After announcing their signing to Napalm Records, Brymir announces the release of their new album, Voices In The Sky.
After starting out in 2006 in Finland playing covers, the band decided to focus on their own compositions. Viktor Gullichsen (vocals, ex-The Coven), Joona Björkroth (guitar/vocals, Battle Beast), Sean Haslam (guitar, ex-IA), Jarkko Niemi (bass, IA) and Patrik Fält (drums, Feastem, Bloodred Hourglass live) are now ready for their fourth album.
The album begins with Voices In The Sky and its melodic introduction, which will be chased by a furious rhythmic and virulent screams. The jerky rhythm coupled with enchanting keyboards and majestic choirs fuel the catchy rage before letting Forged In War bring the pure aggression back. Symphonic influences provide a strong and impressive contrast to the more violent and solid parts, like the final moshpart which drives us to Fly With Me, a slightly darker composition which keeps its heaviness when needed. The aerial tones reveal another aspect of the band’s music, more heavy and more theatrical, letting Herald Of Aegir to come back to the epic and warlike tones. The piercing and melodious leads offer an interesting relief to this catchy composition with fast riffs, then the long Rift Between Us develops some melancholy in its introduction before strengthening it with a more energetic rhythmic. The track keeps these haunting and sometimes suffocating tonalities before letting Landfall offer us these abrasive and frantic Old School sounds on which screams and keyboards develop their diversity, just like on the efficient Borderland which offers us a solid basis. The track is immediately very catchy, multiplying the Death/Thrash influences and the sharp harmonics while letting the melodies offer a contrasted sound, which we also find on Far From Home. Once again, the band shows us their mastery of both aspects while including catchy Pagan roots, letting the dark Seeds Of Downfall strike us with disturbing melodies and pessimistic Black Metal influences. The album ends with All As One, the longest track, which lets the musicians develop a majestic and heavy atmosphere to the maximum before including massive and slow riffs coupled with oppressive orchestrations which will be the basis for the impressive screams. The explosive final will finally reveal a bonus track, Diabolis Interium, that the band borrows from the Swedish Dark Funeral, to make their unhealthy and frantic Black Metal roots live until the very last moment. A masterstroke.
Brymir has always been a quiet band within the Melodic Death/Symphonic scene, but I have high hopes for Voices In The Sky. The band perfectly handles the roots of the styles while injecting an oppressive touch, a visceral rage, a dark melancholy or a devastating darkness, creating a crushing melting.
95/100