomically low, so for better or worse, those bands you listed are pretty much always going to surface until the culture slowly shifts to something else. It always surprises me to find out what's actually popular in Metal, since it usually doesn't even line up with what's popular on RYM and especially not here at MA. Obviously all these bands have massive appeal for a reason, but it's still unfortunate that it's harder and harder to put lesser known but fantastic albums in the spotlight since there's less and less room for recommendations from people (such as yourself) to the masses about what crazy stuff certain subgenres are up to. 

A

Submerged - Tortured At The Depths (2024)

Another day, another modern Brutal Death Metal release that I try my best to wrestle any sort of meaning from. Part of me keeps saying that I should just give up on these kinds of subgenres that I continue to have zero interest in, but that'd be a bit shortsighted I think. It's gotta click eventually, right? 

Well...definitely not on this one. This is San Deigo born Submerged's debut album and, as is seemingly common for acts like this, the members seem incredibly competent as they've come from a plethora of other similar acts. The runtime is only 21 minutes and each song is packed with 8th note riffing and pinch harmonics galore, bolstered by a proper brutal drum performance that I'm sure leaves fans of this stuff salivating. Thankfully the snare has more of a "pop" to it than the dreaded "ping", but it's still mixed so loudly and so forward that it completely drowns out everything except for the vocals and lead guitar. It's kind of neat to try and follow along to the rhythms its playing as it's definitely some complex stuff, but even the densest writing can get dull to me since it's mostly repeated with very minimal deviation through songs. The vocals are about what I'd expect as well, being gurgling, unintelligible, and taking on rhythms that are almost entirely separate from the guitar or drums. All of this continues for about 20 minutes with only a few reprieves, like the atmospheric section at the end of "Submerged In Sewage Water" or at the beginning of "Vulture Vivisection" and a hint of a breakdown section in "Colony Of Spores". I'd say "Embedded Within the Hive" is the especially brutal highlight, but I couldn't tell you how different it really is from the rest of Tortured At The Depths. 

I think this Brutal Death release is mixed in a way that makes it a bit more palatable for me personally, but I'm still far from "getting it". The snare is loud but not overbearing, the rest of the instrumentation is disgustingly chunky in a good way, and the vocals fit into the mix well, so I'd venture to say that this is a very well produced Brutal Death album. Maybe a bit too produced for some, but I prefer it this way. It's impressive to hear what the Brutal Death drummers come up with and it's nice that they know to limit their album lengths, but I can't say I'm gonna be coming back to this one. 

2/5

Writhen Hilt - Ancient Sword Cult (2024)

I randomly came across this unsuspecting EP the other day and feel like I hit a bit of a gold mine, as this classic style of Heavy Metal fused with Doom-ish undertones seems to be fairly hard to pull off nowadays. Most of the time, the attempts at harkening back to a simpler time of Metal produces something dull and devoid of character, but I've found Ancient Sword Cult to be incredibly compelling with its fuzzy and bottom heavy production with soaring leads and classic chugging. I think the vocalist has an incredible delivery and range for their style, and they absolutely carry tracks like "Mountain" and "To Rival The Sun". Their riffs and overall ideas also have a air of maturity and noticeable knack for what makes classic Heavy Metal memorable and exciting, whether it's the energetic flourishes on the chugging of "Sorcerer's Gate" or the dueling leads of the opening "Death Undone". I think these guys are doing a lot of things right; even the closing instrumental "Aeolia" keeps me gripped like an Eternal Champion interlude track. Despite only being 22 minutes I think there isn't a weak track here, and it makes me very excited for a potential full length album in the future. I'd say Sonny should be fairly interested in this due to it's Epic Doom leanings. 

They apparently have another demo out called The Iron Sparrow, which I think is a bit weaker quality than anything on Ancient Sword Cult but still worth a listen if the EP is up your alley. They definitely experiment a bit too much on "The Rider's Moon", but it still ain't bad. 

4/5

Maiden takes a hard dive for me on No Prayer For The Dying, but in a vacuum of a playlist it's a solid song for sure. I hadn't heard of Attick Demons before this and wow, Daniel's absolutely right. Probably one of the closest I've heard without being a self-advertised clone like Stray Gods. The Aria track definitely has some Maiden-isms too but it feels like they're doing a bit more of their own thing. 

Sadly the inclusion of "Blood Empress" has reminded me how much the newest Unleash The Archers has bounced off of me. Just not a fan of their new direction, it's a whole lot of nothing to me. 

November

Spectral Wound - "The Horn Marauding" from Songs of Blood and Mire

Sacramentum - "Portal of Blood" from The Coming Of Chaos

Ethereal Shroud - "Desperation Hymn" from They Became Falling Ash 

Good luck! That'd be a massive load off if you can transition directly into a position, trying to navigate the job market nowadays is absolutely terrible and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. 

November

Hippotraktor - "The Indifferent Human Eye" from Stasis

Scale the Summit - "Trapped in Ice" from V

Amiensus - "Solfario" from Reclamation, Pt. II

In Vain - "Watch For Me On The Mountain" from Solemn

OCTOBER 2024

01. Iced Earth – “Burning Oasis” (from “Burnt Offerings”, 1995)

02. Nightwish – “An Ocean Of Strange Islands” (from “Yesterwynde”, 2024)

03. Attick Demons – “City of Golden Gates" (from “Atlantis”, 2012) [Suggested by Karl]

04. Iron Maiden – “Public Enema Number One” (from “No Prayer for the Dying”, 1990) [Suggested by Karl]

05. Avantasia – “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn” (from “Moonglow”, 2019)

06. Heir Apparent – “Tear Down the Walls" (from "Graceful Inheritance", 2000) [Suggested by Karl]

07. KAT – “Czas Zemsty” (from “Ballady”, 1993) [Suggested by Karl]

08. Witchfinder General – “Requiem for Youth” (from “Friends of Hell”, 1983)

09. Aria – “Игра с огнем” (from “Игра с огнем”, 1989) [Suggested by Karl]

10. Unleash The Archers – “Blood Empress” (from “Phantoma”, 2024) [Submitted by shadowdoom9 (Andi)]

11. Rage – “The Icecold Hand of Destiny” (from “Black In Mind”, 1995) [Suggested by Daniel]

12. Orden Ogan – “Blind Man" (from “The Order of Fear”, 2024)

13. Haunt – “Saviors of Man" (from “Mind Freeze”, 2020)

14. Labyrinth – “Kathryn” (from “Sons of Thunder”, 2014)

15. Iron Fire – “Leviathan” (from “Voyage of the Damned", 2013)

16. Ultima Grace – “Cry for the Rain” (from “Ultima Grace”, 2022)

17. Marius Danielsen – “March of the Living Dead” (from “War of the World", 2023)

18. Nightfear – “Breakout” (from “Drums of War", 2015)

19. Eternal Ascent – “Being Human” (from “Reclamation”, 2022)

20. X Japan – “BLUE BLOOD" (from "Blue Blood”, 1989)

21. GALNERYUS – “I BELIEVE” (from “THE STARS WILL LIGHT THE WAY”, 2024)

The Flight of Sleipnir - Nature's Cadence (2024)

I know we have a pretty big fan of this group around the Academy, so how have you been enjoying these guys' latest offerings Sonny? 

I thoroughly enjoyed Eventide but haven't had a chance to really dive into any of their older stuff, so this is my first shot at seeing what else these guys have in store. So far this one isn't hitting me as hard as their 2021 effort, but it's undeniably gorgeous so far. I think this one will be more of a grower for me personally as I spend more time with it. 

Oh fair enough, didn't realize it was a thing. 

Hi Ben, could you please add Galneryus' new release THE STARS WILL LIGHT THE WAY (2024)? These guys apparently like being different and released on a Wednesday.

Thanks Daniel, I should really start checking out Jag Panzer a bit more as they've eluded me despite putting them on the playlist for that kick of classic US Heavy Metal that seems so hard to find. I've really started to dive into US Power Metal more and have found some solid stuff, despite me bouncing off the genre initially apart from standout acts like Eternal Champion. The Twisted Tower Dire inclusion was one of those finds that obviously isn't for everyone but I've been enjoying their discography as some deep cuts of a genre that I'm looking to get more familiar with. 

At this point Flotsam and Jetsam have really honed in on what they're doing and, even though I'm not incredibly impressed by it, I gotta give them points for consistency. Ever since their self titled album in 2016 they've had a string of solid releases that don't hold any surprises, but have a few key songs that are exactly what I want out of their more accessible and hooky Thrash Metal sound. F&J are about as straightforward as they come nowadays with fast and furious, but still tight riffing that complements Eric A.K.'s soaring vocals that, for me, are the big selling point of this band compared to other legacy Thrash acts. Although it feels like I've heard this all before from their previous albums, F&J still have a knack for writing great choruses that are absolute earworms, like "The Head of the Snake" and the succinct title track "I Am The Weapon". Sadly everything else on this album kind of runs together for me, even though I enjoy it when I'm actively paying attention to it. There's nothing bad here, but nothing great either, which I think is fine for what this band is going for as the singles that are strong are very strong, but the rest of the album kind of falls behind. That's the risk you run when you put so much stock in choruses, where "Running Through the Fire", "Gates of Hell", "Cold Steel Lights", and "Kings of the Underworld" fall flat as they're either lacking in energy, ideas, or just don't hold up to their peers on the same album. There isn't a whole lot of variety on I Am The Weapon but at least "Beneath the Shadows" goes for a satisfying syncopated riff to break up the middle of the album. 

3/5