Review by Tomek on July 15, 2016.

Times when melodic death metal ruled in my CD player are long gone, but every once in a while an album pops up that reminds me of those good old days. Poland's Warbell has some melodic elements that bring In Flames, Dark Tranquility and At The Gates to mind, but also has this harsh factor in their music that reminisces of Arch Enemy and Holy Moses way of doing things. The album was released at the end of 2015 without some huge promotion so if it flew under your radar - you may need to do some research. To me it is one of the stronger melodic death metal debuts I’ve heard in a while.

Full album consists of 15 songs and lasts around 56 minutes so if it comes to giving your money worth we are getting spoiled here. Did I mention that this is a debut album? It is their first full length record and Warbell is giving us a little bit of everything when it comes to melodic death metal. The songs are packed with energy and melody and all of them burst with liveliness. There are couple of instrumental pieces that somewhat cut in between the songs but with guitars putting out tons of melodic hooks and wonderful solos, tremendous drumming, very well positioned bass rumble and vocals by Karolina there is no chance for any monotony. Yes, you read that right, there is a female vocalist present in the band and the growling, roaring and rasps she puts out are quite stunning (also the reason I mentioned Holy Moses and Arch Enemy). There is a little bit of clean singing thrown in for a good measure but only to enhance parts of the song rather than lead vocals and also some spoken passages but very short and kept in the background. Most songs are kept short but all of them come with a strong and aggressive punch supported by remarkable melodies and for a debut album that lasts almost an hour Warbell managed to keep it exceedingly interesting all the way to the end.

Warbell brought many good songs with tons of passion for melodic metal with their album Havoc and if they continue in the same manner on their next one it will be an album to look out for. I would recommend to maybe keeping it a little shorter and not doing everything by themselves but on the other hand why try and fix something that ain't broken.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Tomek on July 15, 2016.

Times when melodic death metal ruled in my CD player are long gone, but every once in a while an album pops up that reminds me of those good old days. Poland's Warbell has some melodic elements that bring In Flames, Dark Tranquility and At The Gates to mind, but also has this harsh factor in their music that reminisces of Arch Enemy and Holy Moses way of doing things. The album was released at the end of 2015 without some huge promotion so if it flew under your radar - you may need to do some research. To me it is one of the stronger melodic death metal debuts I’ve heard in a while.

Full album consists of 15 songs and lasts around 56 minutes so if it comes to giving your money worth we are getting spoiled here. Did I mention that this is a debut album? It is their first full length record and Warbell is giving us a little bit of everything when it comes to melodic death metal. The songs are packed with energy and melody and all of them burst with liveliness. There are couple of instrumental pieces that somewhat cut in between the songs but with guitars putting out tons of melodic hooks and wonderful solos, tremendous drumming, very well positioned bass rumble and vocals by Karolina there is no chance for any monotony. Yes, you read that right, there is a female vocalist present in the band and the growling, roaring and rasps she puts out are quite stunning (also the reason I mentioned Holy Moses and Arch Enemy). There is a little bit of clean singing thrown in for a good measure but only to enhance parts of the song rather than lead vocals and also some spoken passages but very short and kept in the background. Most songs are kept short but all of them come with a strong and aggressive punch supported by remarkable melodies and for a debut album that lasts almost an hour Warbell managed to keep it exceedingly interesting all the way to the end.

Warbell brought many good songs with tons of passion for melodic metal with their album Havoc and if they continue in the same manner on their next one it will be an album to look out for. I would recommend to maybe keeping it a little shorter and not doing everything by themselves but on the other hand why try and fix something that ain't broken.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Adam M on August 1, 2011.

A Gothic atmosphere is created effectively by Silentium. The band has a female vocalist and performs emotionally driven songs, but without the cheesy generic style that might be associated with this type of moments.

Several worthwhile hooks and moods are crafted by this band throughout the course of "Amortean". Songs like 'A Knife In The Back' pull one in with the emotional performance of the outfit. The songs aren’t outright stunning, but moving enough to have enough of an impact upon the listener. This act isn’t able to elevate their level to the same level as the peak of Katatonia and The Gathering, however. The songs simply don’t have quite enough ingenious moments, despite containing quality symphonic portions at times. That’s not to say there aren’t portions that have an emotional impact, but there could be more of them and they could be more effective. In terms creating a gothic atmosphere, Silentium are certainly above average. The morose, tender moods that are crafted are helped by the likes of piano to pull on the emotional heart strings of the listener. The consistency of the album is solid throughout, though there are moments that are dull at times as well. The musical performances are also standard fare, but competently performed.

On the whole, "Amortean" is an enjoyable atmospheric listen that will appeal to metal fans of Anathema, Katatonia and The Gathering amongst many others. Fans of metal bands with a female vocalist that are looking for something different might also have reason to rejoice with this album.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 7.5
Atmosphere: 8
Production: 7.5
Originality: 7
Overall: 7.5

Rating: 7.5 out of 10