6 votes

Unleash The Archers - Abyss (2020)

3 comments

  1. moonbathers
    (edited )
    Link
    This is such a good song. I don't think it's quite as good as Apex, but it's pretty good. That intro is so, so good. It's just the right kind of grand-sounding and badass for me. It sounds 70s to...

    This is such a good song. I don't think it's quite as good as Apex, but it's pretty good. That intro is so, so good. It's just the right kind of grand-sounding and badass for me. It sounds 70s to me as opposed to the 80s riffing they did a lot on Apex, same as the chord progression on the acoustic parts of Apex's title track. I really enjoy the video too, it's some real high-quality cheese. And I forgot the album was out already! I'm gonna have to listen to it today. I love concept albums and loved both the story and the content of their last one. I love the cover art too, it's done in the style of old sci-fi art but feels a lot more badass.

    Edit: Ok, I'm listening to the whole album now. Fuck, that opening track is so good. The switch to seven-string guitars in E standard from six-strings in drop D on the last album is interesting. It doesn't seem to have changed their tone / sound much, although now that I say that there are lots of bands who have done the same (Trivium comes to mind). Although I type that out and then Legacy comes on and has some black metal drumming and tremolo picking from the guitars underneath a really interesting arpeggio.

    Five songs in and they're showing some range that they didn't on Apex, which I am always down for. Range is how you stay relevant as a band, although I think power metal and its adjacent subgenres are more forgiving about staying the same. They've got the 80s Priest/Maiden sound, they've got a bit of the 70s sound, they've got some black metal sound, they've got a bit of the Amaranthe upbeat electro-metal sound, they've got some of the neoclassical Yngwie/Stratovarius sound, the acoustic sections are great. I don't know if it's as consistent as Apex was, but I think that's to be expected when you're trying something different, and at its best it's at least as good as Apex if not better. Definitely buying this today, thanks for the reminder!

    5 votes
  2. drannex
    Link
    You know, @Amarok we should just trade tracks all day because this is the second or third time you have beaten me to posting a new song on here in the past few weeks, This entire album is insanely...

    You know, @Amarok we should just trade tracks all day because this is the second or third time you have beaten me to posting a new song on here in the past few weeks,

    This entire album is insanely good, I would say that they have a far more 'original' sound in this album than they did in Apex. As @moonbathers mentioned they've combined quite a few different influencers, 80s synth, 70s progressions, modern power metal ballads, and orchestral fortitudes of purely great sound mixing. In a genre that has relatively sounded the same the last few years (same issue most modern death metal has), this is a saving grace.

    3 votes
  3. Amarok
    Link
    This is a sequel to their last concept album, Apex. The album is also on bandcamp and spotify. For my money this is one of the best metal bands making music right now. :)

    This is a sequel to their last concept album, Apex. The album is also on bandcamp and spotify.

    For my money this is one of the best metal bands making music right now. :)

    2 votes