Ever since I started listening to metal music, I have come across Arch Enemy on numerous occasions. While the occasional song was much appreciated at different parties, I could never listen to one of the group's records from start to finish because the vocals ended up sounding nerve-firing, the song structures were at times repetitive and the musicianship overall lacked diversity. To my surprise, the numerous singles preceding the release of Deceivers all struck a chord with me and I decided to give the full length effort a chance. I'm glad to announce that Deceivers is indeed a very good album that entertains from start to finish through forty-five highly entertaining minutes.

Arch Enemy has managed to find a perfect balance between its melodic soundscapes and its aggressive side. The former is represented by cleverly employed atmospheric keyboard sounds and additional effects, numerous memorable guitar melodies and solos and an increased use of catchy clean vocals. This approach shines in creative, diversified and dynamic opener ''Handshake with Hell'', dreamy, slow and tender highlight ''Poisoned Arrow'' and instrumental interlude ''Mourning Star'' that offers both an atmospheric break and showcases the talent of the involved musicians.

Those who like the band's harsher side don't need to be afraid however. This record is still filled with devilish harsh vocals, fast guitar riffs and dynamic rhythm section. ''Deceiver, Deceiver'' for instance reminds of Swedish melodic death metal in the key of At the Gates, In Flames and Soilwork in the nineties. ''Sunset of the Empire'' opens with a bumblebee bass guitar solo before sinister vocals and fast riffs kick in but the song is also balanced by melodic guitar play, cinematic choirs and minimal symphonic passages. Album closer ''Exiled from Earth'' combines unchained vocals with extraordinary guitar solos and evokes a fitting epic atmosphere to conclude an outstanding album.

In my humble opinion, Arch Enemy's Deceivers is easily the greatest album I have ever listened to from this band. Especially the use of occasional clean vocals, numerous memorable guitar melodies and symphonic keyboard arrangements strikes a chord with me. It should also help make an already commercially successful band even more famous. However, I could imagine several fans of old date who favour the group's classic melodic death metal soundscapes being unhappy about this more harmonious direction. Time shall tell where the band goes from here but it's promising that the international group has managed to release such an amazing twelfth album twenty-seven years into its career. I'm certain that this band still has much to say!

Final Rating: 80%

German quartet Lacrimas Profundere has received quite some attention in the German gothic scene in the early years of the millennium and I remember several very good songs being included on samplers by magazines such as Sonic Seducer and Zillo back in the days. Somehow, the band's popularity declined as time went by and I got out of touch with its music. It's merely by coincidence that I discovered that the quartet had just released its thirteenth studio record and I was intrigued to find out whether the quartet still had anything left to say or rather not.

The answer is both yes and no. On the positive side, the quartet employs a multitude of genres to create a gloomy final result. Several songs are rooted in slow, heavy and depressing doom metal honouring soundscapes that should please traditional metal fans and gothics alike. Other songs can be described as gothic rock as the instrumental work is rather atmospheric than technically appealing and emphasizes the lyrics over the musicianship. The band however also uses melodic death metal soundscapes with mid-paced guitar riffs and sinister screams that justify the inclusion of a band such as this on a website like The Metal Archives. As you can read, the band is certainly versatile and creative and could appeal to quite a few people who have never heard a song of them in recent years.

The main issue of this release nevertheless remains the songwriting. Even though every song is only around four minutes in length and usually features traditional verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus structures, none of the ten new songs manages to leave a mark and compete with the band's material from one-and-a-half decades ago. This album lacks structures that truly surprise, refresh and innovate. It's missing heartfelt guitar melodies that could move the listeners. There is also an absence of gripping choruses going along with the emotional lyrics. Simply stated, this is the kind of album that needs dedication, patience and time to grow but it doesn't offer any material destined to be performed in concert or regain the band the momentum it once had.

At the end of the day, fans of gothic metal in the key of the calmer records by Katatonia, Moonspell or even Opeth can give this record a spin or two. Occasional genre fans might however not find enough quality here to convince themselves to pay twenty bucks for this output. Perhaps the band could opt for a compilation or live album to attract new fans in the near future and bring back old sympathizers.

Final Rating: 60%

For years, or shall I say decades by now, fans from all around the world have been complaining about the downfall of melodic death metal pioneers In Flames who have been opting for playing commercially successful alternative rock while gradually stepping away from their beloved genre roots. People have been fantasizing about what could have been if the band had chosen a different line-up and stylistic compass. When new project Cyhra around former In Flames member Jesper Strömblad saw the light of day however, even the most optimistic fans were shocked by the toothless melodic groove metal soundscapes said group had to offer. The Halo Effect seemed like a more promising effort as it features five former members of the band, including session vocalist Mikael Stanne from In Flames' adventurous, atmospheric and progressive debut effort Lunar Strain.

Once more however, fans who have been craving for a better alternative to contemporary In Flames are being led down in the most disappointing manner. Days of the Lost sounds like a dated collection of lazily written In Flames b-sides from the turn of the millennium. The combination of melodic guitar leads and solos on one side as well as upper mid-tempo riffs and faster passages on the other side sounds too dull to be memorable and too harmonious to be considered a return to the roots. 

The bass guitar play is uninspired and unimpressive throughout the album and best described as serviceable and by-the-numbers. 

The same things have to be said about the recurring drum patterns and percussive elements that fail to leave a deeper mark and sound as if the musician had been on autopilot, or worse, as if his style had been reproduced by a machine. 

The hoarse vocals by Mikael Stanne certainly are distinctive as his vocals sound like none other. However, his efforts sound the same in every single song and end up sounding nerve-firing a few tunes into this record. He doesn't move one iota away from his trademark style which might either be due to excessive self-confidence or a lack of talent in the worst case.

Every song sounds extremely similar to one another which is also due to lazy songwriting. Each tune is about four minutes long, follows the predictable verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus pattern and seems to have been created to be potentially chosen as the record's next single. 

The toothless production that is equally sleep-inducing makes matters even worse. Even the worst black metal basement demo or overproduced loudness war effort in the key of Rick Rubin has more soul than the forgettable sound of this disasterpiece.

This album has more pop trademarks in its songwriting, production and execution than most pop bands these days. Even for an avid metal fan, it's certainly more gripping to listen to the most recent outputs by up-and-coming pop groups like Japanese Breakfast than this pile of crap. The only even remotely recommendable tune might be the atmospheric, electronic and melodic ''A Truth Worth Lying For'' that breaks out of the usual stereotypes. Then again, this kind of approach has been tried out by both In Flames and Dark Tranquillity time and again, with overall better results.

At the end of the day, one has to wonder why a group like The Halo Effect even exists. Days of the Lost sounds like casting pop music of the worst type with some heavy guitars and ever-repeating hoarse vocals. Even the last few efforts by In Flames, that even I thought were underwhelming with their massive pop appeal, still had more courage, energy and identity than this coaster. Don't make the same mistake several fans made when purchasing the record by similarly terrible project Cyhra and expect an album in the key of critically acclaimed melodic death metal records such as Clayman. This record here could only be remotely qualified as melodic death metal by an inexperienced teenager who has been listening to music like this for the first time at the age of fourteen after discovering Alter Bridge, Linkin Park and Nickelback. To keep it short: stay away from this forever.

Final Rating: 20%

In chaotic times of change, it can be enjoyable to listen to a consistent band that doesn't move even one iota away from its trademark sounds and comes around with new material every second year. Such is the case of Alestorm's Seventh Rum of a Seventh Rum. Simply stated, this record is a party album with short tunes, catchy keyboard fanfares and enthusiastic choruses about silly pirate tales and party spirit.

If compared to previous records by the same band, this album here is overall a little bit faster. ''Come to Brazil'' for instance would qualify as a thrash metal song without the keyboard sounds. 

The latter might even be more domineering on this output than on previous releases which makes the individual songs more accessible, catchy and melodic but also somewhat exchangeable and predictable as is the case for ''Cannonball'' for instance. 

Keyboarder Elliot Vernon performs more additional vocals than usual as well as his gritty shouts add some welcome energy to tunes like ''Under Blackened Banners''. 

Speaking of vocals, there are several guests appearing in tracks like the third and final part of ''Wooden Leg'' that features Spanish and Japanese lyrics as well as entertaining bonus track ''Nyár Van'' which features Hungarian lyrics and was originally made famous by Neoton Familia.

Seventh Rum of a Seventh Rum is certainly very entertaining from start to finish through thirteen enthusiastic songs on the limited edition. However, the record doesn't have much substance as several ideas of yore are being used time and again, both instrumentally and lyrically. To be honest, that kind of repetition was however to be expected as fans will love what they are listening to while haters won't ever be understanding how Alestorm ever got as big as they are nowadays. The best way to enjoy our favourite drunk pirates is in concert and this album offers numerous tracks written to be sung by equally drunk fans. Once the pandemic will be coming to an end, celebrating quirky pirate tales performed by Alestorm with like-minded fans might actually be a great idea to have some fun. Cheers!

Final Rating: 80%

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