Embersland – Dark Ages (2015)

Hailing from Spain, today we have Embersland and their very catchy and well-crafted Symphonic/Gothic Metal with some Power Metal elements thrown into the mix. Featuring nine tracks and around 48 minutes of music, this release is an emotional rollercoaster filled with powerful guitars, tight drumming, and masterfully led by the vocals of Will, May and Xavi. Appealing to a wide spectrum of listeners, “Dark Ages” is one memorable release.

Opening with the 9 minute playful piece “Sunrise (Part II)”, the band instantly showcases their evolution since their 2013 release. With more focused songwriting and more mature skills, this track features majestic vocal melodies and emotional keyboards. The band nicely keeps up the initial track’s momentum with solid songs like “Closer”, “Hope”, and the superbly catchy “WTF…Fuck Off!”, which has a killer chorus section. It is quite evident that the band is nicely maturing as their sound is very cohesive with all their elements coming together quite nicely.

The mood changes with the Power ballads “Where are You” and “Deadweight”, both of which greatly showcase the band’s vocalists talents and feature some killer guitar leads. Reminding us of bands like Serenity, “The Mirror of Your Soul” is our favorite track in this release alongside the majestic closer “When I die”. The band has a very theatrical approach to these kinds of songs, allowing them to be bombastic and explosive.

Overall, “Dark Ages” is one step forward for Embersland. They have evolved their sound and they are more cohesive now, allowing all tracks in this release to show a great deal of precision and clarity. Not only being a Gothic or Symphonic Metal band, this Spanish outfit can appeal to a greater set of Metal heads that love Progressive and even Power Metal thanks to their unique musical approach. If you like epic songs filled with amazing vocal melodies, you will not be disappointed when check this release out.

Label: Self-Released

Release: February 6th, 2015

Genre: Symphonic/Gothic Power Metal

Country: Spain