So I received this album as a gift last month, and I had never really heard anything by this band until this album, so I can't really compare this to previous releases, although I have read that this is their first concept album, which is a science fiction narrative, and you can really hear it in the music.
Alright now to the music. While this is surely a 'Metal' album, it has some very heavy classic rock influences and also a hard rock direction. The album is started by 3 very strong tracks, "Acheron/Unearthing the Orb", "Tres Brujas"(personal favorite) and "Arrows in the Dark." If you don't like vocals that are growly and deep sounding, then this is the album for you! All the vocals are clean and sound pretty sharp, this goes for the guitar work on the album as well. Sure there are heavy riffs sometimes and fast rhythms, but the solos are very clean and precise, all while holding to the album's 'science fiction' direction. The next highlight of this album comes on track 5 with "Lawless Lands", to me this song really solidifies the albums science fiction concept and also a very good classical rock track. Oh yeah and I would think Black Sabbath/Led Zeppelin fans would be a huge fan of this album, because of the influences it holds from those bands. That being said, the rest of the tracks of the album are pretty good, no major standouts but no filler tracks either. Listening to this album in whole will make you feel like you are truly on a different planet, a strange new world, and I applaud The Sword for going in this direction.
Highlights and Scoring
Overall this is a very good Metal/Rock concept album, with the standout tracks being "Tres Brujas", "The Chronomancer 1 + 2", "Lawless Lands" and "Night City". As previously said Classic Metal fans "Sabbath" and Classic Rock fans "Led Zeppelin" should be pleased with this album, and people who appreciate sharp solos and clean vocals should also very much like it.
8.2/10
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