The Halo Effect - March Of The Unheard

The Halo Effect – March Of The Unheard
Nuclear Blast Records
7,0/10,0

Brief:

Founded by Niclas Engelin in 2019 after his departure from In Flames, THE HALO EFFECT may have begun as five old friends just making music for fun, but they’re now one of the most beloved new bands in heavy metal. Before the Swedish quintet even formed, their members were heroes of heaviness, key in establishing melodic death metal’s much-imitated ‘Gothenburg sound’ during the ’90s.

March of the Unheard is a triumphant successor brimming with everything that made Days Of The Lost an instant breakthrough. The likes of ‘Detonate’ and ‘What We Become’ bear all the hallmarks of the Gothenburg sound, flaunting the slicing guitar leads, energetic percussion and shoutalong hooks that have made it addictive for generations of metalheads. Other standouts build on those infectious foundations. ‘Between Directions’, for example, adds orchestral strings that feel right at home in THE HALO EFFECT’s high-energy wheelhouse. Proggy synths wobble at the start of opener ‘Conspire to Deceive’, ‘Our Channel to the Darkness’ explodes from pensive acoustic guitars to full-blown metal and ‘Coda’ ends March Of The Unheard with a choral and symphonic instrumental. Plus, throughout the album, Mikael makes extra use of his gracefully melodic singing.

THE HALO EFFECT re-entered Crehate Studios with producer Oscar Nilsson, a longtime collaborator of Niclas’. What the band have emerged from those sessions with is undoubtedly their strongest material yet. March Of The Unheard isn’t just another opus of Gothenburg melodeath; it announces that THE HALO EFFECT still have fresh ideas for the genre, 30 years after their members helped catapult it to international acclaim. Now united under one banner, they are gunning for global success once again.

Tracklist:

Conspire To Decieve 3:57
Detonate 3:58
Our Channel To The Darkness 3:28
Cruel Perception 4:04
What We Become 3:46
This Curse Of Silence 2:00
March Of The Unheard 2:59
Forever Astray 3:40
Between Directions 4:28
A Death That Becomes Us 4:06
The Burning Point 3:47
Coda 3:53

Main Focus Tracks:

Detonate 3:58
What We Become 3:46

Other Recommended Tracks:

Cruel Perception 4:04
Forever Astray 3:40

Line-Up:

Comments:

If March of the Unheard is a very good album, it remains for The Halo Effect to make the most of it by taking a few more musical risks on their next release. A good album, but it’s a little too predictable.

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