Weekly Spotlight, Week 51 / 2024

A battle of light vs dark, melody vs dissonance, takes place this week, between Caelestra, Illusion Force, Misanthropy and Mörk Gryning.  

Caelestra - Bastion

Genre: Progressive metal

Subjective rating: 4/5

Objective rating: 4/5

Country of origin: UK

If you needed more proof that there is beauty in darkness, heartbreak and existential philosophy, then this will provide all you'd ever need. This multifaceted UK prog project fuses symphonic grandeur with organic technicality and a healthy influx of black metal anger and bitterness. It's one to get lost in for sure, with its tastefully synth-driven melodies pulling you deep into a vaguely sci-fi, but mostly simply expansive and serene, soundscape that tugs at your emotions in waves. Some of the melodic sensibilities feel familiar from a few different melodic extreme metal greats, bringing to mind both straight prog, Swedish melodeath and metalcore, but it's not strictly derivative, and works very well overall. It's not massively challenging in its intricacy, but also doesn't feel like it ought to be, although it deals with complex subjects. Perhaps its greatest strength, then, is the way that it's able to cut to the simpler core of its thematic emotions and concepts, and communicate them in a non-direct, engaging way.

Highlights: "Lightbringer" and "Soteria"

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Illusion Force – Halfana

Genre: Power metal

Subjective rating: 4/5

Objective rating: 3.5/5

Country of origin: Japan

Why not embrace the holiday spirit in advance with some joyous extravagance? This must be as close as power metal can get to musical theatre without tipping over (yes, I'm looking at you - bands that squeeze out 2-hour fairy tale-conceptual behemoths with half the runtime being spoken-work storytelling). The vocal style in particular sends my mind to cheerful, vibrant stage performances aimed at the whole family, and the melodies support this. But as a whole, the band wants to be much more than this. There is blistering, Dragonforce-style technicality, sections of all-out shredding, and some really creative rhythm shifts that makes you wonder what to expect around the next corner. This is the whole package, really, perhaps not quite as coherent as the stuff coming from some of their inspirations, but bold, satisfying, varied, and carrying some real, eye-opening highlight moments.

Highlight: "Hibari, Pt. 1: A Lost Cantara"

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Misanthropy – The Ever-Crushing Weight Of Stagnance

Genre: Technical death metal

Subjective rating: 3.5/5

Objective rating: 4/5

Country of origin: USA

Think "so brutal it's gone off its hinges" and you should be sufficiently prepared for this album. Chicago outfit Misanthropy take their brutal-styled tech death in a chaotically progressive direction, clearly aiming to match the thematic reflected in the song names, which paint mental images of merciless, cosmic forces and lurking, unpredictable horrors of the deep. Perhaps a bit too randomly disharmonic simply for the sake of dissonance at certain points, like a big machine glitching out and throwing stuff around, it also knows how to go directly for the throat. It's got you in its sights the whole time, whether it's surrounding you with distracting diversion moves or throwing itself on top of you from the top ropes. It sounds just as monstrous as it needs to, and demonstrates great songwriting skill as well as immense instrumental control.

Highlight: "A CURE FOR THE PESTILENCE"

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Mörk Gryning – Fasornas Tid

Genre: Melodic black metal

Subjective rating: 3.5/5

Objective rating: 3.5/5

Country of origin: Sweden

A remarkably light-on-its-feet melodic black metal album from these Swedes. The cold folk notes that the country's melodic extreme metal is so well known for are not exactly understated on this release, saturating the experience from start to finish, but don't get me wrong, it's just as pleasingly dark and melancholic as it needs to be, and one of the main reasons that I will want to return to the record. The mood is just right, it's honest about not caring to be the harshest, most misanthropic thing out there, while certainly not lacking bite. It does, however, at times feel a little passive, a little reluctant to try new things. A quality release that should please fans who aren't looking for any surprises. 

Highlight: "Black Angel"