Review by Vladimir on May 14, 2024.

From the misty crypts of Pilsen in Czech Republic, comes a black metal band Beyond The Dark Angel with their debut self-released EP Immortal Time, to haunt the living and feast on the cowardly. Let's see what wicked thoughts lie Beyond The Dark Angel.

As the opening track 'DI Sumus Nunc!' commences with thunderstorms and demonic chanting, it gradually builds up the doom and gloom that comes afterwards, with slow-tempo riffing and growling vocals in a very death metal inspired black metal fashion. This formula is carried over with the title track 'Immortal Time', which also incorporates some guitar melodies and keyboards that enrichen the overall sound along with the addition of catchy riffing and clean guitar sections. The final track 'Dead Alley' goes for a slightly different approach than the previous track, while still maintaining that established song structure. Overall, the EP has a strong emphasis on mood and melancholy, mostly due to its heavy use of slow-tempo which fuses black metal with some borderline melodic death metal elements.

Despite having some ideas that make the output just a bit richer, the songwriting still remains pretty simplistic and straightforward, without any actual dynamics or eye-catching moments. The EP as a whole is very easy to follow along, yet a bit lacking in terms of its song ideas, which don't really provide anything exceptional or worth mentioning. The overall direction with the more melodic death metal inspired black metal doesn't seem like a bad idea, however it seems a tad bit empty and not really hitting mark quite as strong as it should. That's not to say that the songs are bad, it's just that they don't stand out in any way, because they miss a good riff, melody or even a chorus that would really make you want to listen to this EP on repeat.

This EP seems like a good idea that just wasn't put to a good use, more like a slight introduction to what the band is aiming for but they're not just quite there yet. I believe that the band can definitely expand on their ideas without making them feel a bit dry and incomplete, because I really want to hear something much more engaging from these guys. Nevertheless, I like the fact that it's not a very typical and uninspiring black metal output with a copy paste formula from start to finish, so I hope that in the future they will make something better that will leave a stronger mark.

Rating: 6.6 out of 10