Review by Lynxie on July 2, 2023.

If I recall correctly, Battle Born came on my radar alongside Fellowship. You know, both are British bands, both are newcomers to the genre. Unlike Fellowship's upbeat Disney metal style of power metal though, Battle Born's Blood, Fire, Magic And Steel probably gravitate to the more late second-wave of things, with some Beast In Black thrown in the mix.

So yeah, talking about ''the old meets the young'': opening with grandiose orchestras, 'Wind Caller' starts to blow your mind away, the pounding drums and trilling guitars taking you on a journey back to the 2000s; but Beast In Black is just around the corner, since the following track 'Dragon Heart's bouncy synth and groove were too obviously drawn from Berserker. The pattern would go on as Battle Born swing from blistering power anthems to more synthy speedsters, only slowing down for the emotional ballad 'The Endless Grey'. It's a working progression though, at least they've managed to appeal to both the adamant old-schoolers and young newcomers whose intro band was Sabaton. I doubt any power metal fan could resist raising their mead to 'Down Your Drinks And Raise Your Swords' glorious chorus, and I swear 'Ride North For Winterhold' was molded off "Black Fire" or some ZP-era Dragonforce songs.

Battle Born is surely pure fun, sporting some of the most rousing choruses I've heard in a while in each and every one of their songs - yes, even the ballad, but 'Fire Storm' and 'Power Force' are true brain surgery materials. However, do not think for a moment they are poppy synthy disco-power, even with the evident Beast In Black blood coursing through their veins. Will Kerr's shreds will soon assuage your doubts, especially on tracks like 'Wind Caller' or 'Blood And Fire'. You really need to think back on your love for power metal too if you didn't bang your head and pump your fist to 'Meridia'. Also, Jack Reynolds is a damn fine vocalist; I had first heard his works on "Woods Of Wonder", but that album was too fucking slow to bring out the charisma of any vocal. His works here on Blood, Fire, Magic And Steel shows he have both the grit and the pomp, his falsetto screams almighty -- almost like to Yannis.

I'm not the hugest fan of the majority of modern power bands out there, but Battle Born's mix works, especially in the almost 'Freedom Call' reminiscent closer 'Sky Guard You' with its balanced blend of lofty synth and solid riffing. There's an almost circular sense around the arrangement as 'Sky Guard You' ends in a flow of near the same epic orchestra as 'Wind Caller', but the circle is not complete in a melodic sense. Instead, it veers off the other side, making us want more. Real sneaky work there, but I like it.

Well, you cannot deny that the UK's got some pretty apt new bands of recent years, Fellowship and Battle Born being the best of examples. I'd like to see how this one would go off. It's a really popular and appealing mix of second-wave and third-wave power metal Battle Born is going for, at least they could hammer those choruses into my head. Recommended for anyone who likes Beast In Black but not One Night In Tokyo.

(You'll never know how many times I'd written 'Battle Beast' instead of 'Battle Born' during this review, urgh.)

Highlights: 'Wind Caller', 'Blood And Fire', 'Meridia'

Rating: 8.6 out of 10

Review by Vladimir on December 14, 2023.

Although some people wouldn’t imagine me as someone who likes industrial metal, you would be surprised to know that I did have a brief period where I listened to a lot of Rammstein, Fear Factory, Rob Zombie/White Zombie, Ministry etc. Recently I found out the existence of this band ZIM.ABU.E.TER. from Chile, whose vocalist is Alexis Marchantt aka Grindor, whom I know from Umbra which I reviewed back in Spring this year. It was quite the surprise when I discovered that he is a member of this newfound industrial metal band, and that got me more curious to look deeper into it. The topic of this review will cover the band’s debut album G.E.N.E.S.I.S. Divina, released on November 13, 2023. 

Their music is very reminiscent of the industrial metal bands from the Neue Deutsche Härte movement, which is expressed through the very catchy mid-tempo downpicking riffing and drumming with the addition of synthesizers, although with the growling vocal style that is much more death metal. The overall riffing and the general songwriting do feel like very standard industrial metal with a simple as you can get approach, but also very Rammstein-like, which a lot of people will notice too. Like I said about the vocals, instead of some shouting vocals, groovy vocals or even deep vocals, Grindor went with the dry growling vocal technique, which for some reason sounds a lot like Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth. Although the songs are incredibly catchy and “industrial”, the strong side of every song is that they have a very uplifting mood and a very epic atmosphere as well, especially due to choir backing vocals that create a very grandiose experience next to the synthesizers. While listening to this album, you would get an alien and robotic vibe out of it, sometimes leaning a bit towards Starcraft. One thing that I generally disliked about this album is the cover art, but not the general output, more or less its visual style. Personally, I like the representation, but I just don’t like the fact that it looks obviously AI generated, which has put me off with a lot of bands who have been following this trend lately. I know that there are some songs that deal with themes of artificial intelligence, space, technology and such, but I still don’t find AI generated covers that attractive or appealing, even though they may suit the musical output. The album has a very top-notch sound production with a very polished industrial guitar tone, very reminiscent of many Neue Deutsche Härte bands that have a similar sound. 

Personally, I found this a generally pleasant listening experience even though I am not really into industrial metal. I was not expecting that Grindor would participate in something such as this, but I am glad that he has a very ambitious and promising work up his sleeve that could easily win over a lot of people who are into Blutengel, Rammstein and such. If you are perhaps a fan of industrial metal, particularly that which follows the traditional Neue Deutsche Härte, but with the addition of growling vocals, then I suggest that you check out G.E.N.E.S.I.S. Divina by ZIM.ABU.E.TER. 

Rating: 7.6 out of 10