Battlesword – Towards The Unknown
Battlesword – Towards The Unknown
MDD Records
Release Date: 16/09/2022
Running Time: 44:30
Review by Richard Oliver
7/10
With a name like Battlesword you would be forgiven for thinking you are going to be listening to a Power Metal band, but Battlesword are a far heavier band than you would expect. Hailing from Germany, Battlesword are a long-running Melodic Death Metal band who formed in 1999 and have several releases to their name with “Towards The Unknown” being the fourth full length album from the band.
Battlesword have a sound that mixes Melodic Death Metal with an old school Scandinavian Death Metal sound. It is gritty ferocity mixed together well with melodic passages bringing to mind the sound of band such as Evocation, Amon Amarth and Unleashed. Songs such as ‘To Become The Wolf’, ‘Hound Of Hades’ and ‘Terra Combusta’ steamroll along with a steady pummelling rhythm with plenty of Death Metal grit whilst having strong yet not overbearing melodies within the music. The most melodic moment comes in ‘The Shores Of I’ which has a quiet and melodic mid-section which allows the listener a breather before the Death Metal kicks right back in. The vocals are all harsh unlike a good chunk of Melodic Death Metal today with the melody firmly contained within the music and Axel has a vocal style that sits in between a higher end Melodeath style and a lower end Death Metal growl.
“Towards The Unknown” is made up of seven new songs and as a bonus the long out of print E.P. ”The 13th Black Crusade” is added on at the end having been remastered by the legendary Dan Swanö who also mastered the main release. “Towards The Unknown” is an enjoyably straightforward Melodic Death Metal release, but its main drawback is that it is just a bit too straightforward with a lot of the songs sounding very similar and having little to help distinguish from each other with most songs having the same pace and formula to them. It is a solid album of Melodic Death Metal but just lacks the fire to make it more memorable whilst still remaining an enjoyable listen.
‘Terra Combusta’ Official Audio
TRACKLISTING:
01. Departure
02. The Awakening
03. To Become The Wolf
04. Terra Combusta
05. The Shores Of I
06. Hound Of Hades
07. Backstabber
Bonus Tracks
08. There Will Be Blood
09. Fire And Storm
10. The 13th Black Crusade
LINE-UP:
Axel – Vocals
Erik – Guitars
Lars – Guitars
Ben – Bass
Andreas – Drums
LINKS:
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