Melody in Metal music is very important, so important that it must come with the right doses, no more no less or the song gets bad. Now aggression has no boundaries, the more, the better. What if the both are mixed with balanced doses in an album that might surprise my dear child of the night? I present you Valhalore with “Beyond the Stars,” an album whose blend of aggression and melody is in the supreme right dose.
Valhalore are a powerhouse of combining Folk Metal features with some Extreme Metal ones, mostly vocals. With some goodwill it’s possible to say sometimes the band borders Melodic Death Metal as in “The Storm,” whose chorus is one of the most beautiful I have been listening here for years. It’s also fair to say that the band borders Progressive Metal as well as it can be seen with “Wayfinder.” The beautiful textures the band provided with “Dawn” are still in mind as well as the inspiring melodies of “The Storm.” Same happens to “The World Between” whose chorus is still in my mind and will not get out for some time.
“Beyond the Stars” commences with “Life,” a track that shows everything the band has got in terms of the melodic construction of the songs. The sweet flutes here showcase some Led Zeppelin inspiration while the song makes a bridge to the Progressive Metal inspired “Edge of Forever,” the track that presents the band’s vocal combination. The duo guitar and keyboard sounds very as well. Great sample to what is coming next in the album.
After listening to “Beyond the Stars,” I have to note that their sound signature is this combination of extreme melodic vocals with harsher ones. Ok, that’s not new I know, but the way Valhalore combine them with the flutes and the other instruments is really amazing. It’s not about being original, it’s also the way one combines the old influences to bring out the new. That’s Valhalore in a nutshel.
Valhalore “Beyond the Stars” was released on April 11th via ROAR.
Track Listing:
01 – Life
02 – Edge of Forever
03 – The Storm
04 – Within the Fire
05 – Dusk
06 – Wayfinder
07 – Dawn
08 – Horizon
09 – The World Between
10 – Aether
11 – Heart of the Sea (feat. Anna Murphy)
12 – A Walk Among the Stars
Watch “The Storm” official music video here:
Source: metaladdicts.com
