Review Summary: Not every band needs to reinvent the wheel.
Voices In the Sky is exactly what you'd expect from a melodic death metal group, but where other bands sound tired, uninspired, or just going through the motions, Brymir injects much-needed energy into their music. They achieve this through their symphonic and folk elements that are seamlessly inter-weaved through the typical low screams and chugging riffs of melodeath.
Voices In the Sky and
Herald of Aegir begin with these heavily melodic acoustic guitar passages that build up within the remaining runtime of the song into these epic sounding electric guitar leads. Speaking of which, the strongest aspect of the album is without a doubt the guitar. They know how to write an engaging melodic lead that is both undeniably fun and adds to the fantastical atmosphere of the record. The solos are also amazing, with a slight dash of neoclassical styling amongst the heavily folk-inspired sound, with
Forged In War and
Far From Home being highlights in this department. The use of symphonic elements also lends the band's sound more strength, and the closer,
All As One, is one of the best examples of this. The track is an eight minute long epic, bringing all the ideas from the previous tracks into one satisfying conclusion to the record. It has vast sounding strings, melodic acoustic guitar passages, and high-octane leads.
Rift Between Us is the weakest amongst the tracklisting of
Voices In the Sky. The mid-tempo track holds the least interesting instrumentation, as within its stretched out six minutes, it fails to go anywhere all that compelling. A potential problem is that the band has a fondness for cheesy, cleanly sung, chant-like choruses, and this may put off a few listeners. Sometimes they do this exceptionally well, but other times I feel like they could have pulled it off better or if something else should have been done instead.
Brymir does not exactly reinvent the wheel here, but they did not need to as they pulled off the mix of melodeath and power metal very well, with a lot of charm, keeping the sound fresh and exciting. The melodies are creative and catchy, as the "epic" moments never feel forced or trite. The sparing use of acoustic guitar makes for some of the best parts of the album. Aside from a few minor problems this album faces, it is still a great album. If you enjoy melodic guitar driven metal,
Voices In the Sky is a must listen.
