THE HALO EFFECT - SWEDEN

THE HALO EFFECT - MARCH OF THE UNHEARD - NUCLEAR BLAST  
They should have waited two months and released this in March. The album's title presents itself as something an underground metal band would espouse. Neither of those things are applicable here then!
To start, given how the membership is comprised of former In Flames members, the 2022 debut of The Halo Effect, called Days Of The Lost, never made it to my playlist. The band was, in sound, reportedly close to old, and more respectable, In Flames and Dark Tranquillity and that fact had not been missed by me. Still, newer In Flames is something my metal sensibility disputed strongly and, by association, The Halo Effect was deemed unattractive to me. Full-length number two being my first listen to this quintet, the first thing that is noticeable is the album's cover artwork and how the Swedes are creating a specific pattern and visual standard. The second, and on the musical front, is that the band is not as close to old In Flames as many reviewers and fans have claimed. It is not the disgusting mallcore that makes a metal fan swear at YouTube every time the autoplay feature inadvertently pulls up a live In Flames video featuring a couple of ugly and tattooed teeny boppers headbanging to the nu-***al crap of that band. Instead, it is both more melodic and indeed metal, but March Of The Unheard is neither The Jester Race or Whoracle no matter what anyone says. It is good in itself and even better considering how it is definitely not the In Flames of the 21st century, but the music is not exactly special or superb. The vocals are dominant in the mix, the guitarists have a few nice passages and the drum, well, who knows what the undermixed instrument is up to. "We are beholden to the dream.." sings the band at one point and it is not difficult to imagine that the "dream" is none other than that of a band composing and releasing Gothenburg style heavy metal.
March Of The Unheard has the melodies and harmonies. What We Become is more driven, while A Death That Becomes Us is more mainstream and also adds keyboards. When singer Mikael Stanne goes Depeche Mode with his clean vocals, on Forever Astray, it sounds silly and regrettable. Funny how this song is called Forever Astray, while its follow-up is called Between Directions and features the lines, "There's no direction/No direction for me…" The album, and its short songs, also includes the instrumental interlude This Curse Of Silence and closing instrumental Coda. - Ali "The Metallian"