From Sweden comes this very melodic death/doom/gothic metal band System Shock and their sophomore CD on Mausoleum Records, Escape. Crushingly heavy, yet with lots of symphonic & atmospheric keyboards, the music of System Shock will instantly appeal to fans of Dark Tranquility, In Flames, Swallow the Sun, Amon Amarth, Opeth, Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, and Moonspell. One minute the band is rampaging through a speedy death metal romp "Getting What We Asked For", and the next they plod through a symphonic, doomy, gothic affair, as on "No Life, No Home". Lead vocalist Dimitris Loakimoglou goes from deathly growl to clean melodic singing quite well on the atmospheric & melodic number "Broken In Two", but it's his effective growls (sort of like Dan Swano at times) that steamroll through the progressive death metal of "A Note and a Gun", as he's supported by bubbling keyboards, sledgehammer riffs, and intricate drum fills. "Mountains of Madness" is about as catchy as a gothic/death metal song is going to get, and if you want epic sounds, check out the relentless pounder "Salvation in Stone", which ends the CD on a very high note.
Make no mistake about it, Escape is an extreme metal album, but it's so accessible in many ways that it will easily appeal to fans of other genres. Good stuff.
Track Listing
- Getting What We Asked For
- Escape
- Engine Failure
- No Life, No Home
- Broken in Two
- A Note and a Gun
- Bleed
- Mountains of Madness
- Salvation in Stone
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