Band: Immortal Souls
Title: Wintereich
Label: Facedown Records
Review By: JoshIVM
Tracklisting:
Chapter I – The Awakening
01. Nightfrost
02. Feareaper
03. Frozen Inside
Chapter II – Relections Of Doom
04. Icon Of Ice
05. Color Of My Sky
06. Constant
Chapter III – The Shadow Of The Valley Of Death
07. Idlestate
08. Heart Of Cold
Chapter IV – The Passage
09. Winter Of My Discontent
10. Black Water
11. Wintereich
Members/Duties:
A. Sarkioja: Vocals/Bass
E. Sarkioja: Lead Guitar
Pete: Rhythm Guitar
Kronqvist: Drums
Facedown have once again teamed up with these Finnish metalheads. Honestly, I was a bit surprised that they were working together again since I didn’t think the first album had picked up much steam here. Regardless, I am glad that these are being released here and I hope to see more European metal releases like this in the U.S. as well.
Immortal Souls plays what is termed “winter metal”, apparently their own genre, but sounds fairly similar to other 90’s Euro metal bands. I had to compare this with their previous Facedown debut ‘Ice Upon The Night’. I listened to one right after another and this album is light years ahead. The band have grown better in nearly every aspect. The last album bothered me at times because it was rather slow and not nearly as enjoyable as let’s say In Flames. Apparently the band read my mind and presented ‘Wintereich’. It’s everything to me that ‘Ice’ was not. It’s heavier, faster, thicker, more melodic, catchier, and the list goes on. The band speeds away in tracks like “Nightfrost” and “Idle State”. I see the greasest progression in songs like “Winter Of My Discontent” with the great rhythm, guitarwork, and catchy chorus and also in “Frozen Inside”. With these songs the band is quickly catching their predecessors. Many times on this album you’ll feel almost a groove metal guitar sound (for example 2 minutes into “Color Of My Sky”). This is the stuff that sets them apart to me, especially in the Christian metal realm. The one thing that will hold them back from more mainstream recognition will be the vocals which are pretty much all black metal flavored. Could they create some cleanly sung metal vocals in each chorus? Sure. But that might add to the comparisons for most people. I think they’re fine as is.
Overall Rating: Immortal Souls can’t really be described as the most original band on the block because they clearly take heavy influence from other European metal legends like In Flames and Children Of Bodom. However the band does present a intensely enjoyable album for metal fans and one that I highly recommend picking up! (9/10)Standout Tracks: “Frozen Inside”, “Color Of My Sky”
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Facedown Records
Buy: Facedown Records Store
