The second album by the trio from New York, a year after releasing their début, consisting of brothers Bryce and Reece Maopolski on guitars and bass respectively, but sharing vocal duties with the former taking care of the growls while the latter does the melodic clean, and new drummer John Haring. From what I can tell, they appear to be a noticeably young band and are definitely full of enthusiasm, but like many bands in the 1980s and ’90s, releasing an album when you’re a teenager doesn’t mean the ambition outweighs the talent, and they clearly have both in abundance.
The album opens with instrumental “Wild” which gets progressively heavier but only slightly faster until a bass solo takes into “Frost Empire” where drums keep the bass company until the squealing guitars come in before growls vocals take us a melodic chorus as the slow pace allows for lengthy sustained notes to hang in the background as false harmonics join them.
Upping the pace to be far more allegro, “Nosedive” runs along with clean vocals and intricate guitar leads that fade as the tempo slows slightly as the song gets heavier with death vocals taking over before a choppy breakdown fades the song out.
“Midnight Fire” is a pretty acoustic guitar piece accompanied by a lead and the cracking of a log fire which slips into “Flesheater Of The Forest” where a mid-to-slow tempo conjures up images off forlornly wandering around lost in the woods, which works rather well considering the title.
The slow and broody “An Evil Presence” plods along morosely, while the clean vocals have an air of levity the music does all it can to quell, which after the death vocals join in, they do sound a bit more bruised.
After a short burst of blast beats, “Skull Rot” is rather sedate with the clean and death vocals alternating over the chugging guitars and bass runs, before a long lead break slows things down even further to wind up the song.
“Sunseeker” is another instrumental interlude with a bluesy refreshing feel of lounging around with not much to do before “Sludgehammer” commences with a pounding drum beat over tortured guitar squeals that morph into heavy but laconic riffs with a popping bass behind them as the melodious vocals carry a mournful tune for the duration of the sad song as an emotive lead begins to wail.
The rather long song “The Moon Below” meanders along at a gentle pace without every feeling obtrusive or even vying for your attention, but still managing to leave you feeling uplifted for some reason.
Taking on a bouncier tempo, “Glow” is littered with guitar squeals as it jovially wraps up the album.
I foresee a lengthy career for the band as they have many years ahead of them to hone their craft and add to what shall be an impressive repertoire. and while I feel there were times the album could have been faster, it does forsake this to give you mellow melodies instead.
(8/10 Marco Gaminara)
Leave a Reply