I’m not gonna lie. I grabbed this debut album promo as it said it was current and former members of Allegaeon,  Unflesh (who recently released one of my favorite albums of the year so far) and Seven Spires, and I was really hoping it was vocalist Adrienne Cowan. However, it was not, but still it a female vocalist,  Haydee Irizarry, and she does a damn fine job.

Let’s address the big elephant in the room right away, This is modern, melodic death metal with a female vocalist who growls and sings (and does both impressively), and yes, they sound like Arch Enemy. Irizarry has a formidable growl like Angela Gossow and clean sings like Alissa White-Gluz (whom I actually like and have since her days in The Agonist– another band comparison that fits here). So, if you dislike both Arch Enemy and The Agonist (and maybe early In This Moment), you should probably move on.

If you are still reading, you should probably go ahead and purchase this, even more so if you enjoy some of the other projects these band members are involved in like the aforementioned Unflesh and Allegaeon as well as Begat the Nephillim This is very solid melodic death metal. A big polished production, some slight use of keyboards, big bouncy , clearly Michael Amott inspired riffs, catchy choruses, and lots of lead work.

Early on you get a couple of Radio/Youtube ready hits like “Natsukashi” and “Close My Eyes” highlighting the band’s obvious influences and Irizarry’s impressive pipes. You also get the band showing you a little heavier side with the heavier “Laboratory”, with a big, beefy lurch and blast beats, showing the band isn’t just radio-ready melo death.

Later in the album, you get two longer highlights in “Solar Sea”, (my favorite track on the album) and closer “Nightshade”, both 8 minutes-ish, with a variety of moods and time changes, with both arguably having ‘ballad’ like moments but both having some very cool galloping riffs and with a really strong performance from Irizarry.

I’m not saying Aversed is the next big thing in female-fronted melodic death metal or Arch Enemy is ready to be dethroned, but certainly they should be looking over their shoulder as Aversed clearly are ready to make an impact.

[Visit the band's website]

---

Comments