An Appointed Time' is a record that's still getting my blood pressure to rise just by listening to it

Fortunately, I had a chance to listen to the first recorded material by this Toronto based band, so I have something to compare to with this second CD. Both of their releases could be labeled as melodic death metal, but it doesn't stop there. These guys welcome and embrace influences from many different sources within metal or elsewhere, yet they sound organic and true to themselves. There`s an obvious shift in both recording quality of this new CD as well as the level of musicianship and it`s the shift for the better in virtually every aspect. Vocal delivery has very much improved - it`s more confident and expressive. I must confess that I`m not a huge fan of this genre, but this album is a very pleasant surprise even to my ear used to different sounds and genres of metal and Mueller`s vocals help me in this regard a lot.

My initial skepticism towards band`s stated style and genre vanished very fast and I enjoyed my repeated listening more and more. One of the reasons why is that the band doesn't sound static and their influences are not limited to their chosen genre, something that needs to be stressed again and again. The guitar sound is warm and 'wooden,' a nice contrast to many other attempts to sound super heavy. More importantly, it`s the composition that rules their artistic choices. This band is primarily about songs, and this is where this CD stands out as opposed to other bands aiming to be virtuosic, and thus impressive, forgetting to grab a listener`s attention in a more meaningful way.
The level of musicianship is obvious in the most positive sense, and I can see a great potential for this band, artistic as well as commercial - given the young age of all band members, it is just a question of their perseverance and willingness to work hard now and into the future. This CD is a good listen for all listeners who are into hard and heavy music, not just die-hard fans of melodic death metal. That is something not easy to achieve.

Track Listing

• Elusive Nature
• Without Passage
• The Divide
• Submerge
• Sky Harvest

Additional Details

Label: Flowing Downward

Genre: Metal

Language: English

Run Time: 62:44 mins

Region: 0

Release Date: 01/17/20

UPC: 641126300515