Maximum Metal Rating Legend

Every now and again, I come across an album that is a pest to try and put words to. The Lightbringer's second album, "Heptanity" is no exception. A strong base of power metal accentuated with bursts of black metal vocals and operatic vocals make this one of the toughest tests to date. The mixture seemed patently wrong at first, but Lightbringer does an incredible job marrying the melody of power metal with the coldness and ferocity of black metal. The resulting sound is both impressive and daunting.

The music utilizes crunchy riffs, tasteful orchestration and great songwriting to really pull the album together. Take for example the track "The Fire of Life and Death" as a microcosm of the band's style. The song kicks off with a scathing black metal riff and rasped black metal snarls before morphing over to more traditional power metal with operatic vocals. I don't know how the band pulls this off but they do it admirably and with aplomb.

The harsh rasps coupled with the clean and operatic vocals are mind-bending and sublime. I've never heard anything quite like The Lightbringer but I'm definitely a fan of this band. This isn't your run of the mill heavy metal here folks. Go out and listen to this album, you'll be confused, amazed and a little taken aback but it's well worth it.