Swedish melodic death metal band Ablaze My Sorrow seem to have a rather odd history, releasing a string of albums in the late 90’s and early 2000’s then disbanding in 2006. They then reformed and released another album in 2016 and a follow up to that in 2021. They seem to be not waiting quite as long for their next release, as their EP is here and it’s good. Similar to their 2021 album Among Ashes and Monoliths, they take a more atmospheric turn than their previous works, with more clean vocals and mellower intervals in the tracks.

Although the record has more breaks on it than some of their earlier works, it doesn’t mean it’s any softer when the band is in full swing. The guitar melodies are beautiful and feel in a way sugary. They feel so polished and clean that they do have this kind of sweet sound to them. The drums are extremely good, very punchy, but not in your face.  As for the vocals, the band have gone through a few different vocalists in the past but their current vocalist Jonas Udd, is one they should keep. His growls are haunting, and they perfectly fit the instrumentals they go with.

I’m not really a fan of the clean vocals as they’re a little bit to goth-y for my liking. However, that comes down to personal preference and I can see how many others would love that voice. This album lives and breathes melodeath, so if you are a fan, then The Loss of All Hope seems to be the perfect teaser of what is hopefully to come next for Ablaze My Sorrow, and I for one, can’t wait.

(7.5/10 Dexter Grahame)

https://www.facebook.com/ablazemysorrowswe

https://ablazemysorrowblacklion.bandcamp.com/album/the-loss-of-all-hope