Review: Black Polaris- Empires (2011)

Band: Black Polaris

Release: Empires

Genre: Progressive Deathcore

Label: Independently Released

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/blackpolarisuk

Tracklist:

1.

Review: 7/10

The first thing I have to say about Black Polaris’ new album Empires is that you have to listen to it through headphones, as it doesn’t sound so well over speakers due the instruments melding together. They are progressive deathcore, with death metal and black metal influences. The breakdowns, notably the one in “Oracle,” are refreshingly original and they don’t strive to sound like 98% of the other deathcore bands out there today.

The black metal influence is mostly in the vocals and sometimes the guitar tones that are used. Death metal influence lies mostly in the drumming, but is also shown at random times in the other instruments. A few songs into the album and the guitars start to lack in originality, as I’m quite confident I’ve heard “Effortless” played before. It’s very hard for a band to break out into the deathcore field and not sound like something that’s already been released. Luckily, these guys still throw in enough to set themselves apart from the pack, though the production of this album really held them back from making an even bigger impact. Their usage of the synth keys are a little questionable. The fake choir used in the beginning of “Power, Corruption” had me laughing. When he switched over to using synth orchestra instruments, it sounded truly menacing and gave a little bit of a Dimmu Borgir side.

After listening to this album for the past few days, the vocals really started to grind my nerves to the ground, and the overall production is just horrible. But the music is really good and is definitely worth checking out. You can go to their Facebook page and download it for free!