Tag Archives: detonate

Album Review – The Halo Effect / March Of The Unheard (2025)

Posted on by
Reply

Let’s join this Swedish melodeath juggernaut in their march of the unheard to the sound of their incendiary sophomore album.

Gothenburg, Sweden’s own Melodic Death Metal outfit The Halo Effect may have begun as five old friends just making music for fun, but they’re now one of the most beloved new bands in Heavy Metal. Now in 2025 fans of bands like Dark Tranquility, Insomnium and Soilwork have a lot to celebrate with March Of The Unheard, a triumphant successor brimming with everything that made their 2022 debut Days of the Lost an instant breakthrough, showcasing all the talent and passion for heavy music by frontman Mikael Stanne (Dark Tranquillity, Grand Cadaver, Cemetery Skyline), guitarists Jesper Strömblad (Ceremonial Oath, Cyhra, Dimension Zero) and Niclas Engelin (We Sell The Dead, In Flames), bassist Peter Iwers (Fleetburner, In Flames), and drummer Daniel Svensson (In Flames, Diabolique).

Their Swedish melodeath vein pulses harder than ever in the opener Conspire To Deceive, with Jesper and Niclas slashing their axes in the best Scandinavian style, followed by Detonate, which will work majestically if played live, a pedal-to-the-metal creation by the band where Mikael’s roars and Daniel’s beats match flawlessly; and there’s no sign of slowing down at all, as the quintet continues to distill their Melodic Death Metal attack in great fashion in Our Channel To The Darkness. Then investing in a more cadenced, traditional sound, it’s time for Cruel Perception, led by the classic drums by Daniel, followed by What We Become, one of those songs perfect for some sick headbanging thanks to the pounding drums by Daniel, supported by the metallic bass lines by Peter.

After that, we face the epic, imposing interlude This Curse Of Silence, working as an intro to the title-track March Of The Unheard, offering our avid years an overdose of first-class Melodic Death Metal with nuances of classic Heavy and Power Metal. Needless to say, Mikael is once again bestial on vocals, which is also the case in Forever Astray, another great option for banging our heads while the band’s guitar duo continues to deliver sheer electricity form their sonic weapons. A grim start then evolves into another massive feast of hammering drums and sharp riffs in Between Directions, albeit not as powerful as the other songs; whereas in A Death That Becomes Us the band gets back to a more ferocious yet very melodic sonority, with Mikael leading his horde in another strong candidate for their live performances. There’s more classic Swedish metal music for the masses with Mikael roaring to the riffage by Jesper and Niclas in The Burning Point, before the album ends with the stunning Coda, an atmospheric and epic outro that puts a climatic conclusion to the entire record.

After all is said and done, March Of The Unheard isn’t just another opus of Gothenburg melodeath; it announces that The Halo Effect still have fresh ideas for the genre, 30 years after their members helped catapult it to international acclaim. Now united under one banner, they are gunning for global success once again, and you can know more about the band and enjoy their classy music by following them on Facebook and on Instagram, by subscribing to their YouTube channel, by streaming their music on Spotify, and of course by purchasing their new album by clicking HERE, joining The Halo Effect on their exciting and metallic march of the unheard.

Best moments of the album: Detonate, What We Become, March Of The Unheard and A Death That Becomes Us.

Worst moments of the album: Cruel Perception and Between Directions.

Released in 2025 Nuclear Blast

Track listing
1. Conspire To Deceive 3:57
2. Detonate 3:58
3. Our Channel To The Darkness 3:29
4. Cruel Perception 4:04
5. What We Become 3:47
6. This Curse Of Silence 2:01
7. March Of The Unheard 2:59
8. Forever Astray 3:41
9. Between Directions 4:29
10. A Death That Becomes Us 4:07
11. The Burning Point 3:48
12. Coda 3:54

Band members
Mikael Stanne – vocals
Jesper Strömblad – guitars
Niclas Engelin – guitars
Peter Iwers – bass
Daniel Svensson – drums

Album Review – Nunslaughter / Red is the Color of Ripping Death (2021)

Posted on by
Reply

Cleveland, Ohio’s own infernal squad returns with another bestial display of their trademark “Devil Metal”, their first album in seven years.

3.5rating

nunslaughter-red-is-the-color-of-ripping-death-2021Cleveland’s own infernal squad Nunslaughter requires no introduction. Since their inception in the distant year of 1987, those Ohio natives have prolifically perfected their own brand of what they like to label as “Devil Metal”, an evil blend of classic Death and Thrash Metal with Hardcore Punk, and now in 2021, at long last, the band is back in action with Red is the Color of Ripping Death, their first album in seven years. Recorded, mixed and mastered by Noah Buchanan, the album is a lesson in savagery, speed and sulfur by vocalist Don of the Dead, guitarist Tormentor, bassist Detonate and drummer Wrath, proving Nunslaughter are far from calling it quits even after so many years on the road. Furthermore, many are still mourning the loss of legendary drummer Jim Sadist (RIP), and while Red is the Color of Ripping Death is their first full-length without him playing on it, some of the 14 songs contained herein are unfinished or unrealized music that Jim and founding frontman Don of the Dead wrote years ago, giving the whole album an even more special feel and taste.

Wrath begins hammering his drums manically in the opening tune Murmur, a lecture in fast and heavy Death and Thrash Metal by the band to properly kick things off, not to mention how vile Don’s growls sound, whereas in Broken and Alone they speed up their pace and add a good amount of Hardcore and Punk Rock to their core sonority, with Tormentor treating us with his incendiary, slashing riffage. Then it’s time for a darker and more venomous tune by the quartet named To a Whore, once again inviting us all to slam into the pit to the Stygian riffs and bass jabs by Tormentor and Detonate, respectively; followed by Banished, not as infuriated as its predecessors but still showcasing the band’s trademark heaviness and spearheaded by the deep roars by Don, and the title-track Red Is the Color of Ripping Death, a hurricane of Death and Thrash Metal tailored for admirers of that beautiful sound from the Bay Area, with Wrath once again hammering his drums nonstop. Tormentor continues to extract sheer violence from his guitar in Eat Your Heart, while Don vociferates rabidly amidst a very melodic but at the same time brutal sonority, and in Annihilate the Kingdom of God the unrelenting Don beautifully declaims the song’s austere words while his bandmates keep delivering endless aggression, with Detonate and Wrath sounding bestial with their evil kitchen.

Living up to the legacy of old school thrash the likes of Slayer and Overkill, the quartet fires the absolutely infernal Beware of God, with Don leading his demented horde with his sick growling and screams, whereas another round of deranged roars, classic blast beats and flammable riffs comes in the form of Black Cat Hanging, keeping the album at a high level of animosity for our total delight. And are you ready to be smashed like an insect? Because that’s what will happen to you in Dead in Ten, spearheaded by the fulminating drums by Wrath and the wicked riffage by Tormentor in a superb display of extreme music by Nunslaughter. Then let’s all “calm down” a bit and enjoy a headbanging extravaganza entitled The Devil Will Not Stray, where the band adds hints of Black and Doom Metal to make things even more devilish, while they get back to a more ferocious sonority in The Temptress, with Wrath kicking ass on drums once again supported by the metallic bass jabs by Detonate. Casket Lid Creaks is another slower-than-usual song that albeit displaying the band’s heaviness and obscurity, it doesn’t really take off. Detonate still showcases a great job with his low-tuned bass, though. Lastly, less than one minute is everything the band needs to crush anyone that’s still alive in Below the Cloven Hoof, putting a beyond demonic ending to such awesome album.

nunslaughter-2021In case you want to join Nunslaughter in their quest for metal, depravity and evil, you can start following the band on Facebook and on Instagram for news, tour dates and other nice-to-know details about them, stream more of their savage creations on Spotify, and above all that, purchase the awesome Red Is the Color of Ripping Death from their own BandCamp page or from the Hells Headbangers Records’ webstore in CD or cassette format. As Jim Sadist would say, “red is the color of ripping death,” and I’m sure he’s truly proud of his bandmates for their new album. Long live Jim Sadist, and long live Nunslaughter.

Best moments of the album: Broken and Alone, Red Is the Color of Ripping Death, Beware of God and Dead in Ten.

Worst moments of the album: Banished and Casket Lid Creaks.

Released in 2021 Hells Headbangers Records

Track listing 
1. Murmur 1:33
2. Broken and Alone 1:50
3. To a Whore 2:34
4. Banished 2:48
5. Red Is the Color of Ripping Death 3:34
6. Eat Your Heart 2:41
7. Annihilate the Kingdom of God 2:48
8. Beware of God 1:49
9. Black Cat Hanging 2:13
10. Dead in Ten 3:39
11. The Devil Will Not Stray 2:51
12. The Temptress 2:01
13. Casket Lid Creaks 3:04
14. Below the Cloven Hoof 0:52

Band members
Don of the Dead – vocals
Tormentor – guitars
Detonate – bass
Wrath – drums