Norway's Horizon Ablaze have just unleashed their third album of extreme metal fury for Leviatan/Diger, titled The Weight of a Thousand Suns, also noteworthy as it's their first release with new vocalist Andre Kvebek, formerly of 1349, Pantheon I, and From the Vastland. Just because these guys hail from Norway and feature a former member of 1349, don't automatically assume that this is going to be a straight ahead black metal album, because Horizon Ablaze also toil just as heavily in death metal as well as avant-garde and prog waters as they do in traditional Norwegian black metal. Kvebek adds an interesting element to these songs, whether he is delivering evil rasps, screams, growls, or more majestic power metal styled clean vocals, it always fits that passage of the song perfectly. "Delusions of Grandeur" is a great example of the varying styles he can fit into a song, each one flowing with the shifting moods and tempos, while his gravelly roar and venomous rasps slice through the blackened death metal attack of "Ghost of a Previous Nightmare". The slightly doomy & melancholic "The End of a Dream" features his tortured clean vocals and nightmarish screams, while the complex headbanging fury of "Behind the Veil" sees the vocalist take on a Tom G. Warrior styled grunt over some intricate guitar riffs and jackhammer drumming.
Overall, The Weight of a Thousand Suns is a very impressive third outing for Horizon Ablaze, the band seemingly looking to move into more progressive territory this time around. While some of the tempos have a sort of 'samey' feel to them, there's plenty here to recommend for anyone who likes technical/progressive/avant-garde flavored blackened extreme metal.
Track Listing
- Sleep is the brother of Death 5:47
- Delusions of Grandeur 6:08
- Ghost of a Previous Nightmare 6:10
- She Who Walks upon the Sea 4:54
- The End of a Dream 6:36
- Behind The Veil 4:55
- My Soul Divided 4:51
- Insidious 5:36
Printer Friendly Page
Send to a Friend
