Did you know that Hämärä is Finnish for dark and spooky, but the band is original from Castle Rock? Yup, it’s all a bit strange and I’m doubting if it’s all for real and bloody serious. But at least I gave it a shot.
Across The Hills of Emyn Muil is a symphonic prelude. The first real track is called Holly War and mixes symphonic with death/trash metal: grunts and screams with clean vocals. The tempo goes up and down but has in general a high tempo and is filled with testosterone.
Hardly Awake sounds more like a regular heavy metal track with a rambling bass. I like the mix of clean vocals (with a tone of melancholia) and screams/grunts. Every now and then you get a touch of symphonic metal, rendering the pathos.
Isolation sounds like more carried by the clean vocals and a more classic metal approach, but before you know it the grunts and screams take over. But it’s fine to have some variation as otherwise all the songs sound a bit the same.
Under The Sun has a bit more electronics in it and reminds me a bit more of The Unguided. It’s a nice change within their sound.
Retribution has a more melodic sound in global and comes close to the typical The Unguided sound. I hate to say it, but this is how I hear it. Still: I consider this one as the best track on this album as it has enough variation and power to make it!
Whitering Away is a hard hitter, starts with bombing your speakers with screams and grunts. The tempo is so high you need to grasp for air.
The Fallen mixes harsh and high pitched screams with clean vocals (they remind me a bit of The Unguided). The tempo goes up and down and even gets a classic touch at some point.
Ivory Towers is the title track and can be called a bomb filled with pathos (thanks to the synth.). It’s a strong end for an all powered up album.
The only thing I’m missing here is a bit more variation. I’m not asking for a ballad, but if you review the album track by track and read it all over it’s hard not to say the same thing over and over. But that’s maybe because I review every track? I’ll let the fans decide!
More about this band can be found at:
