Review Summary: A solid new interpretation of classic Gothenburg metal sound.
Moonshield’s sophomore release,
The Void Squadron, is obviously inspired by In Flames with their soaring guitar melodies but also consists of elements from At The Gates with their concise yet thrashy, riff-filled styled melodeath and Darkest Hour with their unbridled hardcore characteristics. They manage to blend these influences into a short yet successful listen that feels reminiscent to the classic Gothenburg melodic death metal sound.
Moonshield’s knack for creating melodic leads is clear from the beginning with
The Void Squadron where they demand your full attention. Even then, everything else about the opening full length song is solid too. The vocals have an imposing bark to them and the drums are providing intensity to the track.
The Pyrrhic Victory starts with a captivating melody that then later erupts into decent, heavy riffage. Moonshield shows off their talent of creating short yet dense songs with
Voidsbane. It has everything you would want in a melodeath song such as epic solos, melody, vicious riffage and extreme vocals all condensed into 92 seconds.
Like every album,
The Void Squadron has imperfections. Throughout the record, there are multiple 8-bit styled interludes. While they are alright listens by themselves, they do not mesh well with the bands intense and extreme style. The transitions between the songs and interludes are mostly discordant. The band thrives in producing a standard of melody writing similar to In Flames but the same cannot be said for their At the Gates influenced riffs as the albums riffs lack much staying power and creativity. They do manage to succeed in filling up the musical void but they do not stick with me. They are fine but are no Slaughter of the Soul.
The Voids Squadron’smost impressive track is by far
The Omega Day. The song starts off with a fairly standard riff that then leads to drums breaking into the mix with it’s notable speed and fills. However, what makes this track stand out is the Iron Maiden-esque guitar melodies. It is truly amazing and is perfectly complimented by the booming drums. The song also features a short yet sweet solo that absolutely shreds. The bands proficient melody writing ability further peaks with
Anaxarchus’ Revenge (Tiamet Unleashed). This cut also contains harsh and dissonant moments that heightens the songs replay value. The albums closer,
The Darkness, is by far the longest cut off the record with it’s almost 7 minute long runtime. It provides a satisfying conclusion to the album with it’s closing momentous melody and more calming instrumental moments in addition to the chaotic thrashy nature of the band.
Moonshield does wear their influences on the sleeve a bit but were still very successful at recreating the Gothenburg sound from the harsh, pounding drums to the memorable guitar melodies. The album clocks in with a 32 minute length making it a brief listen but it never overstayed it’s welcome and never felt uninspired. While the riffs could have definitely packed more of a punch and the interludes needed to flow a bit better, the positives out way the criticisms by quite a bit. If you enjoy the classic melodeath groups of the 90’s, you will more than likely enjoy this too as it provides a new yet familiar sound in the genre of melodic death metal.
