Review by J.C. on February 18, 2026.

A friend of mine recommended this Swedish melodic death metal band to me, which I had never heard before. And when I finished listening to their new album last year, I fell in love with the music. I also found their older albums and gave a listen, and it seems that the music style in older times was more thrash, while the latest two albums were more melodic. The lead vocals are also different; the early harsh vocals are sharper, while the later ones have a metalcore feel.

Overall, the album is mid-tempo, with very smooth melodies, having a sad and elegant feel. Some double guitar passages remind me of Katatonia, Daylight Dies, and Wine From Tears. In addition, the melody is very varied, sometimes as cold as the ice and snow in Northern Europe, and sometimes very exotic (like the kind that the Czech melodic death metal band Sklepmaster is good at), and you can rarely guess what the melody will be like in the next second, but these changes are very reasonable, which reflects the composer's deep knowledge of music theory. The sound of the guitar is not very heavy, but the mix makes it very clear, and it appears a little dark against the symphonic keyboard tone, but also with a hint of warmth. The riff is not very complicated, but in the fourth song, 'New World Order', a special riff with a special rhythm reminds me of Omnium Gatherum for a moment. In addition, the intro and outro of some songs are also beautifully written, giving a feel of some melodic death metal bands from Finland.

Because the guitar parts are so well-behaved, the drums and bass are not easy to notice. The drums are mostly played at a steady pace, neither fast nor slow, which also makes the speed of the whole album very placid. The bass is heavy and enhances the dark atmosphere. My favorite tracks are: the first song, 'History Repeating' which gives the whole album a good start with a sad, full-of-change and interesting melody; the third song, 'The Legacy', the opening guitar's gorgeous and repetitive motivation is impressive, and the melody of the whole song is very smooth, like a genius wrote them; the fifth song, 'Fragment Of A Dream', has the best solo in the second half; the shred at the beginning of the seventh song, 'Retribution' also very smooth. The last song, 'Into Oblivion', is slightly slower and sad, the solo being interesting and accompanied by a piano. The other three songs are also not ordinary works.

In short, the whole album is heavily influenced by sad doom metal such as Wine From Tears and Katatonia, but with the classical, sophisticated feel of old-fashioned Gothenburg melodic death metal in Sweden. Some people may think that the melodic lines of all the songs sound similar to each other, but I would say that it is already rare to be able to write such an excellent melody.

Rating: 9 out of 10