Darklands

After releasing a 6-track EP ("Death and Dreaming") in 2002, ShadowSphere are back with their first full-lenght, Darklands.Released in January of 2003,this album has 13 tracks, 3 of them instrumentals.Their sound can be described as Melodic Death Metal with a Thrash Metal touch, with lots of "swedish melodies", tempo-changes, some cool solos and great vocals.While many Melo-Death bands write lyrics about pain,doom and other negative stuff, Shadowsphere's lyrical themes are more abstract, being the lyrics mostly about dreams,visions and hallucinations, but there are some tracks with legend-based lyrics ( like "Damnation (The Desert Sands of Hamunaptra)" and "Nosferatu (Wolf Christendom)" ) .The production of the album is acceptable ( this was an independent release ), but the sound of the drums is kinda strange.

Best Tracks: Forever; Damnation (The Desert Sands of Hamunaptra); New Sky & Into the Lungs of Hell
Pros: Cool riffs; song-structure; cool vocals and excellent lyrics
Cons: Production;

( originally written for Tartarean Desire Webzine )