Review Summary: The plate and nothing else.
Balmora have been one of the most hyped up bands in recent years. Their first slew of EP’s showcased their great songwriting chops, filled with melodic riffs and primal slam breakdowns. Now all that was left was to make an album.
Yeah, about that.
These Graven Halls has problems that get worse the more you listen. Mixing wise, nothing really stands out. The guitars, vocals, and drums all sit at around the same volume. Which is fine if the gutair tone was really good, but it falls flat during said slam breakdowns. In turn, it’s production does little to help from making every song blend together.
Formula is this albums greatest weakness. It rarely deviates from ‘melodic riff, some chugging, chaotic riffs leading into a slam breakdown with pinch harmonics, throw a solo in’. It’s a headscratching thing to say about this band, considering how solid their previous work is. Another frustrating aspect is the drumming in every single breakdown in this album. Instead of doing anything else, Chris Torok is always hitting the crash slowly with maybe a snare hit here and there. When every song has a breakdown or two on this 13 track album, it’s a problem. It also doesn't help that Senti’s vocals consist of one-note metalcore fry screams.
Overall, this album feels undercooked. The foundation is there for a great album, but I would much rather have waited longer for a proper follow up to their previous work. And now with the band completely disbanded from multiple grooming allegations, it’s a disappointing end to a promising band.
At this point, just listen to their first two EP’s and wonder what could have been.
