Faithful Darkness - In Shadow Lies Utopia

In all honesty, Soilwork really don't appeal to me much. I see them as a good band, but it is mainly the vocals that put me off, and it is thankfully for me that in the drummer's new band, Faithful Darkness, where this is all turned around. In addition to this, their debut album 'In Shadow Lies Utopia' is one of the best metal albums I've ever heard, but that's a minor detail.

What I find truly makes an epic album is interludes, whether they be classical or of a softer nature, such as in Deadlock's 'Wolves' or Trivium's 'Ascendancy'. Somehow, Faithful Darkness pulls off an astonishing album with no interludes or many progressive techniques in sight. However, melody plays a huge part and indeed it is what I believe is the essence of why I love it. 'Pure Silence' has very soft vocals during the chorus, and once you've got over the same feeling I had of it (LAME) and realised it's actually pretty awesome, you understand how much Faithful Darkness have actually put into this set. Although 'Pure Silence' is pretty much the leading track, two others, 'Alive' and 'Believer' are also sweet songs with some of the best choruses I've EVER heard. Every song on the album I find to be re-listenable to the point of death, maybe making an exception to 'Fields of Yesterday', which I find too thrashy, but will apply more to others' taste. Another track that stands out to me is 'Afterlife', which sounds incredibly like Bodom, give it a listen and you'll see what I mean. The guitar parts, despite not being as positively noticeable as the vocals, are still excellent, with great ripping solos and harsh, thudding riffs.

I can't really find many bad points with this album, only maybe they could have chosen a better opening track, as the opener is often the most important. Not to say that 'Stay Awake' is a bad song, though, it still keeps great standard. All in all a fantastic album, and like I said about Sacrament, keeping modern metal alive and is one of the best metal albums ever I believe.