Esoteric is special because of a few things. First, there is the addition of young guitar wiz Johan Reinholdz (Andromeda, Nonexist). This guy is incredibly good. He is basically a virtuoso like Yngwie Malmsteen with a modern style and a taste for the extreme ends of metal. His work with Andromeda alone is credible and he actually contributed to Timeless Departure. So, to hear that Mr. Reinholdz was an official member of Skyfire now made me ecstatic. The change in vocalists is another significant part of Esoteric. Joakim Karlsson isn’t quite the high pitch screamer Henrik Wenngren was but he is a fine vocalist to say the least. Joakims approach is much more hoarse but powerful.

Skyfire’s sound on Esoteric is busy. The first time I put this in I was a little overwhelmed. What we have here is a return to the Timeless Departure days with a big orchestrated sound. The only difference this time around is that it’s darker. The interplay of keyboards and layered guitars is something that takes numerous listens to decipher. It’s more technical than Bodom or Kalmah, which is where a lot of records will fall flat in the songwriting department. However, Skyfire keep it together and deliver some seriously good material. This will be the symphonic album of the year for me.

Speed and melody are key. “Rise and Decay,” and “Under a Pitch Black Sky” are perfect examples of the balance of fast blackened blasts opening up to epic and dramatic choruses. The blast beats are something that is new to the Skyfire camp, at least this many. The further you get into the record the more blasts you hear. The band definitely took a nastier approach on this record.

The keyboards are fantastic. They flutter and weave their way through every inch of this record adding dreamlike qualities. It’s like hearing the band Winds play melodic death metal. Amazing.

Skyfire are criminally underrated. Even if this is a sound that has been attempted before, Esoteric carries its own character and marks one hell of a return for a band that has been in hiding for too long. Unfortunately, this won’t make it on too many peoples year end list. I for one am going to keep it as a strong contender. Great fucking album.

The band will release a 4-song, digital-only EP entitled Fractal in July via Pivotal Rockordings. Fractal is made up of songs that were written between 2004’s Spectral and their yet-to-be-released September 2009 Esoteric album. SKYFIRE bassist Martin Hanner comments on the band’s decision to release the EP: “Since we spent way too much time in the studio writing and recording and too little time giving anything back to the fans, we discussed with our label about releasing a few songs we wrote in 2005 or so. We recorded, mixed, and mastered these alongside the Esoteric songs with new vocalist Jocke and guitarist Johan in order to make them available to our fans. We knew these songs weren’t going to make our full-length, because by the time we had signed a deal, we were flowing with new ideas. However, letting these songs go unreleased was always something sad for us, so it’s awesome that they will be available to the fans digitally with exclusive artwork and everything.”

 Fractal marks the first official SKYFIRE release to feature new members Johan Reinholdz (guitars; ANDROMEDA, NONEXIST) and Joakim Karlsson (vocals; MARK:BLACK). All music was recorded, mixed and mastered at Powernest Studios with the exception of the track “Esoteric,” which was mixed and mastered by Jonas Kjellgren (SCAR SYMMETRY, SONIC SYNDICATE, ZONARIA, THE ABSENCE). Vocals for all tracks were produced by THE FORSAKEN guitarist Patrik Persson.  

Fractal tracklisting: 

1. The Land of the Wolves

2. Bereaved in Denial

3. The Transgressor Within

4. Esoteric (‘Esoteric’ album preview track)

Skyfire:

Joakim Karlsson (Vocals)

Martin Hanner (Bass, Keyboards)

Andreas Edlund (Guitars, Keyboards)

Johan Reinholdz (Guitars)

Joakim Jonsson (Drums)

Links:

Official Skyfire Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/skyfiremusic

Official Reverbnation Page: http://www.reverbnation.com/skyfiremusic

Pivotal Rockordings: http://www.PivotalAlliance.com

The follow-up to 2004’s Spectral, Esoteric was recorded at SKYFIRE’s own Powernest Studios in Gothenburg and was mixed and mastered by Jonas Kjellgren (SCAR SYMMETRY, SONIC SYNDICATE, ZONARIA). Album art for Esoteric was created by Pär Olofsson (THE FACELESS, PSYCROPTIC, SPAWN OF POSSESSION) with layout handled by CULT OF LUNA’s Erik Olofsson.

Though playing a familiar and often cloned form of The Black Dahlia Murder-styled metal, Stigma is, in fact, pretty solid. They have the energy and tenacity to mix it up with their stateside peers, but Stigma also has a more unique element in their Hammer Horror themes.

Granted, there’s nothing particularly original going on here, but armed with a slicing guitar tone, sturdy rhythm section, expected melodic death metal rasps courtesy of Stefano “Vlad” Ghersi, and the odd horror movie sample, the entire package comes across as competent, confident and professional. Tracks like “I Am Dracula,” “Flesh Ritual,” “Beneath the Crown of Eternal Light,” “A Call for Vengeance,” and “Walking the Fields of Apocalypse,” while all having a tangible At the Gates undercurrent, seem to be bereft of overused breakdowns. In their place is a more Mediterranean flair.
Though there’s no real standout on When Midnight Strikes!, all 11 tracks, including the bonus track “Epitaph of Pain,” deliver an enjoyable foray into the genre. I look forward to hearing how Stigma develop sound and theme in the future.

Zonaria aren’t bad, they just aren’t quite as good as either Sonic Syndicate or Blinded Colony though all the interchangeable elements are present in spades. Granted, this act is incredibly young (the band is mostly in their late teens), so some lack of experience issues are to be expected, and honestly for their youth this offering is perfectly acceptable, but as far as the album’s standing in the genre, its going to get lost on the Melodic death metal mire.

Everything is as you’d expect; heavy tight production, sci fi sounding synths mid range raspy vocals, and mix of energetic galloping tracks (i.e. “The Last Endeavor”) and the occasional slower or (i.e. “Image of Myself”) experimental number and even some guest clean vocals from Scar Symmetry’s Christian Älvestam (“The Armageddon Anthem” and “Attending Annihilation”). To be honest, I hear a lot of mid era Hypocrisy here (Abducted, The Final Chapter, Hypocrisy), so depending on how you view that era of Hypocrisy’s discography might determine how you like this album. I personally thought those few albums were incredibly boring, and thus my response to this solid but far from memorable album is similar.

To their credit, Zonaria try hard, and appear to be on the right track at their young age, so I’m not going to count them out yet, but a glossy big time production and synth backed riffs, do not a great album make. The riffs are relatively up tempo and polished but lack that certain factor that makes them stick or elevate the album past merely ‘OK”. Still, if you absolutely must purchase a cookie cutter, but energetic melodic death metal album in the next few days, youd could do worse than Infamy and the Breed.