Having already fiercely flown the flag for British metal across two albums, progressive-edged metallers Beholder have impressed with their line of skilfully realised, socially aware anthems.
As impressive as they’ve already been, though, album number three finds the four-piece hitting the form of their careers so far. From the songwriting through to the powerfully delivered vocal melodies of Simon Hall and the charging guitar work of Scott Taylor, there’s a tangible step-up in quality across the board here as elements are once more drawn and fused from a gamut of different influences.
Classic heavy metal mixes with metalcore touches throughout epic opener Frozen Steps Of Utøya, while the pedal-note riffs of Heal The Wounds finds tech-metal flavours added into the mix alongside the old-school thrash and power metal that informs the likes of Breathe In The Silence and Killing Time.
It’s excellently crafted and crushingly performed stuff, but, perhaps more importantly, this is without a doubt the most cohesive collection of songs that Beholder have put their name to so far.
