THERE is perhaps no bigger name in melodic death metal than In Flames who have gone stratospheric by tweaking their sound to suit a more mainstream audience.
Seeking to return to the famed “Gothenburg sound” of the early 90s that put Sweden on the metal map, five former members of In Flames got together to form The Halo Effect in 2019.
Splicing together a then-unique buzzsaw gutiar tone, courtesy of overdriving the Boss Heavy Metal 2 pedals, with melodic tendencies spawned an entire sub-genre — melodic death metal. Alongside Dismember, Unleashed and the mighty Entombed, In Flames are considered among the big four of Swedish melodic death metal.
Scratch that. One can add The Halo Effect to that list or even take the place of In Flames. These guys know how its done having played on some seminal albums such as Clayman and Whoracle.
Comprising Niclas Engelin (guitars), Peter Iwers (bass), Mikael Stanne (vocals), Jesper Strömblad (guitars) and Daniel Svensson (drums), the band is geared towards delivering highly infectious and hook-laden melodic death metal, with the odd bit of clean singing to add colour to proceedings.
March of the Unheard is one of the year’s most highly anticipated releases and the band does not disappoint. Hitting its stride from the very first track, Conspire to Deceive, it hooks listener in with an almost Europe-like synth line. Not quite Final Countdown but you get the picture.
As expected the production is clean and well mixed to ensure that every instrument has space to breathe. That is crucial as the bombast of the many of the tunes can seem overwhelming if the mix was muddy but here they are masterfully delivered.
This album is meant to be played loud for maximum effect as one catchy riff after another spills out of the speakers or ear buds. This is expertly constructed melodic death metal by veteran musicians who know precisely which buttons to hit.
While the entire sound is geared towards the roots of the scene, the have the necessary hooks to get the mosh pits swirling at larger live festivals.
Will The Halo Effect go overground the same way that In Flames did or even reach a mass audience that Gojira is enjoying? On the strength of March of the Unheard, it is a very strong possibility.
Definitely a stand out release that should comfortably make any metalhead’s Top Ten list for album of the year.
