Reports from the Underground: Albums We Missed in 2020

Grey Skies Fallen – Cold Dead Lands (US-NY)
Style: Melodeath/Doom (mixed vocals)
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Review by: Chris

Grey Skies Fallen are a three piece band hailing from New York with a pretty big backlog. While on Spotify it seems to start around 2010, their bio indicates they’ve been active since 1997, producing a lot of LPs and EPs in that time. I would call Cold Dead Lands a doom offering with melodic death tinges, as if Pallbearer or maybe King Goat got together with members of Sweven. The three piece nature of the band gives the album a lot of breathing room in the instruments and definitely allows the guitar to take up a lot of space in the mix, helping the epic feeling you want in these kind of doom albums.

Cold Dead Lands opens as you would expect, with a sparse power-chord esque rhythm over slower plodding drums, before a melodic guitar line jumps in over it. The band sits on this for a bit before dropping that and reentering with a much more melodic doom riff. At this moment the clean vocals enter for the first time, definitely matching the epic doom vibe the instruments give off with a warm tone and just a bit of grit to add to the power. Later songs introduce some harsh vocals which have a nice tone to them as well, fitting the mood of the riffs perfectly. Like a lot of the modern doom albums, this album has a lot of focus on the longer epic riffs with plodding drums and drawn out power fills. However it does have a few different twists thrown in in some gallops, some deathier riffs, and numerous tempo changes. While I find these interesting, I didn’t necessarily find the album as a whole completely grabbed me, instead finding there were definite moments where my ears perked, but for some of the album I couldn’t help but check out. 

The main problem points for me besides that are that I definitely think that while mixed and recorded well, some of the performance-related tightness of the band and album can leave a bit to be desired. While the doomier drawn out riffs go well and stay together, some of the deathier and more gallopy parts sometimes have trouble staying together, with the drums being the main culprit in my mind. There are some fills and tom related parts that just do not fully align in the final product. Additionally, I think some of the songs are a bit drawn out (even for doom) and don’t end when it feels like they should.

This album definitely has some cool moments and great doom riffs, but I’m not sure it took me anywhere I hadn’t been before, which lowers it in my eyes. Definitely a solid, good album, but not necessarily ground breaking. If the performances were a bit cleaner at times or it changed its voice more I’d probably be much more into it. That said, if you are  into the Pallbearer brand of doom, or wanna hear some melodic death styles thrust a bit onto a doom song, this is a great listen for you.

Recommended tracks: Cold Dead Lands, Picking up the Pieces, After the Summer Comes the Fall
Recommended for fans of: Sweven, At the Gates, Pallbearer
Final verdict: 6/10

Arbrynth – A Place of Buried Light (Australia)
Style: Post-Black/Death (mixed vocals)
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Review by: Evan

There has been, frankly, an absurd amount of sad-boy post-metal on our site recently, perhaps wrought about by the global pandemic. In fact, the mood of this album in particular is quite fitting for our current times for specifically that reason … oh this was actually released exactly a year before I wrote this. Well, I will scrap that overwrought idea for an introduction then and get straight into it.

Arbrynth plays some style of post blackened death, but it would be more accurate to say they play some form of Opethed Aggaloch (or Agalloched Opeth, depending on your preference). The result is fairly compelling, combining the more-pronounced dynamics and song-writing of Opeth with the atmosphere and folkiness of Agalloch.

There is one quality of this album certainly worth raving about: its atmosphere. Consistent melancholy with a light spark of hope? Check. Folky feelings of winter? Check. Besides the atmosphere, the overall song-writing is fairly solid, and the lengthy tracks typically do not overstay their welcome (especially the tracks listed at the bottom). The guitar and vocal work are generally fairly interesting as well.

So does Arbrynth live up to the mantle (ha) of its predecessors? Not quite, but almost. Its overall sound and atmosphere is extraordinarily similar to agalloch in many places. This is certainly no clone, especially due to some clear death influence, but it still does not do enough to really distinguish itself and move the genre in a unique direction. The riffs in many places do not sound as powerful as they could be. The biggest problem of all, however, has to be the production. The dynamics are significantly weakened because the production is fairly flat, and there is not nearly as much volume difference between the “quiet” parts and “loud” parts as there should be. Also, the drums are mixed pretty poorly. 

The balance of this review should not indicate a negative perception of the band. A Place of Buried Light does what it seeks to quite well. In fact, this album does well what an Agalloch album does well. Arbrynth, as mentioned before, certainly brings the mood of winter, so you only have so long left this year to listen to it. Get on it!

Recommended tracks: Crucible, The Dark Between the Stars, A Place of Buried Light
Recommended for fans of: Agalloch, Opeth, mid-era Enslaved
Final verdict: 7/10

Izthmi – The Arrows of Our Ways (US-WA)
Style: Blackened Death Metal (harsh vocals)
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Review by: Callum

It always boggles my mind when a band’s debut album sounds as polished as a seasoned veteran’s, and even the vets can miss the mark despite their years of experience. The production, musicianship, and songwriting in The Arrows of Our Ways, Izthmi’s first release, are beyond impressive. The dual guitars flex on basically every track that isn’t an interlude with a blackened death style that doesn’t shy away from the odd virtuosic guitar solo. Vocalist, Jakob Keizer, also gives a masterful performance. The band as a whole shows that they have a command over several genre styles in atmospheric, death, and black metal but also the song crafting skill to deftly stitch them together in a cohesive and naturally flowing form. I’d dare to liken it to Orchid- or Morningrise-era Opeth in terms of the transitions between different styles.

Perhaps some artistic liberties were taken with the introduction and interludes. A little breathing room between >6 minute tracks is welcome, however, whether the content quite fits the context is another question. The intro track, “Chasm”, is just that; a chasm filled by whirrs and whooshes of a modular synthesizer. It certainly sets a tone, but not necessarily one that logically leads into the burst of neck-snapping melodeath in the following track, “To Traipse Alone”. The same could be said for the fourth track, “Interlude”, another modulated synth that doesn’t particularly lead anywhere. It’s literally more of an intermission where you can leave to grab some snacks and come back without missing anything. I do however like that at least the philosophical musings of Victor Frankl in “The Angels are Lost” finally contribute to a central theme of searching for meaning in life. 

Of the main tracks, “A Shout That Bursts Through the Silence of Unmeaning” stands out as solid encompassment of all that Izthmi do best. The relentless blast-beaten black metal sections are crushing, yet the melodic parts build to surprisingly uplifting and epic highs. Variances in vocal delivery between shrieks and strained, emotional cries add depth and feeling behind vibrant guitar riffs and tasteful pinch harmonic bends. Despite verging on a few clichés through the dull interludes and obscure vocal samples, The Arrows of Our Ways is an incredibly mature sounding album and promising for the future of Izthmi.

Recommended tracks: To Traipse Alone, A Shout That Bursts Through the Silence of Unmeaning, The Arrows of Our Ways
Recommended for fans of: Abigail Williams, Panopticon, (90s era) Opeth
Final verdict: 7.5/10

Burden of Life – The Makeshift Conqueror (Germany)
Style: Prog Melodeath (mixed vocals)
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Review by: Sam

It always baffles me how much amazing stuff we miss over the course of the year. A large part of it I can understand. For as thorough as our searching method is, some albums just slip outside the scope of where we search. And some albums get on the list, but just don’t get picked for reviewing for whatever reason. This is a case of the former. I only found out about it browsing RateYourMusic 2020 lists somewhere way down the line. Turns out it wasn’t tagged as Progressive on Metal-Archives, but only as melodeath. Could be that their previous work was less progressive, but this is definitely a prog metal album as much as it is melodeath.

The thing that struck me the most about this record is how pretty it sounds. Especially the clean vocals leave an immediate impact with their immense power and clarity. Their singer has a beautiful voice. His delivery is just incredibly memorable. I wouldn’t say he soars above the music in the way a power metal singer would, but something about his voice is just exactly that. Sharp, soaring, beautiful, but in no way theatrical. And instrumentally I could say the same thing about this record. It’s bright and cinematic much in the vein of Wintersun style melodeath. I’ve not listened much to them, but it’s enough to say this is not a clone. This record is very bright and vibrant, giving much of a spring vibe. They use very warm, cinematic background synths, and the tempo of the songs is high, giving the songs a healthy sense of urgency. It’s a truly invigorating sound they struck on this album (so it’s much recommended for all you depressed winter folks out there!).

Because this album is just peak melodeath. It’s a genre that for me can often feel cookie-cutter, but Burden of Life are in no way generic. Maybe their riffs aren’t the strongest you’ve ever heard, but the entirety of their songwriting is just next-level. With their cinematic base they cycle through many different shades of melodeath, and get a much greater sonic template to work with which they make full use of. Between tearful moments of grief with soulful singing and touching piano melodies, triumphant marching drums with soaring leads, and more aggressive thrashy melodeath parts, this band takes you to all sides of the emotional spectrum with their dynamic range. The Makeshift Conqueror really lives up to the “cinematic” moniker with the journey it takes you on.

It’s hard to criticize this album for much at all. If I had to pick one aspect, it would be the more straightforward melodeath parts which tend to feel a bit generic. Other than that though, I really can’t think of anything. I mean, just listen to the vibrant beauty of “Geistesblitz” or the combination of the gorgeous vocally-driven interlude of “Trust My Own Heart” with the dynamic second part of the title track, and tell me it’s not incredible. I just can’t see it. If you do find something, please do NOT let me know because I am smitten with this record, and that puts it beyond your puny criticisms, you evil bastard. I’m not sure if this will end up as my album of the year (see you next week!) as Hac San is just really hard to beat, but it will be up for consideration for sure. Well done Burden of Life, well done.

Recommended tracks: Geistesblitz, Anthem of the Unbeloved; The Makeshift Conqueror, Pt. II
Recommended for fans of: Wintersun, Opeth, Blind Guardian
Final verdict: 9/10