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BACKGROUND. It is still early January 2025 and the appropriately chilly Göteborg in good old Sweden sees the metal world just about sobering up from last year's festive send-off, but local veterans The Halo Effect waste no time and kickstart 2025 in style. Recently, Sweden's fresh heavyhitters have mostly switched into a more polished, core-oriented sound, be it Imminence, thrown, Allt, or the many others, but the Town Musicians of Göteborg bring us back to the roots, picking up right where they left off with their debut Days Of The Lost (2022).
BAND. In just few years, The Halo Effect have become the leading player at the Scandinavian melodeath scene, evolving from an experimental side project and friendly get-together into a primary act and headliner. Not quite sure how Mikael Stanne finds the time and energy between his supposed main focus in Dark Tranquillity, latest Gothic side project Cemetery Skyline, and the increasingly more demanding The Halo Effect, but he remains absolutely flawless. Strömblad, Iwers, Engelin and Svensson are also on their expected brilliant form throughout.
ALBUM. March Of The Unheard is a direct continuation of Days Of The Lost with little to no surprises, maintaining a predictable yet fantastic direction, pace and atmosphere. Much like its predecessor, it sounds exactly like In Flames and Dark Tranquillity's secret love child, and once again I am inclined to say there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. The album is stable, purposeful and traditional, and with all my adoration for all things modern, this is a welcome counterbalance at the otherwise pretty colourful release calendar.
TRACKS. Few do stand out but overall March Of The Unheard is an album experience without such striking standalone moments. The promo singles 'Detonate' and 'Cruel Perception' remain highlights and fit well around new additions such as the opening 'Conspire To Deceive', 'Our Channel To The Darkness' and 'A Death That Becomes Us'. 'This Curse Of Silence' is a neat instrumental prelude, and so is the orchestral 'Coda' at the end, offering a clever rework of the title track's main theme and a perfect way to end such album
FUTURE. Expect more of the same. There are no signs that The Halo Effect will slow down soon or will stop making what they love doing and clearly do it so well. Maybe we will see at least two or three more albums, without any radical variations from the formula, whilst also curious to see what happens with In Flames and Dark Tranquility in the meantime. To roughly cite Deadpool, The Halo Effect are likely going to be dropping melodeath classics 'till they are 90, and for the sake of the local scene and the genre, long may they live.
The Halo Effect - 'March Of The Unheard'
Country: Sweden
Released: 10 January
Label: Nuclear Blast
Tracklisting:
1. Conspire To Deceive
2. Detonate
3. Our Channel To The Darkness
4. Cruel Perception
5. What We Become
6. The Curse Of Silence
7. March Of The Unheard
8. Forever Astray
9. Between Directions
10. A Death That Becomes Us
11. The Burning Point
12. Coda
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