Sound Pollution/Black Lodge Records
Review by Elin Dahlgren
Swedish metal band Rexoria is back and stronger than ever with a new album. With influences from bands such as Battle Beast and Amaranthe the new record is set up to rule. Over the seven years the band has been active they’ve released two EPs and two albums, “Moments of Insanity” (2016, EP), “The World Unknown” (2017, EP), “Queen Of Light” (2018, Album) and “Ice Breaker” (2019, Album).
The album launches you straight into heavy riffs, melodies, and catchy choruses. The first track on the album, “Paradigm”, catches the listener through the synth melody before the guitar riffs kick in. The gritty vocals of singer Frida Ohlin instantly show you that the new album is here to kick ass. “Paradigm” is a strong opening track and sets the standard for what to expect from the rest of the album.
The second track, called “The New Revelation”, sets into a strong melody and calms down as the vocals come in, the song keeps building up until you hit the chorus where drummer Martin Gustavsson gets some new speed and Ohlin takes off with a slightly more nasal and whiny approach to her singing. The third track, “Devious Desire”, is a personal favorite, it starts off with a strong melody like a lot of the songs on the album but slows down a little in the chorus. I think a song like this could be a fun opportunity to explore more of Ohlin’s vocal abilities but it still sounds great. The solo is a perfect amount of wailing guitar without making it too much, it’s short and sweet but because of the short length, I think it can keep the listeners’ full attention throughout the whole thing.
The last track on the album gets interesting with a more classic power metal opening lick and then sets off in a guitar riff that could be compared to the riff in “Holy Diver” by Dio. It’s a Rexoria classic with good melodies and catchy choruses but will keep the listener until the album’s end. While the album isn’t breaking new ground it is still a very strong release. With synths/keyboards keeping the symphonic dynamic close at hand and guitars driving more toward some classic power metal it’s a good mix between heavy and melodic.
I feel like we’ve had a lot of albums like this one in the last few years, Amaranthe came out with “Manifest” in 2020, Battle Beast released “Circus of Doom” the previous year (2022) and while I personally enjoy it a lot seeing something new would be very interesting.
Line Up
- Frida Ohlin – Vocals and keyboard
- Jonas Gustavsson – Bass guitar
- Cristofer Svensson – Guitar
- Martin Gustavsson – Drums
Tracklist
- Paradigm
- The New Revelation
- Devious Desire
- Rage And Madness
- Fading Rose
- Light Up The Sky
- Horizon
- Set Me On Fire
- Crushing For More
- Enchanted Island