Review by Adam M on July 21, 2016.

Witherscape performs some nice melodic metal that has an epic flavour to it. There is a grandness to the songs that is very similar to what was present on Edge of Sanity’s Crimson albums. In fact, I believe that Witherscape is the modern answer to those albums.

The songs on here glimmer with a melodic sheen that is absolutely beautiful to behold. The overall effect they have is a larger than life presence that is absolutely effective. The differences between this album and the last one are minor, but there are enough of them to warrant this additional album. This simply seems like a more refined version of the last album. The songs are more driven by the mid-paced melodic approach of the band. They just seem to breathe better than the last time around. The epic flair adds to this further refinement meaning the band has a lot of firepower this time around. The tracks merge more seamlessly to create a whole than they did the last time around. I still don’t have a track I like as much as Dead for a Day, but the album as a whole seems to flow better than it did before. Thus one has to look at the album as a whole and investigate how these tracks come together to form it. This approach likens to the classic Crimson albums again, which were just one song. The grandiose feeling adds to the feeling of a complete album. This is truly some spectacular melodies to witness on this album and the variation between loud and soft moments is again appropriate to create the proper mood.

The Northern Sanctuary is an album to check out if you want some music that creates a vast emotional landscape and has solid song-writing to back it up. This music actually works well as the soundtrack to the Castlevania videogame series.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10