Review by Lawrence Stillman on October 12, 2024.

This collab is more of a RCEG single with multiple variations and guests from Tonality Blast (I don't know how to write their band name in text form), since Mr. Sweden composed the song himself. While this single is great in a vacuum, it does pale compared to even the debut, where the progressive elements kept them interesting, while this is devoid of them, resembling a more standard, modern melodeath song that is a dime a dozen in the scene. But this is Mr. Sweden we are talking about; he knows how to keep things interesting... (not really)

And by interesting, I mean ripping off songs from Imperial Circus Dead Decadence/Vermillion-D Alice Syndrome/Vaguedge Dies for Dies Irae (not on the archives), then mashing those concepts together into one song did an admirable job at capturing their magic. While you might say, "Oh, it has gothic synths, Japanese narrations that oddly sound like Yuhki, and unorthodox uses of orchestral synths alongside powerful guitar leads, It can't count as ripping them off." And I would agree to that because there are a lot of bands that do that type of music. But it is the execution and combination of those elements that remind me of the previous three bands.

How, you say? Well, if you are remotely familiar with the two RCEG full lengths prior to this collab, the unusually simple music structure will instantly tell you that this is not the usual style of melodeath that Mr. Sweden would usually compose. It lacks the prog and electronic synths that the band is known for, replacing them with orchestral synths that Mr. Sweden rarely uses. Combine this with the narration at the start/middle and the style of symphonic melodeath used here, and you might be able to see where I was going with the previous paragraph.

But despite that, there are some sections that did give the song a very distinct RCEG feeling to it, like the metalcore breakdowns that are unusually/mercifully short (thank God for that), the electronics that are sprinkled throughout the song, and the proggy wankery that occurs after the narration in the middle. It does show that Mr. Sweden can get creative when he wants to, but he was just not in the mood for it at the moment (and in hindsight, this is very true, because the full length after this took the band's sound and crank it up to 11). Although I do have to mention that Mr. Sweden is a big fan of ICDD and its associated bands (check his Twit- I mean X, thanks Muskrat), unlike most melodeath bands that rip off what they hear, he did at least put his spin on what he likes. It turns out that imitation is indeed a compliment to the highest degree, as long as you don't imitate it 1:1 and add some really annoying elements to it.

Musically, it is just like any RCEG album: very distinct riffs and guitar leads with impressive synth work (even if they sounded too similar to Hull of ICDD, to the point that it felt like a Hull song instead of a Mr. Sweden song), above-average vocals, and programmed drums. The bass still got left out, like on any of their albums. The inclusion of female vocals did give the song another level of nuance; it does not get annoying and is able to compliment the harsh vocals quite well, creating a contrast.

While it did feel like the composer was ripping off one of my favorite bands and doing a good job at it (not a bad thing because it is a sound that is hard to nail), I cannot give this a high score as it felt like the composer got lazy for this collab and just copied something that he liked and put his own spin on it. His output a year later only served to solidify my rating, as I felt that it could be something more unique. The song itself is a solid 90+ if you want to know my rating as if I knew nothing about the band and its nuances.

Highlights: The dual vocal version and the instrumental version. (Removing one of the two vocalists negatively impacts the song itself.)

Rating: 8.4 out of 10