Say what one will about the Melodic Swedish death metal movement of the 1990’s but it hard to not look at the impact of this particular genre going all the back to groups like In Flames, Dark Tranquility and Soilwork.  You had your first wave of bands and then your secondary waves of groups coming from Sweden.  Ablaze My Sorrow first grabbed my attention with their 1996 debut full length, If Emotions Still Burn.  In going back to that particular album and seeing where these guys are not they definitely have matured both as musicians and songwriters.  It is still not hard to hear the Iron Maiden influence in the use of guitar melodies throughout.

I can’t believe it has been fourteen years since Ablaze My Sorrow released their last full length record, Anger, Hate and Fury which came out on No Fashion Records.  It does not sound like these guys have missed a beat with their 2016 effort, Black. Opening up with the title track Ablaze My Sorrow demonstrate their awesome use of melodies and harmonies throughout.  Production wise this sounds like it could have been released out 14 years ago. Some might find this type of material dated but it is a great example of the style. It is nice to see the rebirth of “The Gothenburg Sound”.  The guitar contrast is well balanced throughout and locked in. The drum work also on this is solid throughout and not overplayed.

“One Last Sting” is a great example of balance in tempo and melody with excellent clean breaks later in the song. Kristian Lonnsjo’s vocal are on point through this forty one minute release. “Tvaenight” has excellent build throughout and has some very well done clean vocals. “To reclaim what is ours”, the instrumental track is another great example of how these guys have matured as songwriters. “Blood Heritage” might be the most Viking metalish like track on this album. Apparently these guys are the dragons of the North. “Razorblade Revolution” is my favorite track on Black. Opening up with a standalone riff, drums coming in and then breaking back to one guitar. There are some super catchy tremolo picked riffs going into some heavier low end riffs coming back into some heavy down picked sections. I am reminded of Dawn’s Slaughtersun at times here.

This forty one minute effort is an entertaining listen from start to finish and fans of this genre should hopefully be into this.  If anything maybe the lyrics are a bit cheesy at times but overall this album is definitely worth checking out. For fans of the old school melodic Swedish sound this release should hopefully find you well. Musically this is really well played and it is great to see that these guys have decided to continue making music.  Good stuff for sure!

[Visit the band's website]

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