Horizon Ablaze - The Weight Of A Thousand Suns album review

Hailing from Kristiansand, Norway, Horizon Ablaze have been in existence for a clean decade and feature members of respectable acts such as Den Saakaldte, Pantheon I, Blood Red Throne and Svartelder. Their sound is described as ‘avant-garde extreme metal’ – how avantgarde it is somewhat debatable, but the ‘extreme metal’ label underlines their refusal to slot easily into any subgenre. Combining crushing death metal, cold and calculating ‘modern’ black metal and even, dare it be said, definite hardcore overtones, their sound is a weighty one, not short of riffs but definitely leaning toward the abrasive and unmelodic. While blending numerous elements during its playtime from clean guitars to high-paced blastbeats, The Weight… is nevertheless tonally somewhat narrow and while there is definite crossover potential in terms of fanbase, some listeners may find it a little too flat to get overly excited.